In the words of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, “Citius, Altius, Fortius”. After the example set by the organising committee of London 2012, however, his “Swifter, Higher, Stronger” motto, could soon be replaced by another – “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”.

In November 2008, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) published its sustainable procurement guidelines and now, with just three years to go until the start of the games in the East End of the English capital, one of the most ambitious sustainability projects ever undertaken by a major global sporting event, is raising the bar far higher than even de Coubertin could have imagined.

The Sustainable Sourcing Code was drawn up as part of a balanced scorecard for Olympics suppliers, and covered a range of environmental, social and ethical issues.

And as the year of the ODA’s self-styled ‘Big Build’ draws to a close, and the Olympic Stadium takes it place nestled among the previously under-used water-ways of a part of London that has been in desperate need of regeneration for longer than many would care to remember, the fruits of the organisation’s sustainability drive are finally beginning to bear fruit.

“Sustainability is one of our key measures and that filters through to the way our procurement organisation has operated since day one,” says Andrew Croston, the ODA’s head of corporate procurement. “There’s no doubt that we’re raising the bar – this is going to be the greenest games in history.”

From a traffic policy that actively discourages spectators driving to the Olympic Park, to an unprecedented recycling programme – which has seen 90% of the soil excavated from the site re-used – the next Olympics are clearly about far more than three weeks of competition in the summer of 2012.

“We’re trying to be as leading edge as possible,” says Croston. “An example is timber, where we’re using wood that is 100% sustainably sourced and that’s passed through the supply chain. We expect all of our tier suppliers, as well as all the companies involved in the construction of the venues, to utilise that.”

Even the seats that will be used in the new 80,000 capacity Olympic Stadium – which will be scaled down to a 25,000 all-seater stadium at the end of the games – have been earmarked for either the 2016 Olympics or the Glasgow Commonwealth Games two years earlier.

And although London’s £9bn budget may pale in significance to the £26bn lavished on the 2008 games in the Chinese capital, Beijing, it appears to be setting a benchmark in sustainability that other Olympics will have to strive to match. A benchmark that would surely have received de Coubetin’s seal of approval.