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Buying Green! A Handbook on environmental
public procurement

• DG Environment

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Further promotion of GPPand Eco-label

• CE has published a Handbook on GPP - August 2004
  (SEC(2004/1050)

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The Handbook

• Published in August 2004
• Translated in all other EU languages in 2005
• Clear overview of all stages of public
  procurement procedure and corresponding
  possibilities for introducing environmental
  considerations
• Many best practice examples
• EUROPA - Environment - The greening of public
  procurement

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Green purchasing strategies

• Public purchasers are recommended to
• Train purchasing staff
• Set priorities opt for
• step-by-step approach (first win-wins, then more
  complex procedures..)
• focussed approach (energy efficiency, recycled
  content..)
• Make available guidelines, databases..

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Some examples

• The Nordic Council of Ministers has produced two
  brochures on the subject of green public
  procurement. One aims at local politicians and
  public sector managers. The other is aimed at
  procurement officers. http//www.grip.no/Innkjop/E
  nglish/nordic_brochures.htm

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Some examples

• Environmental practice guide in Barcelona
• GreenOfficeGuide.pdf

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Some examples

• Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and
  Environment - Environment Service Cyprus
• Site promotes products and services which are
• more energy efficient and in general more
  economic in their operation.
• either less or preferably not polluting as
  compared to other products that serve the same
  purpose.
• durable, easily upgraded and repairable.
• reusable and markets and the infrastructure exist
  for recycling them at the end of their life.

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How to organise a  green  public procurement
process?

• Identify your need subject matter of contract
• Technical specifications
• Selection criteria
• Award criteria
• Contract clauses

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Subject matter

• i.e. furniture stemming from sustainably
  harvested woods..
• Most transparent way to inform bidders
• May be inappropriate if public purchaser lacks
  knowledge on existence/availability or cost of
   green alternatives to product/service
  purchased

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Some examples

• Food from Organic farming in Ferrara, Italy
• After feasability studygt list of products with
  equivalent cost gt now 50 of all food offered
  in public canteens organic, 80 of food in
  nurseries

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Technical specifications

• Defined
• EITHER by reference to standards
• OR by reference to performance based or
  functional requirements
• gt to allow tenders based on different kind of
  technical solutions, including environmental
  requirements
• Can include environmental friendly production
  processes

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GPP and Environmental Technologies

• By using performance based specifications, Public
  authorities can
• act as launching customers and support diffusion
  of recently developed Environmental Technologies
• trigger the development of new technologies

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Environmental Database

• Basic environmental information refers to
  national and EU eco-labels where appropriate
• Useful for  starters  - to be complemented
• http//europa.eu.int/comm/environment/gpp/guidelin
  es.htmdatabase

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Some examples

• Construction sector gt French HQE method ( Haute
  Qualité Environnementale ) focuses on designing
  buildings that use less water and energy and
  require less maintenance

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GPP and eco-labels

• Underlying technical specifications can be used
  in tender documents
• Eco-label can be recognised as a (non-exclusive)
  proof of compliance with technical specifications
• i.e. Europen eco-label
• mostly for products refrigerators, copiers,
  computers, paper..

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Some examples

• EU eco-label for light bulbs prescribes minimum
  life-span of 10 000 hours gt could be set as a
  minimal technical specification

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Selection criteria

• Exclusion - i.e. if conviction for environmental
  offence
• Technical - i.e. specific equipment enabling
  provision of  green  services/works
  certificate of conformity of product to  green 
  standards

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GPP and Environmental management schemes

• EMAS (or equivalent systems) can be used by
  bidders to prove compliance with environmental
  selection criteria
• For example waste management contract requires
  specific environmental capabilities/equipment gt
  EMAS (or equivalent) statement can prove this

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Some examples

• Austria Glas Recycling GmbH listed on EMAS list
  gt
• EMAS statement will provide proof of its
  environmental capacity in a tender for provision
  of recycling services

Willkommen bei der AUSTRIA GLAS RECYCLING
GMBHA-1020 Wien, Obere Donaustr. 71 - Tel.
43/1/214 49 00, Fax [phone], e-mail
agr_at_agr.atUID-Nummer ATU 14979503,
Firmenbuchnummer 114107f, Sitz Wien,
Handelsgericht Wien, zuständige Aufsichtsbehörde
BMLFUW
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Award criteria

• even if no economic advantage as such (i.e.
  buses/trams with reduced noise)
• even if no direct environmental advantage for
  contracting authority (i.e. wood stemming from
  sustainably harvest forests)
• may relate to  green  production processes gt
• extra points if (part of) supplied electricity
  stems from renewable energy sources
• Life Cycle Cost to make GPP economically
  attractive

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Life Cycle Cost as award criterion

• Acquisition costs (purchase, installation,
  transport)
• Operating costs (energy/water consumption, annual
  licence fees, maintenance, staff, training,
  insurance premiums, environmental taxes)
• Disposal costs (site clean up, refuse collection,
  recycling costs)

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Contract clauses

• i.e. delivery in bulk (not in separate
  containers) or by railway
• i.e. workers having to comply with specific
  environmental guidelines on the construction site
• Non-discriminatory, no disguised technical
  specifications or selection criteria

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Conclusion

• EU is committed to GPP
• GPP is an important instrument for achieving
  sustainable development
• GPP can pull new environmental technologies into
  the market place
• EU will further promote GPP

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Conclusion

• Your support needed to distribute handbook in
  respective Member States
• Handbook can be easily integrated into general
  public procurement training
• TAIEX representative will explain how to organise
  bilateral workshops on (green) public procurement
  under TAIEX in the respective Member States

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addresses

• European Commission
• Environment Directorate-General
• Directorate G Sustainable development and
  integration
• 1049 Brussels
• Belgium
• mailtojill.michielssen_at_cec.eu.int
• http//europa.eu.int/comm/environment/gpp/
• http//europa.eu.int/comm/environment/etap/index.h
  tm