Measures to promote the greening of public procurement
About this good practice
GPP is intended to contribute to the reduction of the negative impacts of production and consumption, promote eco-innovation and the transformation of the markets towards the green and circular economy. As indicated in the Government of Catalonia Agreement on Public Procurement Measures of 9 December 2009, General Directorate of Environmental Quality and Climate Change is preparing greening guidelines that will allow the departments of Government and public companies to incorporate criteria for greening their contracts. EMAS has been considered in the following guidelines:
a) Guidelines for environmentally friendly events
General environmental criteria for the accreditation of technical solvency: contractors must demonstrate its technical or professional capacity to manage the environmental aspects related to the scope of the service/contract through an environmental management system such as EMAS, ISO 14001 or equivalent or an environmental policy and environmental procedures.
b) Guidelines for environmentally friendly textile
Ecodesign criteria incorporated to the products:
- UNE 150301 or ISO 14006 certification
- EMAS registration and/or ISO14001 and the environmental policy which must include ecodesign as an objective, or equivalent.
c) Guidelines for the adoption of environmental criteria in maintenance contracts for building installations
d) Guide to the greening of collective canteens
Accreditation of technical solvency of the company: EMAS, ISO 14001 or equivalent.
Resources needed
Although the promotional incentive doesn't require high technical effort to be adopted, for the preparation of the guides, the department of the public administration responsible should have qualified staff with knowledge in the consideration of environmental aspects in the public procurements.
Evidence of success
Although the guides are addressed to public administrations, they should also be useful for any interested parties. The promotional incentive is very welcome by EMAS registered organizations and it's a potential measure to increase the number of EMAS registers. The inclusion of environmental criteria in public procurement procedures is highly relevant today in many strategic sectors of Catalonia, and public procurement is a relevant inductor of local productive sectors, especially SMEs.
Potential for learning or transfer
a) The application of the criteria consider different services generated by the celebration of an event. It's considered that the environmental benefit is high, as it's a scalable solution with high impact on certain environmental aspects generated by this activity.
b) The application of the criteria of this measure is established for textile products procurement, and takes into consideration that the environmental policy of the organization includes ecodesign as an objective; therefore it’s considered that the environmental benefit is high, as it's a scalable measure with potential influence in the field of innovative public procurement.
c) The application of this measure is established for maintenance contracts for building installations with wide repercussion on the suppliers of the organization to carry out the works; therefore it’s considered that the environmental benefit is high, as it's a scalable measure, with high potencial impact in the hiring chain.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Departament d'Acció Climàtica, Alimentació i Agenda Rural, Generalitat de Catalunya