GPPNews Alert
In our 100th edition of the GPP News Alert, we would like to
take the opportunity to provide you with a short recap on some of
the services and material available on green procurement on the
European Commission’s (EC) website.
Specific guidance in the form of Green (GPP) Criteria for
inclusion in public tendering documents are available online (in
all EU official EU languages) for 20 product/service areas. The
criteria are complemented by a modular Training Toolkit (available
in several EU languages) to assist public bodies in their
implementation challenges. How this is all done in practice has
been documented in the form of good practice case studies. To date
188 good practice cases of how public authorities in Europe have
specifically greened one or several of their purchases have been
published. Cases cover over 21 product/service areas, and each case
has a designated contact person should any questions arise.
What’s more, webinars on concrete topics of interest are
organised on a biannual basis by the EC. If there are unclarities
with any of the material, policies or initiatives undertaken by the
Commission, or you have a specific question on green purchasing (of
a legal nature or not), you can send it to the GPP Helpdesk for
answering. The Helpdesk service was set up in 2010 and still runs
today.
Celebrating 100 issues of the GPP News Alert!
The European Commission has launched two public consultations on
the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Energy
Efficiency Directive. These seek a wide range of views (from public
entities, companies, NGOs, academia, etc.) on to what extent and
how these two directives should be revised following the EC’s more
ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets. Consultation runs until
9 February. More information
Zoom in on... Energy efficiency and renewable energy
For those who could not take part in the webinar on green
procurement and Data Centres (on 10 November), you may be
interested in listening to the recording or downloading the
presentations. These are now available here.
Zoom in on... Webinar on Data Centres – recording available
Image: Pexels / Gustavo Fring
Pexels / Brett Sayles
Pexels / Valentin Antonucci
November2020
100100Issue no.
Interview with Alexandra Thempler de Leeneer - a corporate
social responsibility consultant who works on sustainable public
procurement for the City of Copenhagen.
Can you tell us how Copenhagen’s ecolabel policy works in
practice?
The Ecolabel Policy adopted by the Copenhagen City Council’s
Finance Committee in 2017 states that selected categories of goods
and services
should be purchased using technical specifications based on
ecolabels, such as official Danish ecolabels, the Nordic Swan
Ecolabel, or the EU Ecolabel.
Furthermore, the policy also requires that dialogues with the
market on two product categories be carried out annually to help
develop the markets for ecolabelled products. Initially, 26 product
categories of goods and services were selected for this process,
based on the availability of labels in the market.
To read the interview in full, click here.
Making the most of Ecolabels in public procurement
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/eu_gpp_criteria_en.htmhttps://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/eu_gpp_criteria_en.htmhttps://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/toolkit_en.htmhttps://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/case_group_en.htmhttps://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/case_group_en.htmhttps://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/webinars_en.htmhttps://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/helpdesk.htmhttps://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12553-Revision-of-the-Renewable-Energy-Directive-EU-2018-2001https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12553-Revision-of-the-Renewable-Energy-Directive-EU-2018-2001https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12552-Review-of-Directive-2012-27-EU-on-energy-efficiencyhttps://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12552-Review-of-Directive-2012-27-EU-on-energy-efficiencyhttps://ec.europa.eu/info/news/public-consultations-launched-reviewing-eu-directives-energy-efficiency-and-renewable-energy-2020-nov-17_enhttps://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/webinars_en.htmhttp://www.nordic-ecolabel.org/http://www.nordic-ecolabel.org/https://www.eu-ecolabel.de/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/news_alert/Issue_100_Interview.pdf
GPP Issue no. 100 I November 2020News Alert
Zoom in on... Social responsibility
To read more GPP examples, visit the European Commission’s GPP
website. Previous issues of the GPP News Alert are available
here.
The GPP News Alert is an initiative of the European Commission,
Directorate-General Environment. Editor: EU GPP Helpdesk Email:
[email protected] The articles published in the GPP News Alert
represent the personal views of the contributors and do not
necessary reflect those of the European Commission, nor any person
acting on its behalf.
GPP good practice
National framework contract for paper with environmental
requirements (Slovenia)
Zoom in on... Nature based solutions A number of case studies
and recommendations have been put forward in an independent expert
report published in October by the European Commission on Public
Procurement of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). NBS benefit
biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of ecosystem
services.
The European Commission has published a report of 71 good
practice cases on how public buyers have implemented socially
responsible public procurement (SRPP) to promote employment
opportunities, decent work, social inclusion, accessibility and
ethical trade. Written by ICLEI and AIEDL with the support of
Public Procurement Analysis, Dialog Makarna and Social Economy
Europe, the report aims to inspire those influencing public
procurement purses. Read the report here, see the video and follow
the campaign on Twitter (#WeBuySocialEU).
One of the responsibilities of the Slovenian government’s Public
Procurement Directorate is joint procurement on behalf of other
contracting authorities in the country. In 2020, the Directorate
began a significant undertaking for the set up of an umbrella
framework agreement to service the office paper needs of 180 public
bodies, including ministries, municipalities, courts, and other
public agencies. The three-year contract is worth over €8 million.
The Public Procurement Directorate sought to make it easier for
contracting authorities in Slovenia to purchase environmentally
friendly paper by establishing the framework agreement.
In the pre-procurement phase, the Directorate carried out a
preliminary expert dialogue with the Pulp and Paper Institute,
Ljubljana, which is a research and development centre providing
knowledge and testing facilities for industry. The outcome of this
dialogue not only helped to inform the tender documentation for
this procurement, but was also used to update Slovenia’s national
example green public procurement (GPP) criteria set, which are
provided to help public procurers achieve the environmental goals
set in its GPP Regulation. The pre-procurement dialogue has been
viewed as fundamental for the success of this procurement
action.
In terms of environmental requirements, the office paper
purchased is made from elemental chlorine free (ECF) fibres. And at
least 50% of primary fibres must originate from sustainably managed
forests. Minimum 65% recycled (ECF) fibres were required for
suppliers of recycled paper. Paper labelled with a Type I ecolabel
(or other appropriate means of proof ) was required for ensuring
that the green requirements were met.
Download the full case study here.
Pexels / Pixabay
Pixabay / Goumbik
Pexels / Fauxels
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/case_group_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/alert_en.htmhttps://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d75b2354-11bc-11eb-9a54-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-166334197https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d75b2354-11bc-11eb-9a54-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-166334197https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e8cf51d0-f632-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e8cf51d0-f632-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1http://www.iclei-europe.org/https://www.aeidl.eu/en/https://www.procurementanalysis.eu/https://dialogmakarna.se/https://dialogmakarna.se/https://www.socialeconomy.eu.org/https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e8cf51d0-f632-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sri4Hdd6-cQhttps://twitter.com/hashtag/webuysocialeuhttps://www.gov.si/en/state-authorities/ministries/ministry-of-public-administration/about-the-ministry/public-procurement-directorate/https://www.gov.si/en/state-authorities/ministries/ministry-of-public-administration/about-the-ministry/public-procurement-directorate/http://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=URED7202http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/news_alert/Issue_100_Case_Study_188_Slovenia.pdf
