European stakeholders are providing a set of guidelines for public authorities and contracting parties to support the introduction and use of Green Public Procurement.
Buying Green! - Handbook on green public procurement
Download the Handbook in 22 EU-languages :
 
You may also order the handbook for free.
This handbook
- has been established by the European Commission services
- explains in concrete terms how environmental considerations can be integrated into public procurement procedures
- clarifies the legal possibilities, as introduced and/or clarified by recent public procurement directives (2004/18/EC and 2004/17/EC), of integrating environmental considerations in a tender’s technical specifications, selection and award criteria and contract performance clauses
- takes into account the most recent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice in this area
- includes concrete examples of environmental tendering by local authorities in Europe
- is a strong promotional tool and primarily aimed at contracting authorities at all administrative levels
- is of particular use to local authorities, which may lack good legal and environmental advice
European and national Eco-labels
Eco-labels are consumer information tools, which provide information relating to the environmental characteristics of products and thus allow consumers to compare the environmental performance between products of the same type.
European Eco-labels and national eco-labels can be very useful for contracting authorities because they provide technical specifications that can be cut and pasted into tender documents. It is however vital that the used criteria are relevant to defining the characteristics of the concerned product, have been established on the basis of scientific information and through stakeholder consultation, and are accessible to all parties.
For detailed information please consult the Eco-label section of this website.
Further information on GPP and Eco-labels can be found in our leaflet and presentation.
More information on and links to national Eco-labels can be found in our Eco-label website
The Green Store - The European Eco-label catalogue
An EU Eco-label award scheme was set up in 1993 and was comprehensively revised in 2000. In all the considered product groups, the relevant ecological issues and the corresponding criteria have been identified on the basis of comprehensive studies covering the environmental aspects related to the life cycle of these products.
The Green Store can be consulted at the following address: http://www.eco-label.com
Detailed information on the different product groups and specifications can be found at: /ecolabel/product/index_en.htm
EIPRO – The Environmental Impacts of Products
The EIPRO study supports the development of an EU Integrated Product Policy by clarifying which products that are consumed in the EU have the greatest environmental impacts from a life-cycle perspective. For this purpose a methodology for identifying the products that are most suitable for greening needed to be developed and applied. The work started in January 2004 and was completed in May 2006. It was carried out with partner institutions of the European Science and Technology Observatory (ESTO).
Detailed information can be found in the project info sheet and the study reports.
Environmental IMprovement of PROducts (IMPRO)
After the EIPRO study, the IPTS continues its support to Integrated Product Policy by identifying possible ways in which the life-cycle environmental impacts can be reduced for some of the products that are among those with the greatest environmental impacts. The analysis will first consider improvement potentials that are technically feasible. Following this, the associated socio-economic impacts will be considered and analysed.
The first three groups of products that are among those with the greatest environmental impacts currently analysed are passenger cars, meat and dairy products, and housing.
The IMPRO project will be carried out in 2006-2007 and involve in-house research as well as external studies. The first initial results of the project are available on the project website.
LEAP - Local Authority EMAS and procurement
LEAP tries to examine how the management and implementation of green purchasing can be improved through integration with environmental management systems. It furthermore will develop practical approaches aimed at realising the environmental and financial benefits of joint procurement.
Several practical elements of LEAP are still under development,
but the LEAP
GPP Toolkit has already been finalised. Special attention
should be paid to the ‘Database
for Specifications, Products and Consortia’, which includes
an evaluation of over 100 environmental information sources
which could be useful for GPP.
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