Green Public Procurement (GPP) News Alert

Big Buyers Working Together will gather public buyers across Europe in 10 communities of practice, focusing on Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicles, Social Procurement, New European Bauhaus, Sustainable Solar Panels, Circular Construction, Zero-Emission Construction Sites, Digital, Mobility and Health (x2), to collaborate on finding innovative, sustainable and social solutions to current procurement challenges. The project is coordinated on behalf of the European Commission by Eurocities, ICLEI and BME. Interested in joining? Email big.buyers@eurocities.eu

On 8 April 2022, Spain passed a new law (Law 7/2022) on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy. The legislation sets ambitious objectives and mandates a progressive increase in preparation for the reuse and recycling of municipal waste. In order to review the current status of introducing reuse in public procurement in Catalonia and identify best practices from across Europe, the DG for Environmental Quality and Climate Change of the Government of Catalonia has prepared an ‘Assessment of reuse in public procurement’.

UNOPS recently published its report on Gender-responsive Public Procurement (2023) which demonstrates how the organisation integrates gender-sensitive procurement into its activities, presents case studies and provides recommendations on how governments can better include women-owned businesses in the procurement processes. The report shows how gender equality considerations can be integrated into procurement policies and processes, pointing out that more effective public spending can also tackle social inequalities. It also recommends 5 steps to ensure the successful implementation of GRP.

Irish Ministers of State recently published a new procurement framework that allows the public sector to easily procure period products and no-cost vending machines for use in public offices, buildings and facilities. This follows the Programme for Government’s commitment to tackle period poverty and endorses the recommendation to develop a coordinated approach to the procurement of menstrual equality products. By using the framework, public bodies can absorb the costs of purchase and thereby offer the products for free in their bathrooms.