Green Procurement is defined as taking into account environmental criteria for goods and services to be purchased in order to ensure that the related environmental impact is minimized (Incite Sustainability, 2008: vii).An inherent feature of green procurement is the integration of environmental considerations into purchasing policies, programmes and actions (Stigson & Russell, 1998:9). The European Commission states that green public procurement should ideally cover areas such as the purchase of energy-efficient computers and buildings, office equipment made out of environmentally sustainable timber, recyclable paper, environmentally-friendly public transport, organic food in the cafeteria, electricity stemming from renewable energy sources and air conditioning systems complying with environmental solutions(European Commission, 2004:5). The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) recommends the inclusion of the construction of new buildings, restoration and renovation as well as the purchase of building material as one of the areas that have to be addressed when developing green procurement policies. The City of Tshwane Municipality (CoT) intends to move towards a green procurement practice. The City plans to attain the latter without deviating from the intentions and parameters of the South African Government’s procurement legislation and further more within the limits of its current budget constraints. The intention of the study was to investigate the feasibility of a green procurement practice in the CoT and to give special attention to low cost housing. The results of the study suggest that it is feasible to implement the practice. The City of Tshwane was found to have relevant and progressive policies in place and what was found lacking was the application and integration of the policies into existing programmes. Green procurement barriers that the CoT will have to overcome were identified as awareness, motivation, economic, legal, institutional, information and technical barriers. The study concludes with recommendations to the CoT with regard to potential opportunities the City can take advantage of when implementing a green procurement practice. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Green Procurement is defined as taking into account environmental criteria for goods and services to be purchased in order to ensure that the related environmental impact is minimized (Incite Sustainability, 2008: vii).An inherent feature of green procurement is the integration of environmental considerations into purchasing policies, programmes and actions (Stigson & Russell, 1998:9). The European Commission states that green public procurement should ideally cover areas such as the purchase of energy-efficient computers and buildings, office equipment made out of environmentally sustainable timber, recyclable paper, environmentally-friendly public transport, organic food in the cafeteria, electricity stemming from renewable energy sources and air conditioning systems complying with environmental solutions(European Commission, 2004:5). The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) recommends the inclusion of the construction of new buildings, restoration and renovation as well as the purchase of building material as one of the areas that have to be addressed when developing green procurement policies. The City of Tshwane Municipality (CoT) intends to move towards a green procurement practice. The City plans to attain the latter without deviating from the intentions and parameters of the South African Government’s procurement legislation and further more within the limits of its current budget constraints. The intention of the study was to investigate the feasibility of a green procurement practice in the CoT and to give special attention to low cost housing. The results of the study suggest that it is feasible to implement the practice. The City of Tshwane was found to have relevant and progressive policies in place and what was found lacking was the application and integration of the policies into existing programmes. Green procurement barriers that the CoT will have to overcome were identified as awareness, motivation, economic, legal, institutional, information and technical barriers. The study concludes with recommendations to the CoT with regard to potential opportunities the City can take advantage of when implementing a green procurement practice. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

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<p>The Swedish Road Administration (SRA) is responsible for maintenance of the state-run roads in Sweden. The SRA also has an overarching responsibility for the state of the environment in the road transport sector. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine the implementation of environmental requirements in SRA road maintenance contracts and to develop an improved model for the implementation of environmental requirements, making it easier for the SRA to establish an optimal contracting strategy for routine road maintenance. Using several qualitative methodologies, the thesis is mainly based on a content analysis of 18 tender documents, two case studies consisting of five cases and a questionnaire. The study shows that the SRA have stipulated environmental requirements in procurements of routine road maintenance since 1997. The formulation of the environmental requirements was initially carried out at the Regional Road Management Directorates. However, in the case of trucks and construction vehicles relevant organisations were given the opportunity to actively participate in the development of environmental requirements. The contractors in the study fulfil about three-quarters of the environmental requirements in the contracts. The main reasons for not complying with the environmental requirements are: i) absence of consultation with municipalities and competent authorities, and ii) inadequate communication of environmental requirements to subcontractors. The benefit to the environment of laying down environmental requirements for road maintenance is difficult to assess, due to unclear environmental requirements and the fact that the SRA does not systematically follow up the environmental requirements. The findings of the research indicate that the SRA have made a serious effort to integrate environmental aspects in their maintenance contracts through the use of environmental requirements. However, the SRA need to adopt a more systematic approach towards road maintenance contracts in order to make green procurement an effective tool for environmental adaptation of road maintenance. The thesis proposes an improved process for development, implementation and follow-up of environmental requirements. The proposed process can be summarised in five criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to achieve an environmentally efficient application of environmental requirements: i) the environmental requirements have to be based on legislation, environmental quality objectives, identified environmental problems and/or research, ii) environmental indicators and baselines have to be established in order to facilitate follow-up of compliance with the requirements, iii) the environmental requirements have to be stated clearly in order to limit misinterpretations and to facilitate follow-up, iv) the contractors have to develop working processes, routines and training based on the environmental requirements, v) routines for following-up compliance with the requirements and the environmental effectiveness need to be developed, and there has to be a feedback of the results. Furthermore, the purchasing function needs to be integrated with the implementation of the contracts. Although, having faced several problems during the introduction of environmental requirements, the SRA have managed to meet the main arguments that are used for justification of green procurement. However, if slightly changed, the process of green procurement has the potential of becoming an important tool in the work for enhancing the environmental performance of the SRA.</p>

The Swedish Road Administration (SRA) is responsible for maintenance of the state-run roads in Sweden. The SRA also has an overarching responsibility for the state of the environment in the road transport sector. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine the implementation of environmental requirements in SRA road maintenance contracts and to develop an improved model for the implementation of environmental requirements, making it easier for the SRA to establish an optimal contracting strategy for routine road maintenance. Using several qualitative methodologies, the thesis is mainly based on a content analysis of 18 tender documents, two case studies consisting of five cases and a questionnaire. The study shows that the SRA have stipulated environmental requirements in procurements of routine road maintenance since 1997. The formulation of the environmental requirements was initially carried out at the Regional Road Management Directorates. However, in the case of trucks and construction vehicles relevant organisations were given the opportunity to actively participate in the development of environmental requirements. The contractors in the study fulfil about three-quarters of the environmental requirements in the contracts. The main reasons for not complying with the environmental requirements are: i) absence of consultation with municipalities and competent authorities, and ii) inadequate communication of environmental requirements to subcontractors. The benefit to the environment of laying down environmental requirements for road maintenance is difficult to assess, due to unclear environmental requirements and the fact that the SRA does not systematically follow up the environmental requirements. The findings of the research indicate that the SRA have made a serious effort to integrate environmental aspects in their maintenance contracts through the use of environmental requirements. However, the SRA need to adopt a more systematic approach towards road maintenance contracts in order to make green procurement an effective tool for environmental adaptation of road maintenance. The thesis proposes an improved process for development, implementation and follow-up of environmental requirements. The proposed process can be summarised in five criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to achieve an environmentally efficient application of environmental requirements: i) the environmental requirements have to be based on legislation, environmental quality objectives, identified environmental problems and/or research, ii) environmental indicators and baselines have to be established in order to facilitate follow-up of compliance with the requirements, iii) the environmental requirements have to be stated clearly in order to limit misinterpretations and to facilitate follow-up, iv) the contractors have to develop working processes, routines and training based on the environmental requirements, v) routines for following-up compliance with the requirements and the environmental effectiveness need to be developed, and there has to be a feedback of the results. Furthermore, the purchasing function needs to be integrated with the implementation of the contracts. Although, having faced several problems during the introduction of environmental requirements, the SRA have managed to meet the main arguments that are used for justification of green procurement. However, if slightly changed, the process of green procurement has the potential of becoming an important tool in the work for enhancing the environmental performance of the SRA. / QC 20101012

Die Befragung „Ist-Stand der OP-Textilienversorgung in deutschen Krankenhäusern“, die eingebettet ist in das Forschungsvorhaben „Evaluierung von OP-Textilien nach hygienischen, ökologischen und ökonomischen Kriterien“, hat zum Ziel, den gegenwärtigen Stand der OP-Textilienversorgung zu erfassen. Für die Befragung, die sowohl web-basiert als auch postalisch im Zeitraum 11/2008 bis 02/2009 durchgeführt worden ist, wurden vorab alle Krankenhäuser und Kliniken in Deutschland kontaktiert, um den jeweiligen Ansprechpartner für die Beschaffung von OP-Textilien zu erhalten. Der Fragebogen gliedert sich in drei Teile: Abschnitt A: OP-Textilien mit den Unterabschnitten Allgemeines, Ausschreibung von OP-Textilien, OP-Mäntel, OP-Abdeckungen, OP-Kit-Packs, Ökonomische Analyse der OP-Textilienversorgung und Ökologische Bewertung der OP-Textilienversorgung; Abschnitt B: Umweltschutz im Krankenhaus und Abschnitt C: Angaben zum Krankenhaus. Zu den zentralen Ergebnissen der Befragung zählen, dass das Kriterium Versorgungssicherheit das wichtigste Kriterium bei der Ausschreibung ist, gefolgt von Zuverlässigkeit und Reinigungsqualität; dass sowohl Einweg-OP-Mäntel als auch -OP-Abdeckungen häufiger angewendet werden als Mehrweg-Textilien; dass der Tragekomfort der Mehrweg-Mäntel als deutlich besser eingestuft wird als der der Einweg-Mäntel. Ein ähnliches Ergebnis zeigt sich bei der Umweltfreundlichkeit von OP-Mänteln und OP-Abdeckungen. Weiterhin zeigte die Untersuchung, dass eine ökonomische Bewertung bisher häufiger vorgenommen wurde als eine ökologische Bewertung. Bei ökonomischen Analysen, die in den meisten Fällen durch ein krankenhausinternes Team durchgeführt wurden, wurden weitestgehend die Anschaffungskosten/ Miet- bzw. Leasingrate als Kriterium herangezogen. Im Rahmen der ökologischen Bewertung sind vor allem Kriterien wie schadstoffarmer Abfall, geringe Umweltbelastung und wenig schädliche Stoffe von Bedeutung. Insgesamt wird der Umweltschutz tendenziell als wichtig eingeschätzt, wobei die am häufigsten vertretenen Umweltschutzmaßnahmen die Beachtung von Umweltkriterien bei der Beschaffung, die/der Umweltbeauftragte/r und die Zertifizierung nach ISO 14001 sind.

Bakgrund: Dagens globalisering har möjliggjort en ökad handel mellan länder vilket har inneburit en ökad konsumtion och i sin tur en större negativ miljöpåverkan. Denna miljöpåverkan sker på grund av att produkterna som anskaffas leder till föroreningar genom avlägsna producenter och långa transportsträckor samt genom en icke-miljövänlig produktion. Att se över sina försörjningsstrategier blir alltså allt viktigare och Green sourcing bör övervägas framför traditionella sourcing strategier. Konceptet är relativt nytt och befinner sig fortfarande i utvecklingsfasen där fullständig forskning om Green sourcing saknas. Genom den begränsade forskning som finns inom området kan ett forskningsgap utskiljas då Green sourcing ännu inte utforskats inom offentligheten. Kommunerna har ett ansvar att tillfredsställa det samhälleliga behovet och upprätthålla ordningen. Detta ska de göra och samtidigt ta hänsyn till Lagen om offentlig upphandling och upphandlingsprocess. Dessa två faktorer påverkar kommunernas arbete med Green sourcing då regelverken sätter ramar och begränsningarna för hur arbetet ska gå till. Problemformulering: Hur omsätter offentlig verksamhet Green sourcing i praktiken med avseende på regelverken de måste förhålla sig till? Syfte: Syftet med detta ämnesfördjupande arbete är att identifiera goda exempel på hur kommunerna arbetar med att omsätta Green sourcing i praktiken samtidigt som de förhåller sig till Lagen om offentlig upphandlings regelverk och upphandlingsprocess. Metod: En kvalitativ undersökningsdesign har använts vid denna studie där semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer har genomförts med 5 kommuner. De deltagande kommunerna är Helsingborg, Malmö, Växjö, Älmhult och Örebro kommun. Slutsats: Resultatet visar att det finns en plattform för att arbeta med Green sourcing i offentlig verksamhet med avseende på regelverken de måste förhålla sig till. Samtliga kommuner arbetar med miljöfrågor men de har kommit olika långt för hur de går tillväga för att nå sina hållbarhetsmål. Studien visar att kommunerna genomför flera av aktiviteterna som Green sourcing bygger på, även om de inte arbetar utifrån konceptet som helhet. Goda exempel på hur de omsätter Green sourcing är genom att inkludera miljökrav i sina upphandlingar som ställer krav på leverantörens produktion, produkter och transportslag. De utför själva transportplaneringar i form av samordnade varudistributioner och ruttplaneringar för att minska miljöpåverkan. För att handskas med LOUs bestämmelser genomför kommunerna uppdelningar av upphandlingarna, ställer krav på att leverantören ska ha en verkstad i nära anslutning till kommunen och att produkterna uppfyller samma grunder som en önskad certifiering.

Žalieji pirkimai, kurių metu atsižvelgiama ne tik į galutinę produkto kainą, bet taip pat ir produktų aplinkosauginius kriterijus, palaipsniui turės sudaryti didžiąją dalį vykdomų viešųjų pirkimų. Šių pirkimų skatinimu ypač suinteresuota ES, todėl kuriama ir įgyvendinama savita ES žaliųjų pirkimų skatinimo politika, leidžiami privalomi šalims narėms teisės aktai bei rekomendacinio pobūdžio metodinė žaliųjų pirkimo skatinimo medžiaga. Vis dėlto, už žaliųjų pirkimų skatinimą šalies viduje atsakinga kiekviena valstybė atskirai, todėl žaliųjų pirkimų įgyvendinimo mastas šalyje priklausys nuo to, kiek pati valstybė bus suinteresuota skatinti šiuos pirkimus. Rengiant darbą buvo nagrinėjami tokie klausimai: pirmoje dalyje analizuojama žaliųjų pirkimų samprata, raida, teoriniai šių pirkimų organizavimo aspektai. Antroje dalyje analizuojama ES žaliųjų pirkimų politika bei stebima kaip šie pirkimai įgyvendinami konkrečiose ES šalyse. Trečioje dalyje analizuojama Lietuvos žaliųjų pirkimų įgyvendinimo politika, stebima kaip šie pirkimai skatinami, koks realus jų įgyvendinimo mastas, taip pat atliekamas tyrimas su perkančiųjų organizacijų viešųjų pirkimų organizavimo specialistais siekiant išskirti praktines žaliųjų pirkimų organizavimo problemas bei susisteminti siūlymus kaip būtų galima skatinti šių pirkimų įgyvendinimą Lietuvoje. Atlikus perkančiųjų organizacijų tyrimą paaiškėjo, jog nors Lietuvoje žaliesiems pirkimams organizuoti sudarytos visos teisinės bei techninės galimybės... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / While implementing the green procurement, organizations must also take environmental criteria into account. Gradually these procurements will have to make a big part of all the public procurements. EU is very concerned in stimulating green procurements and this is the reason why EU institutions create and implement its own green procurement policy. Compulsory legislation and methodical recomendations of education are being promulgated as well. Anyway, every country is responsible for its own implementation of green purchasing, so the implementation of green procurements will be as significant as the main governmental institutions will be concerned about the stimulation of these procurements. While preparing this Paper, the following tasks were investigated: in the first part of the Paper the conception, the evolution and theorethical aspects of the green purchasing were analysed; the second part of this Paper includes the analysis of the EU green procurement policy and the the observation of an implementation of these procurement in EU countries; in the third part of this Paper, green procurement policy in Lithuania was analysed. The main task was to observe how procurements are being simulated and what is the scale of the implementation of these procurements. Also the survey with workers who are responsible for organizing public procurements was conducted in order to find out the main problems in organizing green procurements and to get the suggestions how could the... [to full text]

The construction sector has been greatly responsible for environmental pollution and problems related to sustainability. Hence, there is a crucial need to improve the sector’s environmental performance. In terms of assessing the environmental impacts of the construction sector at project and strategic level, policy instruments such as project-based environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) play an important role. Another policy instrument, namely, green procurement has started to gain attention in the construction sector. Green procurement is a process that involves the incorporation of environmental requirements during the procurement of services and products. However, discussions on green procurement are rarely seen during the impact assessment (EIA and SEA) phase. Moreover, the construction process is usually multi-tiered, involving several stakeholders with varied objectives, which often leads to challenges concerning the translation of information produced in the impact assessment phase into action (during the construction phase). Therefore, this thesis aimed at analysing the way through which EIA as well as green procurement can improve the coordination between planning and construction phases. The thesis is based on literature review and interviews. This study envisaged an inter-connected process for EIA and green procurement, and reviewed the state of the art to motivate the postulation of such an inter-connected process. In addition, this study also reviewed recent development within procurement contracts, and focused on partnering in the construction industry. The results indicated that it would be appropriate to introduce green procurement during the pre-decision phase of an EIA. Further, the thesis chose renewable energy as a parameter for green procurement, and explored the perspectives of various categories of stakeholders in the Swedish construction on the inter-link between impact assessment and green procurement. The perspectives of the interviewed stakeholders indicate that the inter-link is required. However, the interview results show that there is a tendency in the Swedish construction sector to adopt various commercially available environmental assessment and certification tools. Furthermore, the thesis has mapped directions for future research. Future study should focus on the establishment of mechanisms for inter-connecting impact assessment and green procurement. It should investigate how the inter-link could be facilitated by certification tools being adopted. The future research should also examine how the inter-link can be developed together with concerned stakeholders through partnering. / QC 20111207 / Improving the environmental performance of the construction sector through linking environmental impact assessment and green procurement

<p>In recent years, the general awareness of the environmental impacts that industrial production gives rise to has radically increased throughout the world. Finding ways to minimise these impacts has become a major concern of the authorities in many countries. In order to promote a more sustainable industrial production, different incentives can be used. Among these incentives, the consideration of environmental issues in public procurement is increasingly being emphasised.</p><p>While much attention regarding sustainable procurement has centred on the purchase of products, this thesis focuses on green procurement of construction contracts. The construction industry is a major contributor to environmental pollution. It consumes about half of all resources humans take from nature and accounts for about 25 – 40 per cent of all energy used and about 30 – 50 per cent of all waste generated in OECD countries.</p><p>In the procurement of products, the environmental impacts of the available products can be estimated and compared, for example by using tools such as life cycle assessments. When construction contracts are procured, assessing the suppliers’ environmental capabilities can be more challenging, as the contract to be procured has not yet been performed. However, at the same time, there are considerably more opportunities to steer the construction towards more environmentally friendly alternatives.</p><p>In the thesis, it is suggested that the environmental requirements and the environmental criteria for tender evaluation should be used in combination, in order to safeguard environmental performance in the construction project and at the same time stimulate a green development within the industrial sector. In addition, the role of the client in ensuring that the environmental requirements are fulfilled during construction work is emphasised.</p>