selected approaches to sustainable public procurement policies

Selected approaches to sustainable public procurement policies:

Cases of the US and Japan

Chikako Takase

Division for Sustainable Development

DESA/UN

The United States of America

• Federal Government’s procurement size:$275 billion per year

• Legislations:± The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 1976± Executive Order 13101, 1998: Greening the Government Through Waste

Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition (supersedes Executive Order 12873)

Other relevant legislation / regulation° The Federal Acquisition Regulation° Executive Order 13148 (2000): Greening the Government

Through Leadership in Environmental Management° Executive Order 13149 (2000): Greening the Government

Through Federal Fleet and Transportation Efficiency

RCRA

• EPA to identify products made with recycled waste materials or solid waste by-products to develop guidance for purchasing these products

⇒Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG)• Procurement Agencies to establish programs for

purchasing these products (Affirmative Procurement Programs) within one year after EPA designates an item in CPG when spending more than $10,000 a year on that item, including micro-purchases.

• Procurement Agencies: federal, state, and local agencies, their contractors that use appropriated federal funds

CPG• Designates products that are or can be made with recovered

materials.• Once a product is designated, procurement agencies are

required to purchase it with the highest recovered material content level practicable.

• Recovered Materials Advisory Notices (RMAN) recommend recycled-content ranges for CPG products.

• EPA’s list of designated products: 54 products, 8 categories: Construction products; Landscaping products; Non-paper Office products; Paper and paper products; Park and Recreation products; Transportation products; Vehicular products; and Miscellaneous products

CPG

• Each category:

- Recommended Recovered Materials Content Ranges:

Postconsumer content

Total Recovered Materials content

- Product specifications:

Relevant published specification

- Product information:

Database of manufacturers and suppliers

Link to GSA Advantage! (on-line order system)

- Additional Links

CPG – example: Office Recycling Containers

• EPA's Recommended Recovered Materials Content Levels:

• Additional Links:2000 Buy-Recycled Series: Non-paper Office ProductsTechnical Background Documents

25 – 50--

-100

25 – 5040

40 - 80

-Corrugated-Solid fiber boxes-Industrial paperboard

Paper

20 - 100Plastic

Total recovered materials content

Postconsumer contentMa

Materials

Executive Order 13101 (1998): Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition

⇒⇒Encourages federal agencies to buy products that are environmentally preferable and/or bio-based

• Environmentally preferable products: Those that have a lesser or reduced adverse effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products that serve the same purpose.

⇒EPA to develop guidance on environmentally preferable products.

⇒⇒ Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) program

Executive Order 13101 (1998):

• Biobased products: Those made from biological products or renewable domestic agricultural (plant, animal, and marine) or forestry materials.⇒USDA to compile a list of biobased products.⇒Section 9002 of the 2002 farm bill (Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002) establishes a Federal biobased products purchasing program similar to the buy-recycled program under RCRA. ⇒ Plans to designate products in 11 categories: Adhesives; Construction materials and composites; Fibers, paper and packaging; Fuels and fuel additives; Inks; Landscaping materials and composted livestock and crop residue; Lubricants and functional fluids; Paints and coatings; Plastics – monomers and polymers; Solvents and cleaners; Sorbents

EPP program

• A federal-wide program that encourages and assists Executive agencies in the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services.

• EO 13101, section 503:

(1) EPA to develop guidance

(2) agencies to immediately test and evaluate the principles and concepts contained in the EPA Guidance through pilot projects

EPP program

EPA‘s Final Guidance on EPP, 1999

• Guiding principles:

• Recommends that each Executive agency issue a Policy Directive promoting the practice

• Recommends that agencies expand the scope of their affirmative procurement programs to include environmentally preferable products and services

• Pilot projects

• EPA to coordinate the development and standardization of environmental information about potential product and services

EPA ‘s Final Guidance on EPP, 1999

• Guiding principles:

� Environment + Price + Performance = EPP

� Pollution Prevention

� Life Cycle Perspective / Multiple Attributes

� Comparison of Environmental Impacts

� Environmental Performance Information

EPP program

• Database of Environmental Information for Products and Services includes vender lists of:

- Environmental information on over 600 products and services

- Links to: ØContract language and specifications

ØEnvironmental standards and guidelines

ØVender list of products brands which meet the above through the links to other databases, eg. Energy Star

ØOther sources of information

Results of reviews

Ref.: ÜQualitative Measurement of Environmentally Preferable

Purchasing Among Federal Employees in 2000, EPA

ÜBetter Guidance and Monitoring Needed to Assess purchases of Environmentally Friendly Products, US General Accounting Office (GSA), 2001

EPA study• Interview with more than 130 federal employees

involving in procurement

• In order to:ØStudy federal procurement practices and behaviours

ØExplore what motivates the federal workers to link environment to purchasing-related decision-making

ØTest the recognition and usefulness of the EPP outreach materials

GSA Study

• Four agencies that account for 85% of all federal procurements:

v Department of Defense

v Department of Energy

v General Services Administration (GSA)

v NASA

• To determine the status of federal agencies’ efforts to:Ø Implement RCRA requirements for procuring products with

recycled-contentsØ Purchase environmentally preferable and biobased products

Key Findings

Ø Identifying products using the guidance is difficult and time-consumingØAgencies have not adequately monitored their

purchasesØ Promotion of awareness about RCRA is limitedØAgencies have not changed to increase the

purchases of EP and biobased products` EPA and USDA have been slow to develop and

implement the programs

ØAgencies indicated that it would be easier, if there is a product list as in CPG

Key Findings (continued)

ØEO provisions on the “Greening of Government” are not perceived to be mandates

ØAgency- or department-specific mandates motivate federal purchasers more than EOs

Ø Few recognized EPP

ØResponsibility for EPP is perceived as lying elsewhere

ØAwareness of EPP tools and resources is low

Japan

• 1996 – 2000: Action Plan for Greening Government Operations

• 2001 - : The Law Concerning the Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the Sate and Other Entities

(Law on Promotion of Green Purchasing)

Action Plan for Greening Government Operations• Specific targets: compared to 1996 level

1. The volume of paper: no increase

2. Total content of virgin pulp in the paper: to be reduced to 80 %

3. The ratio of low-impact vehicles: to be increased to 10% of the total

4. Electricity consumption per unit of office space: to be reduced to 90 %

5. Water consumption per unit of office space: to be reduced to 90 %

6. The amount of fuel consumption by government vehicles, for both gasoline and light oil: 90 %

7. The amount of fuel consumption in government buildings for heavy oil, kerosene, city gas, LPG: to reduce by 10 %

8. The volume of waste generated from each office: to be reduced to less than 75 %

9. The volume of waste which can be incinerated: to be reduced to less than 70 %

10. Emission of CO2: to be limited based on the Action Program to arrest Global Warming. The level to be estimated by the end of FY1996

Action Plan for Greening Government Operations

• Targets achievedü The content of virgin pulp:44 %ü Water consumption: 82 %

ü Gasoline consumption by cars: 88%

ü LPG consumption in government buildings: 4 %

• Targets unmetÐ Volume of paper: 109 %Ð Low-impact cars: 5 %Ð Electricity consumption: 115 %Ð Light oil consumption by cars:

97 %Ð Heavy oil consumption: 92 %Ð Kerosene consumption: 99 %Ð City gas consumption: 152 %Ð The volume of waste: 132 %Ð The volume of waste that can

be incinerated: 143 %

The Law Concerning the Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the Sate and Other Entities (Law on Promotion of Green Purchasing): 2001 -

• Objectives:1. To promote Greener Purchasing by Public Organizations

2. To provide information on Eco-friendly goods and servicesa Establishing environmentally sound and sustainable society

• Basic Policy on Promoting Green purchasing

• Database on eco-friendly goods, etc.

Basic Policy on Promoting Green Purchasing

• Outlines the basic principle• Defines “eco-friendly goods, etc.• Identifies designated procurement items

specifies Environmental Evaluation Criteria_152 items

• Government bodies to publish a quantified procurement target for designated procurement items and the summary of track record


• Designated Products and CriteriaExample: Paperv Copier paperw Evaluation Criteria

1) 100 % recycled paper content and no more than approximately 70 % bleaching;

2) If coated, both sides totaling no more than 12 g/m2

w Factors for consideration

Packaging takes into account ease of recycling and reduced environmental impact if incinerated

Database for designated products by the Law on Promoting Green Purchasing

• Hosted by Green Purchasing Network (GPN)

• Information is submitted by suppliers

• Information includes:¹ Name of the commodity

¹ Name of the producer

¹ Value for each evaluation criterionEg. For Copier paper: content of recycled paper

degree of bleachingamount of coating


• Reporting: Fixed formata. Category and itemb. Target (as a ratio of total amount)c. Total amount of procurementd. Procurement of designated iteme. Ratio of procurement of designated item (d/c)f. Achievement (e/b)g. Procurement of items surpassing the level of designated

item: amount, descriptionh. Procurement of items under the level of designated

item: amount, description, main reason

Comparison of US and Japanese approaches

• USA: The findings of the review:

Ø Need specific programsØ Agency-specific mandate is

needed

Ø Lack of monitoringØ Easier to have a list of

designated products

• Japan: Law on Promoting Green Purchasing

ü Basic Policy

ü Government bodies are required to make their own plans

ü Requirement for publishing the reports

ü List of designated products with criteria

ü Database for products

Green Purchasing Network (GPN)

• Established in 1996 to promote green purchasing

• As of June 2002, 2668 member organizations:

2038 corporations

362 local gov. and government agencies

268 NGOs

• Publishes purchasing guidelines: 15 product groups

• Publishes GPN Data Books: 16 product groups, 9144 products

GPN: Data Book

• Both hard copies and on-line

• Example: PaperáWhether the product meets the criteria of the Green Procurement

Lawá Proportion of recycled waste paperá Degree of bleaching

á Proportion of elemental chlorine free (ECF) pulpá Amount of coatingá Difficulty with recycling

á Nature of the pulpá Other environmental informationáMajor usage and special features