Sustainable public procurement – How does the public sector buy?

The public sector procures a wide range of products and services – paper and office supplies, street cleaning vehicles, food in schools and canteens, workwear for firefighters and care workers, the construction and maintenance of roads and public buildings. If federal and state governments and municipal authorities consider sustainability aspects when purchasing goods and services, this makes an appreciable contribution to resource conservation, environmental protection, climate change mitigation and fair working conditions.

Public procurement functions as a model. If the letter from the government agency is printed on recycled paper and the school canteen offers organic food, this raises public awareness of sustainability as an issue. Sustainable public procurement promotes sustainable businesses and structures – locally and globally. Furthermore, the subsequent costs of sustainable products are often lower, for example in terms of energy consumption.

Taken together, the bodies that award public contracts have an enormous budget: the total is estimated at between 150 and 440 billion euros each year in Germany alone. However, this is spread across a large number of individual procurement departments in the various branches of national and local government. In consequence, many individual decisions in favour of sustainability must be made if the public sector is to wield its market power as a major consumer to full effect.