Environmental Protection Agency: Govt depts missing chances for 'green' purchasing

EPA director general Laura Burke said: "The purchasing power of Ireland’s government sector has significant potential to reduce emissions and protect our environment while saving money over the full lifecycle of goods and services. File photo: Julien Behal

Contracts tendered by Government departments for works are falling woefully short of including so-called "green criteria", with less than a fifth doing so, according to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA said it was a "missed opportunity" that a mere 17%, or €53m, of contracts over €25,000, worth some €320m in total, were deemed to include green criteria. Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a process where public authorities seek to source goods, services or works with reduced environmental impact.

Green Public Procurement (GPP) has an important role to play in our transition from a linear to a circular economy as it supports the development of new markets for sustainable goods and services. More info: https://t.co/jry2PwOKEH#circulareconomy pic.twitter.com/Wp0zIUwUcp

— EPA Ireland (@EPAIreland) April 8, 2022

Priority contracts for various departments included projects involving transport, construction, energy, food and catering, cleaning, and information technology (IT).

From 2023, government departments should ensure that all procurement using public funds should include green criteria, as committed to in the Programme for Government.

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EPA director general Laura Burke said: "The purchasing power of Ireland’s government sector has significant potential to reduce emissions and protect our environment while saving money over the full lifecycle of goods and services.

"Government commitment to green purchasing sends a powerful signal to the market that the Government requires goods, services and works that make the most positive contribution to our environment and can save money over their full lifecycle. It promotes innovation in the marketplace for goods and services with a reduced environmental impact.

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"The low level of implementation of Green Public Procurement reported by government departments is a missed opportunity to purchase more resource-efficient, less polluting goods, services and works within the marketplace.”

The report was the first-ever done on green procurement by the EPA, and all 18 departments gave data on contracts greater than €25,000 in 2020.

There was significant variation between departments in the reported percentage spend on contracts that included green criteria, with some actually measuring 0%, while others reported 100%, the EPA said.

A Department of Public Expenditure circular from 2019 says that "each department should state in their next Corporate Procurement Plan where it intends to use green criteria in upcoming procurement processes", and that "each department must report annually on its green public procurement".

In its report, the EPA recommended senior staff take charge of such green criteria, and that department staff receive training around it.