Ireland’s material consumption ‘well above the EU average’

Buying Greener: Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan 2024-27, published in April 2024, states that “Ireland’s material consumption is well above the EU average”, identifying Green Public Procurement (GPP) as a means to make Ireland “a more resource-efficient and circular economy”.

It says that Ireland’s public sector spends an estimated €18.5 billion on goods, services, and works. “This provides Ireland’s public sector with significant influence to stimulate and actively encourage the provision of more resource-efficient, low carbon, less polluting goods, services and works across the public sector, The Plan asserts.”

It also outlines that Ireland agreed to 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) when it adopted Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015. One SDG is to “promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities”.

It includes the following objectives:

• ensure GPP is a core and integral component of the public procurement process and associated governance structures in Ireland;
• set out measures to ensure that all procurement using public funds include green criteria, where possible;
• support further development of GPP criteria, enhance GPP knowledge and expertise, and facilitate Ireland’s participation in international collective efforts to use GPP as a lever for sustainable production and consumption; and
• support market conditions needed to deliver sustainable and innovative solutions for GPP.

Targets

To promote GPP in the public sector, a total of 12 targets across nine subsections are outlined in the Plan, beginning with the built environment. It states that from 2025, a “minimum proportion of construction materials procured by public bodies under new contract arrangements comprise recycled materials”. This target will be updated following the publication of the second Whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy.

Three targets are outlined under food procurement and food waste. One states that of money spent on food under contract arrangements, 10 per cent should be spent on certified organic foods, from the date of publication of the Action Plan. The second asserts that all new contract arrangements for canteen or food services should have a specific focus on food waste prevention from 2025. The third says that from 2024 all new contract arrangements for canteen or food services were to cease the use of disposable or single use cups, plates, and cutlery.

A single target under ICT equipment sets out that by 2025 at least 80 per cent of end user products like computers and mobile phones procured by public bodies must be certified EPEAT Gold Standard or equivalent, TCO certified or equivalent, or will have been remanufactured.

On textiles, one target outlines that by 2027, polyester fibre products procured by public bodies must be manufactured using a minimum recycled content of 20 per cent “where possible and proportionate”. Under paper products and printing, 100 per cent of procured office paper for printing and photocopying must now be recycled.

Two targets are included for energy related products, heating equipment, and indoor and outdoor lighting. The first states that from January 2025, 100 per cent of all tenders for the public procurement of these products were to include a requirement for tenderers to specify environmentally sustainable options once the product or its components comes to the end of life.

The second target states that no tenders for public procurement of heating systems installed in new buildings and major renovation retrofit projects can use fossil fuels. This is subject to exceptions outlined in the Public Sector Climate Action Plan Mandate 2023. No timeframe is outlined for this target.

The only target outlined for indoor cleaning services states that from January 2025, 100 per cent of tenders for the public procurement of indoor cleaning services were to include an obligation for tenders to outline staff training to be put in place. This is “to ensure that all staff involved in delivery of the contract have the knowledge and skills to apply cleaning methods, which will reduce the environmental impact of the services”.

“Citizens need to be sure that what is purchased on their behalf has minimal harmful effects on the environment and society.”

Former Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth

On road transport vehicles, the Action Plan states that 100 per cent of tenders for the public procurement of vehicles should be “to procure zero emissions vehicles only”. This is subject to exceptions outlined in the Public Sector Climate Action Plan Mandate 2023. No timeframe is outlined for this target.

The final target outlined in the Plan states that by 2027 “a minimum proportion of annual procurement by public sector bodies shall include used or repaired goods or materials”. It notes: “Availability of used or repaired goods will be informed by the national network to support and scale reuse and repair in Ireland that has been established by the EPA.”

In the foreword of the Plan, then-Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy Ossian Smyth says: “Citizens need to be sure that what is purchased on their behalf has minimal harmful effects on the environment and society. At the same time, these goods, services and works must represent value for money. Green Public Procurement has the potential to deliver wider economic benefits where significant savings can be made over the whole life cycle of a purchase both for public bodies and for society in general.”