Advancing Climate, Environmental and Social Goals Through Public Procurement

On April 18, 2024, RREUSE launched its new public procurement research report: Advancing Climate, Environmental and Social Goals Through Public Procurement.  The publication, made possible thanks to the European Climate Foundation support, covers socially responsible and green public procurement best practices across Europe focusing on social enterprises active in reuse-oriented activities. 

As a lack of data about the public procurement use for social and environmental objectives runs rampant and social economy enterprises find systemic obstacles to accessing such opportunities, the research report presents 9 case studies demonstrating the public procurement potential to achieve policy goals across key just transition sectors: construction and demolition, textiles, furniture, green waste, electrical appliances and paint.

Across France, Ireland, the UK (Scotland), Spain, Croatia, Finland, and Austria, the RREUSE report showcases concrete experiences from social economy actors and public authorities as well as valuable data on how public procurement can generate social, environmental, and economic impact. The publication also presents policy recommendations to better capitalise on the opportunities available under the EU Public Procurement Directive to integrate social and environmental considerations in public purchases and achieve a circular economy that puts people and reuse first.
 

The research report was presented at a public conference on 18 April in Brussels, featuring the participation of social economy actors, contracting authorities and partners as well as European Commission, OECD, and ECF representatives.