green public

procurement
in sweden

ISBN: 978-91-620-8417-2
www.naturvardsverket.se

Title: Green Public Procurement in Sweden

Orders
Phone: + 46 (0)8-505 933 40
Fax: + 46 (0)8-505 933 99
E-mail: natur@cm.se
Internet: www.naturvardsverket.se/bokhandeln
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Phone: + 46 (0)8-698 10 00
Address: Naturvrdsverket, SE-106 48 Stockholm, Sweden
Internet: www.naturvardsverket.se
ISBN 978-91-620-8417-2
Naturvrdsverket 2009
Print: CM Gruppen AB
Edition: 600 copies
Design and illustration: AB Typoform
Photos: cover: Roine Mangusson/Naturbild, p. 1 Tero Niemi/Naturbild,
p. 5 Jonas Ingerstedt/Johner, p. 6 Anna Emilia/Johner, p. 7 Mattias Lundblad/
Nordic photos, p. 8 Per Magnus Persson, p. 9 Nicho Sdling/Johner,
p. 10 Stefan Berg/Johner, p. 11 Bertil Hagberg/Scanpix

Green public procurement

a powerful tool
We face great challenges in the environmental and climate field. The IPCC has shown
that greenhouse gas emissions are changing
the conditions for human life and impacting
biodiversity. Much of the impact on the environment and climate is due to our production
and consumption of goods and services.
When public procurement processes involve
environmental standards, they act as a powerful tool in our efforts to achieve the Swedish
environmental and climate objectives, since
they stimulate the market for sustainable
goods and services. This has been found to

be difficult to achieve using traditional instruments.

Green public procurement has been used as
an instrument of Swedish environmental policy
for over ten years. The Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency is responsible for monitoring
and developing the instrument. We now know
how we can encourage public organisations to
assume greater environmental responsibility
in their procurement processes. This brochure
describes the experience we have gained, and is
primarily aimed at those engaged in developing
environmental policy instruments.

Sixty per cent specify

environmental requirements
The Swedish Government has been encouraging
public bodies to assume greater environmental
responsibility in their procurement processes
for just over ten years. The Swedish action plan
establishes that Green public procurement is a
market-based and powerful controlling tool in
the work of guiding society towards long-term
andDosustainable
consumption and therefore
you specify environmental requirements when procuring?
production.
action plan
contains an analysis
of the
2009The
13
45
33
8 1
current situation, the objective that the propor2007
40 procurement 31
8 11
tion of17green public
should have
increased by 2010, and a number of measures
15
46
27
7 3
2004
that must be taken if we are to achieve our
0
20
40
60
80
100
objectives.
%
Public procurement in Sweden has an annual
Always
Often
turnover
of approximately
EUR Sometimes
50 billion.
Seldom

Around 60 per cent of public organisations

say that they always or usually specify environmental requirements in their public procurement processes. This figure has remained fairly
constant over the last five years.
Public bodies with an environmental policy
for procurement, with targets for their environmental performance, and with trained staff,
specify environmental requirements to a greater
Do you follow-up your procurement process
extent than other organisations.
from an environmental viewpoint?
82 per cent say they have2an
% environmen9%
Always
tal policy for procurement;
55 per cent
have
20 %
Most times
Never
objectives for environmental
consideration in
procurement, and 52 per cent say that the
23 %
staff responsible for procurement have undersometimes
gone training in green procurement. Only
30 %
11 per cent say they
follow up completed
Seldom
14 %
Dont know
2%
No answer

Never

Do you specify environmental requirements when procuring?

Do you have an evironmental policy for procurement?

100

Yes
No

80
60

2009

13

45

2007

17

40

20
0

15

2004

40

2004

2007

2009

20

33

8 1

10 %
31
Not well defined

15 %
46
Partly not
well defined
40

Always

Often

Seldom

Never

8 11

22 %
No environmental
7
3
criteria

27

60

80

100
%

Sometimes
53 %
Environmental criteria

Do you have an evironmental policy for procurement?

100
80

Yes
No

Do you specify environmental requirements when procuring?

Do you specify
environmental processes
requirements from
when procuring?
procurement
an environmental
2009
13
45
33
8 1

viewpoint.
45
33 that the
8 lack
1
Questionnaires
reveal
of
17
40
31
8 11
knowledge and experience of how to specify
2007
17
40
31
8 11
15 environmental
46
27 is the 7greatest
3
requirements
2004
obstacle
to
green
procurement.
In
order
to take
150
2004
20 46
40
6027
80 7 3
100
% to a
environmental factors into consideration
0
20
40
60
80
100
greater extent,
need help
% in formuAlways
Oftenpurchasers
Sometimes
lating environmental
requirements. They also
Seldom
Always
OftenNever
Sometimes
desire
access
to
tools
for green procurement and
Never
Seldom
information on best practice.
2009
13
2007

Do you follow-up your procurement process

from an environmental viewpoint?
Do you follow-up your procurement process
2 % viewpoint?
from an environmental
9%
Always
20 % 2 %
Most times
9%
Never Always
20 %
Most times
Never
23 %
sometimes
23 %
30 %
sometimes
Seldom
14
%
30 %
Dont know
Seldom
2%
14 %
No answer
Dont know
2%
No answer

Do you have an evironmental policy for procurement?

Do
100you have an evironmental policy for procurement?
100 80
80
60
40
20
0

Yes
No

Yes
facts Procurement processes
No
reviewed. The Swedish Environmental
60
Protection Agency (EPA) commissioned a review
40
of 270 Swedish procurement processes in
relevant product areas in 2007. Of these, 210
20
(78 per cent) involved environmental require0
whereas 272009
procurement processes
2004 ments,2007
(10
per
cent)
included
poorly specified require2004
2007
2009
ments that had no impact. These results reveal
a need for knowledge about how environmental requirements should be formulated in a
procurement procedure.

10 %
Not well defined
10 %
15
%well defined
Not
Partly not
15 defined
%
well
Partly not
well defined

22 %
No environmental
22 %criteria
No environmental
criteria

53 %
Environmental criteria
53 %
Environmental criteria

The key to success

There are thousands of purchasers in the
public sector in Sweden. These purchasers
must be motivated to specify environmental
requirements, but circumstances must also
enable them to do so. The following measures
are particularly important:

Involve decision makers

It is important that politicians and other central
and local decision makers are involved in the
process of assuring green procurement. The
political will and management support are essential to success. The Government can exercise
control in the form of legislation and motivate
purchasers via information and dialogue.

Improve skills
Specifying environmental requirements demands skill, both in procurement and in the

environmental field. The Government can

therefore offer training and practical guidance
on green procurement.

Offer an efficient and simple purchasing tool

The greatest impact will be achieved if everyone specifies the same environmental standards
to be met by suppliers. The Government can
supply a simple tool in the form of predetermined procurement criteria produced by central
government.

Continuous follow-up
Green procurement processes must be followed
up in order to know how the instrument is developing, and to be able to propose new measures.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) conducts regular questionnaire surveys
and qualitative audits of procurement processes.

Involve decision makers

A successful central or local green procurement
procedure requires both political will and management support. The Government can exercise
control in the form of legislation and motivate
purchasers via information and dialogue.

processes are reported to the Government once

a year. These agencies are also bound by an
ordinance under which they may only purchase
green cars.

Control of government agencies

Officials of local and regional organisations

must have a mandate and resources to be
able to specify environmental requirements in
procurement processes. This presupposes that
a management decision has been taken. To
achieve this, the Government arranges information campaigns and conferences for local and
regional decision makers.

Government agencies in Sweden with a significant environmental impact have been instructed
to implement and develop environmental
management systems and to carry out green
procurement. The proportion of procurement
processes where environmental requirements
are specified, and the value of procurement

Involve local and regional decision makers

Improve the skill of purchasers

Questionnaire responses have revealed that
a lack of knowledge among purchasers is the
greatest obstacle to green procurement. Training, telephone advisory services, networks and
information on best practice are some ways of
making expertise in the field available to those
who need it.

Help desk
Many purchasers want advice on how environmental requirements should be specified.
Suppliers also need help in the procurement
process. The Swedish Environmental Management Council offers a help desk via telephone
or e-mail. It provides concrete and practical
advice to purchasers, so that more people
succeed in specifying effective environmental
requirements. The service is also valuable for
the Environmental Management Council,
since it helps to identify questions and issues
of importance to purchasers and suppliers.
The help desk is a vailable free of charge.

Training
Studies show that public bodies that have
trained their staff have made most progress
in greening procurement. The Environmental
Management Council is therefore taking steps
to integrate environmental training in standard
procurement training courses, and to arrange
its own training programmes. Online courses
are another way of making training available
to more people. The Environmental Management Council has developed two online courses,
available free on the website.

facts The Swedish Environmental

Management Council is a limited liability
company owned jointly by the Swedish State,
trade and industry, municipalities and county
councils. The Council gives impetus to green
public procurement by providing environmental criteria, expertise and information.
www.msr.se/en

An efficient and simple

purchasing tool
The impact will be greatest when all public
bodies specify the same environmental requirements in their procurement processes. The best
way of achieving this is for the Government to
offer a simple tool with suitable environmental
criteria, available free of charge.
The requirements will only work if they are
supported both by purchasers and by suppliers. The Environmental Management Council
is drafting procurement criteria for a large
number of products purchased in the public
sector. These comprise proposed requirements,
criteria and contract terms, background information and explanatory notes. The proposals
are being drafted as part of an extensive quality assurance process involving representatives
from the public and private sector.

Important lessons learned from this process are:

Support It is important that the environmental criteria produced have the support of
purchasers and suppliers alike, so that they
work in public procurement. Firstly, there
must be suppliers that meet the requirements; secondly, the requirements must drive
the market for green products.
Verification and follow-up If an
instrument is to be credible, the criteria must
include proposals for how the environmental
criteria can be verified by suppliers, and how
purchasers can determine that the criteria
have been met.
Help desk It is important to allocate
resources so that users receive answers to
their questions about the environmental
criteria. The Environmental Management
Council supplies the help desk and support.

facts Half of Swedish public bodies say

they use the Environmental Management
Council criteria to green their procurement.
Those not using the tool say this is mainly
because they are not aware of its existence,
or do not know how it should be used.

continuous follow-up
The Swedish EPA has been monitoring the
greening of public procurement since 2001 by
means of qualitative and quantitative studies.
The results of the studies are used as a basis
for developing new measures and updating the
Swedish action plan.

Questionnaires every three years

Every three years a questionnaire survey is carried out among those responsible for procurement in central government, municipalities and
county councils. The response level is usually
around 80 per cent. To ensure a high response
level, the questionnaires are of a general nature,
without too much detail.

Quality audit
In addition, some 300 procurement processes
in various product areas are audited every three
years, which gives us an idea of the requirements specified in procurement processes. The
results show whether environmental requirements have been specified, and how they have
been expressed.
facts The Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency, created in 1967, is the
national agency for environmental protection
and nature conservation. Its key tasks are to
present proposals for environmental policy
and legislation to the Swedish Government
and ensure that environmental policy decisions are implemented.
www.swedishepa.se

Best practice 1:

Central procurement of computers

Swedish State procurement processes are coordinated in the form of framework agreements
in areas where government agencies share large
purchasing volumes.
The personal computer contract is the largest single framework agreement, worth around
250 million Euro each year. The procurement
process for the framework agreement includes
requirements regarding energy performance and
chemicals in components.
Thanks to the environmental requirements
in the central computer procurement process,
government agencies have reduced their annual
energy consumption by 3,750 MWh. In addition, emissions of brominated and chlorinated
flame retardants have fallen by approximately
26 tonnes.
By informing individuals placing orders
under the framework agreement of the most
energy-efficient options, there is an additional
potential energy saving of 16,100 MWh a year.

10

Best practice 2:

Green cars
Since 1 February 2009 all automobiles purchased or leased by Swedish government agencies must be green cars. Green cars must also be
used by those ordering taxis or hire cars. This
requirement has been laid down in an ordinance.
Petrol or diesel driven automobiles may emit
no more than 120 grams of carbon dioxide per
kilometre; light commercial vehicles may emit

a maximum of 230 grams of carbon dioxide

per kilometre. In addition, agencies must ensure
that the cars use renewable fuels to the greatest
possible extent. Purchases of vehicles and fuels
are reported to the Government once a year.
This measure has given a boost to the green
car market in Sweden. Furthermore many municipalities, county councils and companies aim
to purchase green cars, as defined.

11

Facts about Sweden

Area: 174,000 sq mi (450,000 km), the third largest

country in Western Europe

Forests: 53%
Mountains: 11%
Cultivated land: 8%
Lakes and rivers: 9%

Stockholm

Capital: Stockholm

Stockholm

Population: 9.3 million inhabitants

Language: Swedish
Form of government: Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy
Parliament: The Riksdag, with 349 members in one chamber
Most important export goods: Electronic and telecom equipment,

machinery, passenger cars, paper, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel

Most important imported goods: Electronic and telecom equipment,

machinery, foodstuffs, crude oil, textile products, footwear and passenger cars

12

Title: Green Public Procurement in Sweden

Orders
Phone: + 46 (0)8-505 933 40
Fax: + 46 (0)8-505 933 99
E-mail: natur@cm.se
Internet: www.naturvardsverket.se/bokhandeln
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Phone: + 46 (0)8-698 10 00
Address: Naturvrdsverket, SE-106 48 Stockholm, Sweden
Internet: www.naturvardsverket.se
ISBN 978-91-620-8417-2
Naturvrdsverket 2009
Print: CM Gruppen AB
Edition: 600 copies
Design and illustration: AB Typoform
Photos: cover: Roine Mangusson/Naturbild, p. 1 Tero Niemi/Naturbild,
p. 5 Jonas Ingerstedt/Johner, p. 6 Anna Emilia/Johner, p. 7 Mattias Lundblad/
Nordic photos, p. 8 Per Magnus Persson, p. 9 Nicho Sdling/Johner,
p. 10 Stefan Berg/Johner, p. 11 Bertil Hagberg/Scanpix

green public
procurement
in sweden

ISBN: 978-91-620-8417-2
www.naturvardsverket.se