This edition of the green purchasing blog is the second installment of an overview of current green purchasing and green procurement practices in many of the G-8 countries. The G-8 is a recognized group of countries that have the largest economies and, therefore, represent the most likely need for green practices. In the prior edition, an overview of Canada, Japan and France were provided. This edition will cover Germany, Italy, Russia and the UK. Not covered is the United States which is the topic of the next blog edition.

Note, while China’s economy is larger than many of the G-8 country’s own economies, China is technically not a G-8 member and is not covered here. Information about practices in China will be in a future post. For now, please find below the summaries of the remaining G-8 countries.

Germany. In 1999 a handbook was published by the German Federal Environmental Agency that set forth the impact of various products, and service, have on the environment. That handbook is still used as a relevant reference today. Citing use of the handbook is the Saxon State Ministry for the Environment and Agriculture. The Saxon State Ministry itself has published a short guide to green procurement that lists these six steps for green purchasing activities:

1. Make a clear decision about green procurement [i.e., management supported];
2. Figure out what products and services are most suitable for green procurement;
3. Take the green alternative into account;
4. Consider the costs of the entire life cycle;
5. Include environmental criteria in RFx;
6. Show Your Commitment.

Standing with, or behind, the German green efforts, and like the French and others, is the fact that Germany is subject to EU mandates. In fact, Germany has implemented into its national in 2006 two EU directives from 2004 on the award of public contracts and the public contracting for water, energy and transportation. Beyond these directives, Germany itself has adopted a national procurement standard for public [i.e., governmental] purchases. That standard includes the purchases of: IT equipment, household appliances, lighting equipment, green power, vehicles and building materials.

Italy. Italy has implemented a number of decrees and laws since 1991 to address various public green procurement concepts including recycled materials and requiring requirements on smaller governments such as municipalities. Italy is working to adopt into its national system the EU directives.

Today, it appears that Italy is, like so many other countries and organizations, working to establish a more effective and robust green procurement system. The Italian government has introduced a web portal that provides free information and consulting on green purchasing including lesson on how to incorporate environmental considerations into award criteria in addition to price and quality. Web resources also include guidelines for managers on the use of environmental labels and energy use.

Prior to launching its web resources, the Italian government has implemented a series of laws and decrees to direct public procurement to be more environmentally friendly. Such laws and decrees have required such effort as:

• 30% recycle content in certain goods;
• use of electronic purchasing systems [e.g., ‘paperless’];
• giving preference to ‘green’ products when other criteria are seen equal;
• definition of different recycle requirements by types of materials.

Russia. Unfortunately, at this date, it does appear that Russia is taking very proactive steps for green purchasing and procurement. Admittedly, there is a potential gap in knowledge given this blog Editor is not fluent in Russian. However, as Russia continues it journey of economic development more and more information will be available. The need for standards consistent with the rest of the world will also be realized and supported. For now, the key issues of green procurement in Russia appear to center around the legal harvesting of timber.

It is likely accurate to state that green procurement practices in Russia can be divided, in some ways, from two viewpoints. Those are from an Outsider’s point of view and from an Insider’s point if view. Above, the Outsiders [non-Russian] point of view is concern over harvesting timber. Many readers will note this issue in prior years as being a topic in other countries, including the US, as an environmental issue. It is not strictly a purchasing issue as it is a depletion of scarce resources issues. The two concepts are definitely connected. However, the point is, from the Outsider’s view, to stay green themselves, they need Russia to act green.

From the Insider’s point of view, the view is much like that of other countries. Efforts are being made to improve. A good example of positive movement is its implementation of GOST R standards that do incorporate environmental labeling requirements found in ISO 14000. The GOST R standards are regional products standards in which Russia takes a role in development and influence.

United Kingdom. The United Kingdom started a ‘Sustainable Procurement Action Plan’ in 2007. Lead by DEFRA [the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] the plan’s intent was to provide energy in the area of green procurement while providing high value for taxpayers. The initiative lead the UK government to wrestle with many topics associated with green procurement. Among these topics were the definition of sustainable procurement; an explanation of why green procurement matters; to define areas of opportunity; to define discrete steps of action; a method of starting and a method of measurement.

The approach taken by the UK national government includes a multi-stage implementation consisting of:

• Foundation;
• Embed;
• Practice;
• Enhance;
• Lead.

During the Foundation stage, the approach calls for change agents to take up the cause within the government, agreement on key elements and spend analysis. The Embed stage requires broad training of procurement personnel, improvement of policies and broadening of spend analysis throughout the supply base. The Practice stage requires refresher training, an augmented policy to cover additional areas [such as risk] and targeted improvement in supplier sustainability. In the Enhance stage, sustainable procurement is included in core competencies of the organization, procurement strategy is further enhanced for sustainable goals and key supplier are targeted for intensive development. In the Lead stage, the last of the five stages, the leadership position in sustainable purchasing is used to attract new professionals, strategy is continually revised with outside stakeholders and suppliers continually develop their sustainability profile.

In addition to the efforts of the UK national government, local governments have also take action to be leaders in green procurement. A prime example is London. The Mayor of London implemented in 2001 a Green Procurement Code. This program is not only a local government initiative but also a method through which local businesses are encouraged to increase their green purchases. For example, local London businesses can become members and, in so doing, commit to reducing their impact on the environment and are awarded based on their relative success.

The past two blog editions have provided an overview of many efforts in some of the G-8 countries for green procurement and purchasing. As has been demonstrated, the breadth of approaches and tools is widespread as is the level of implementation and adoption within the countries.

Please continue reading the Green Purchasing Blog at [1] www.recyclechain.com with the next edition about United States government programs for green procurement and purchasing.