Webinar on 13 October 2023: Plastic procurement – analysis of Espoo’s procurement data

A webinar held on 13 October explored the significance of plastic and how the recycling of plastic could be increased through public procurement. The webinar was related to the “Closed Plastic Circle – from Pilots into Practice” project, which aims to increase plastic-related knowledge, promote plastic recycling, and grow the market for recycled plastic through five initiatives, one of which concerns the sustainability of public procurement.

You can watch the webinar recording on Espoo’s YouTube channel(external link, opens in a new window) (part Finnish and part English, English part starts at the 21:15 mark). Below is a summary of the content.

“The annual amount of plastic used in Finland is approximately 600,000 tonnes, of which only ten per cent are recycled. Special emphasis is placed on the recycling of plastic packaging,” said Tiia Tuuri from Espoo’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development at the beginning of the webinar. Plastic is an excellent material in many ways, but its recycling is important. In Finland, plastic recycling is promoted through various programmes, such as the Plastics Roadmap prepared by the Ministry of the Environment and voluntary green deals. Public procurement has a strong impact on the market. Circular procurement can promote resource efficiency and sustainable innovations, as well as the regional economy.

Next, Katihanna Ilomäki from Espoo’s Procurement Centre told the audience what sustainable procurement means for the City of Espoo. Espoo currently has no actual procurement strategy, but the city’s strategy – the Espoo Story – includes a number of sustainability goals, and each sector must participate in achieving these goals. The Procurement Centre has many initiatives and reforms under way aimed at increasing the impact of procurement. Ensuring the sustainability of procurement is challenging, as the city procures a wide range of goods and services.

The main theme of the event was an analysis of the city’s procurement data for 2022 carried out as part of the “Closed Plastic Circle – from Pilots into Practice” project. The goal of the analysis was to identify the most important plastic procurement categories and to identify those procurement categories whose development would have the greatest potential for promoting the circular economy and the recycling of plastic. The analysis was carried out and the results presented by Mervyn Jones from the Dutch government agency Rijkswaterstaat.

Jones said that while working in the CityLoops project (in which Espoo was also involved), he noticed how important the role of public procurement is in promoting the circular economy. By far the majority of cities’ emissions are generated through public procurement – an example was given of a European city of whose emissions 94% were generated through the procurement of various goods.

Emission reduction and the circular economy can be promoted at every stage of procurement: we can always choose not to procure something, ensure that the object of procurement is the most sustainable option, and choose to use the procured goods, services or buildings for as long as possible. Procurement also often involves plastic, as most goods have plastic packaging. Through procurement criteria, we must ensure that the objects of procurement do not pose unexpected risks. Poorly formulated criteria can also worsen the problem that needs solving: for example, abandoning plastic completely may lead to the use of even more problematic, non-recyclable materials.

Jones analysed Espoo’s procurement data for 2022 by combining estimates related to the environmental impacts, risks and development potential of different procurement categories. The methodology also took into account the other priorities considered in the procurement process in addition to those related to emission reduction. According to the results, the procurement categories with the most potential in terms of the circular economy are construction, waste management, infrastructure and catering services. From the point of view of promoting the circular economy of plastics, construction and catering services seem to offer the most potential. By analysing procurement categories, each municipality or procurement body can examine the sustainability of its operations.

In conclusion, plastic is everywhere and affects us all. With the help of accurate data, we can rethink our plastic procurement processes in a thorough and transparent way.

The webinar was organised as part of the “Closed Plastic Circle – from Pilots into Practice” project co-financed by the European Union.

Read more:

How can public procurements support circulation of plastics? (published 13.9.2023)