PUBLIC PROCUREMENT NEWS

  

News

18 May 2012

Sustainable procurement of products increases in Brazil

Brazilian public sustainable product procurement in the first quarter of 2012 has already totalled 83 percent of the total purchases made through sustainable tenders in 2011. In comparison with the same period in 2010 there was a 61 percent increase in Federal Government procurement of sustainable products. By March 2012 the value of sustainable products procured by government authorities in Brazil reached approximately R$12 million.

The Sustainable Procurement program is one of the government initiatives to ensure value is obtained in products consumed through applying environmental, economic and social criteria in all stages of a product’s life cycle. Since the implementation of the regulatory standard for sustainable procurement in January 2010, the Federal Government has issued 1,490 tenders for items classified as sustainable (up to March of this year).

A total of 550 products are considered sustainable by the government regulatory body. The increase in the number of purchases of this type is explained by the increase in the number of items available. The products most purchased since the implementation of the policy are recycled ink cartridges for printers (41.5 percent), recycled printer toner (23.9 percent), air conditioning equipment (7.5 percent) and recycled paper (6.2 percent). Vehicles using biofuels and cups made from corn starch are also included in the sustainable register.

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