CIRCULAR BIOCARBON is a first-of-its-kind flagship biorefinery conceived to valorise organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) into value-added products: diamond-like-carbon coatings, green graphene, tailor-made bio-based fertilisers, or bio-plastic, as well as a variety of intermediate products. In order to maximise replicability and boost potential penetration in the market, the biorefinery will be operated for three years in Spain and Italy, and consistent business and exploitation strategies will be put in place. The CIRCULAR BIOCARBON biorefinery, organised through a pool of cascading technologies, start from anaerobic process steps (after proper pretreatment) of mixed urban waste streams, of which OFMSW is the main one, in order to treat all the biowaste produced by a medium-size city (at the end of the project, a commercial scale biorefinery will be fully operative). The fundamental objective of the CIRCULAR BIOCARBON project is to open up new business frameworks based on a new circular vision of waste treatment in a city towards a sustainable bioeconomy, to which actors leading the territorial waste management schemes and policies will be brought to maximize impact on the market, on policy makers and on society.

This white paper written within the framework of the BELT (boost energy label take up) project is summarising key provisions of the new EU energy labelling system and providing recommendations to public procurers for complying with the regulations.

At its Plenary Session on 7 May 2021, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted the Opinion "Safe and sustainable chemicals for a toxic-free environment in Europe's cities and regions". They see it as important for local and regional authorities to require the goods and products they acquire through public procurement to contain safe chemicals, thus helping to ensure that undesirable goods and products are phased out.

The aim of this paper written in the framework of the 'EU Food Policy Coalition (EU FPC) Public Procurement Task Force' is to provide five key arguments in favour of sustainable healthy food procurement to address the challenges of the EU food system. The paper seeks to provide strong evidence and thereby overcome any misconceptions about the gains of implementing sustainable food procurement in a comprehensive form.

EC GPP Case Study: In 2020, the Municipality of Gabrovo (Bulgaria) decided to upgrade its entire street lighting network from sodium-vapour street lamps to Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps, in order to reduce energy use and save money, while continuing to ensure that streets are well lit.

As a contracting authority, you don’t want to buy the cheapest solution. You want the solution which holds the most benefit for you in the long run. The Office Indoor Lighting LCC-Tool (Life Cycle Costing tool) will help you to find that solution! This tool will help you calculate and estimate the purchase price for your indoor lighting project, the total cost of ownership and the (external) environmental costs that the project comprises. The tool can be used for acquiring as well as leasing indoor lighting.

This second edition of ‘Buying social: A guide to taking account of social considerations in public procurement’ provides practical indications for public buyers to consider the social impact of the goods, services, and works they purchase. The guide is updated to reflect the changes brought about by the 2014 EU directives on public procurement and includes suggestions on how to use public procurement to achieve social goals. It covers the entire procurement process step-by-step, including information on how to set up an organisational strategy for socially responsible public procurement (SRPP), how to plan the tender procedure, as well as elements of contract management. To inspire public buyers, as well as other government and non-governmental stakeholders, each section also includes best practice examples and practical takeaways.

These case studies - featured by the Greater London Authority Group - highlight the progress against the commitments set out in the Responsible Procurement Implementation Plan 2018-20 for the , which was developed to support the Responsible Procurement Policy.

EC GPP Case Study: By using V2G technology, AMB has made it possible for car batteries to provide power to buildings during periods where solar energy production is lower than demand. Car batteries can also be useful for replacing energy demand during periods when energy prices are high.