Green Deal Circular Procurement
Purchasers are still reluctant in changing their proceedings to allow reuse of -or recycled content in- products and in accepting new 'circular' contracts. With the GDCP Circular Flanders wants to take away the uncertainty and help buyers to change their procurement proceedings. In return the purchasers share their experiences in a learning network and the participants all set up 2 pilots. In the end they will become ambassadors who can inform other purchasers on the financial, social and ecological advantages of CE. Over 200 experiments will proof the success of Circular Procurement. The GDCP will make companies, NGOs and governments acquainted with procurement in favor of innovative, circular products & services, thus promoting the circular flow of materials, the use of new business models and the establishment of strategic partnerships among the value chain. Another goal of the GDCP is to adjust official standards and legislation to facilitate circular procurement. Besides the learning network and experiments, research on indicators and tools will be done to create open source information.
Buyers have committed themselves to successfully completing two circular purchasing projects between June 2017 and June 2019.
At the moment no legal obligation exists for circular procurement. A Green Deal is a voluntary agreement between (private) partners and the Flemish government to start a green project together. In doing so, environmental goals are pursued that go hand in hand with increased competitiveness and good management. The agreement contains a clear division of roles, a description of the expected results, the associated actions and the time schedule. A conscious use is made of the dynamism, creativity and knowledge present in society to address these social-environmental challenges.
At the moment we are half way in the Green Deal so no final results are available. But in May 2018 we organised a Buyer Meets Supplier for our participants and for the circular suppliers and service providers. At this event over 200 people met and learned about the circular products and services already available. The fact sheets of these companies are available on our website.
A specific tool is created to measure the individual results of all 200 experiments. In June 2019 the results will be made public.