Green public procurement in the Maltese public service : costs and benefits

Abstract

This project outlines and examines the costs and benefits of Green Public Procurement (GPP) in the Maltese Public Service. Products like paper and lamps are discussed into more detail. Malta has set its targets towards GPP implementation and has adopted a GPP National Action Plan. The National GPP Action Plan gave guidelines to the Maltese Public Service so that the procurement of products, where possible, will leave less environmental impacts. The European Commission (EU) has set a number of indicative criteria which will eventually assist member states to procure the best environmental friendly products in the market. The European Commission has set to types of criteria: Core and Comprehensive Criteria. The former is the minimum criteria which the product has to meet while the latter has high level of criteria for those procurers who wish to invest in the best environmental product in the market. In 2011, the Department of Contracts issued Contract Circular 5021 /2011 which stipulated that as from January 2012 all tenders issued are to be compliant with the GPP criteria. This included target dates for 18 products. For instance, by end of first year , tenders re copying and graphic paper and office IT equipment are to be 100% compliant. From research carried out during this project one could notice certain elements for instance recycled paper holds diverse environmental benefits, like prevention of greenhouse gases, reduction in the need of new landfills and also savings in energy, chemicals and water. When examining costs and benefits of lamps which could be used by Government Offices, it was concluded that in the long run the lamp bearing the highest purchasing cost was actually the cheapest both from the cost's perspective and also from the environmental perspective. One may note that GPP in Malta has been functioning only for fifteen months and its teething problems are not over yet. However, with the increase in environmental awareness, together with Government's role namely that of training procurers, one can conclude that, the Maltese Public Service is doing its utmost to reach Malta's targets towards a better environment and a healthier way of living.