International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

sought to utilise locally available recyclable materials. In using steel slag, available
from the former steelworks in the area, and material from the nearby rail recycling
depot, they used 97.5% recycled aggregate which resulted in a direct cost saving of
just over £1 million, mainly due to savings made from avoiding the aggregate tax.
Further savings were made through avoided carbon emissions since by using locally
sourced aggregate, haulage distances were reduced; recycling material generated onsite
led to reduced landfill disposal costs and reduced carbon emissions; and health
benefits were identified through less transportation. The total savings equated to
3.82% of project costs.
57.4.7 Mayor of London’s Green Procurement Code
The Mayor of London’s Green Procurement Code is a support service which has been
set up for London based organisations. Having committed to the Green Procurement
Code, organisations receive a green procurement toolkit with advice and information.
A progress review encourages organisations to strive to achieve progressive
environmental targets which are awarded with gold, silver and bronze certifications.
The service was launched in 2001 and since then members of the Green
Procurement Code have collectively diverted 1.3 million tonnes of waste from landfill.
In 2006, 175,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide was saved which is equivalent to yearly
emissions of over 29,000 households. 1074 In truth, it may be that some of this would
have happened anyway, since these figures relate to organisations signing up to the
Code.
57.5 Scope for Green Public Procurement in Ireland
With respect to Ireland, the EU regulatory framework is highly relevant in setting the
scene and realising the scope for green public procurement. However, it is worth
noting that the EU is currently lagging behind the USA, Canada and Japan who have
all mandated green public procurement in various forms. 1075
In 2006 work undertaken for the European Commission highlighted the top seven
countries undertaking a significant level of Green Public Procurement, of which
Ireland was not one. 1076 The ‘Green 7’ are Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany,
Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. However, even within these countries many of the
tenders were found not to be fully compliant with EU procurement law. At the
beginning of 2008, Ireland was not one of the 14 Member States that had adopted a
national action plan for their Green Public Procurement, despite the Commission’s
1074 Mayor of London’s Green Procurement Code (2009) Information taken from the website:
http://www.greenprocurementcode.co.uk/
1075 European Commission (2008) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament,
the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Public
Procurement for a Better Environment Impact Assessment, Available:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/sec_2008_2124_EN.pdf
1076 M. Bouwer, M. Jonk, P. Szuppinger, H. Lusser, T. Berman, R. Bersani, V. Nappa, C. Vigano, A.
Nissinen and K. Parikka (2006) Green Public Procurement, Report to the European Commission,
Available: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/report_facts.pdf
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