The Recycler Issue 317

FEATURE
LOVE ME TENDER: Government tenders, continued
guaranteed income, and even make
hiring decisions based upon it. The
income generated by government
tenders is also from a reliable source,
meaning you can relax, to a certain
degree, knowing it can be relied upon.
The awarding of a government
tender also increases the value of a
company, so in the event that you ever
wish to sell your company, they can be
extremely beneficial. It also means you
can pass on a ready-to-go contract
to your buyers, which is another
tempting proposition for anyone
looking to invest in your company. In
the event of obtaining loans or credit,
should you require it, a business with a
government contract is also viewed as
a strong, reliable company.
Counting a government department
amongst your clients will also boost the
profile of your business, and make it
more attractive for other potential
partners, as well as giving it an image
of trustworthiness and dependability.
Tenders like these can potentially
open doors, and lead to further
opportunities, whether with other
government tenders or just other
businesses keen to network with a
government-endorsed company. Just
one contract could lead to dozens of
others and place your company on a
real pedestal.
Even without the financial
motivations, there is value: A
phenomenon known as “loss leader
tendering” is becoming increasingly
prevalent, which involves bidding for
tenders that you know will make a
small, or even negligible, profit for
your company; however, although
financially there may be no reward, if
your company can comfortably “take
the hit” these tenders can still help
your business in the long term, in
terms of access to the new market,
building a new business relationship
with a particular client, or generating
positive new publicity for your
business.
The potential barriers, and how to
overcome them
However, it is not always such plain
sailing, particularly with regards to
government tenders for products and
services involving things like printing
consumables and cartridges. In many
cases, swayed by dubious claims made
by OEMs, government agencies will
insist that any cartridges must be OEM,
or at the least, new build, closing a
significant door on the aftermarket
community.
Laura Heywood, Chair of the United
Kingdom Cartridge Remanufacturers
Association (UKCRA), has been
outspoken on the issue. Heywood, who
previously welcomed British MP Simon
Danczuk to her company Kleen
Strike to discuss the difficulties
remanufacturers face in competing for
tenders, complained in 2014 that new
build clone cartridges were being
considered in tender offers by public
bodies, simply on the basis of their
lower costs, despite having “no place in
the transition towards a greener
economy.”
However, in recent years there has
been evidence that the wind of public
opinion is changing, and as the world
wakes up to the hazards posed to life on
earth by the plastic waste pandemic
[see The Recycler Issue 308] calls for
government tenders to embrace reuse,
and remanufacturing, are growing
louder. This is in part thanks to the
work of bodies like ETIRA, the
European toner and inkjet remanufacturers’
association, which has been
lobbying for many years on behalf
of the aftermarket community,
particularly in fighting against
exclusionary tenders that shut out
remanufacturers, which it has said it
does “almost every week.” The body
has previously called these tenders “a
regular nuisance for ETIRA members,”
recognising the issue is also a
hindrance to other remanufacturers
outside of its membership, and
a worryingly regressive approach
environmentally.
This lobbying has borne fruit, with
multiple victories being celebrated
after the trade association’s efforts. In
2014, for example, ETIRA successfully
took action against a hospital tender in
southern Germany, which was open
to “OEM and new-build non-OEM
cartridges, but explicitly excluded
remanufactured cartridges.” The
following year, a similar case involving
another southern German hospital
was won by the trade association,
while a public tender from a “major
city” in the north of the country
was withdrawn after ETIRA pressure,
with new, fairer tenders published
in its place.
This may initially seem like an uphill
struggle, and even with the weight of
public consciousness behind it, ETIRA
has a difficult task in changing minds
at the top levels. Its typical process
involves the sending of what it terms
“a protest letter,” explaining that
the exclusion of remanufactured
cartridges is illegal, and reminding the
public body issuing the tender that
“they should be careful when
including new-build toner cartridges
in the tender, as it could make them
liable for possible infringement of OEM
patents by these models.” ETIRA also
regularly reiterates that many newbuild
toner cartridges “have no end-oflife
solution, and as a result they may
wind up in landfills, polluting the
European environment”.
Reflecting at the time on its success,
the trade association called the
withdrawal of the exclusionary
tenders “another example of ETIRA’s
successful lobbying for a level playing
field for our trade.” Furthermore,
in January 2014, the European
Parliament updated European Union
law so that any government tenders
were required to “take social and
6 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 317 • APRIL 2019