Second edition of green guide out now

The European Commission has now published a fully revised version of Buying Green! – A handbook on green public procurement, first published in 2004.

The handbook is designed to help public authorities to buy goods and services with a lower environmental impact. Green Public Procurement (GPP) is defined by the European Commission as "a process whereby public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle when compared to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be procured.”

The latest edition of the handbook contains:

• Guidance on  integrating environmental considerations into public procurement procedures;
• Real-life examples of environmental tendering by EU contracting authorities; and 
• Examples of different GPP methods for a range of sectors including buildings.

A summary document supplements the handbook, explaining the thinking behind the principles of GPP, detailing EU and national policies in this area and including examples of the benefits and the legal and value-for-money aspects of GPP.

For more information, go to www.ec.europa.eu