Tomorrow my territory 18 Buying sustainable

Responsible purchasing

November 2019

Agence pour l’Environnement et la Maîtrise de l’Energie (ADEME)

The 20 factsheets in the collection « demain MON TERRITOIRE » have been designed to give candidates and elected officials practical keys to take action, to open up the field of possibilities based on the experiences of other elected officials, from small towns to conurbations, large urban areas or sparsely populated areas. In the four corners of France, both in metropolitan France and in the French Overseas Territories, many of them are taking action, together with the players in their territories, to prepare for the future by taking action to mitigate climate change and adapt to its effects. With its knowledge and presence throughout the country, ADEME supports them with its tools, activities and financial aid.

Why develop a sustainable purchasing policy?

From the purchase of household products to investments in equipment, from office equipment to canteen supplies, public procurement is a powerful lever for action to develop the offer towards products that are more respectful of the environment and people. At the regional level, it is also the way to concretely implement its environmental and social policies and to show the coherence of the community between its ambitions and its actions. Finally, it is a way of rethinking its needs, its purchasing practices and its use of products, goods or services… which may prove, over time, to be both more ecological and more economical! Not to mention the impact on the quality of life and the health of the inhabitants (a less polluting fleet of vehicles, less harmful cleaning products, school food that respects health and the environment…) and the possibility of participating in local economic development (inclusion of people far from work in the purchase of services, use of SMEs…). As an interface between the community and the economic fabric of the territory, public procurement can also be a powerful lever for environmental issues: waste and circular economy, fight against climate change…

How do you do it?

Sources

To go further

The labels

For non-food products, the European eco-label is the reference. For food products, 4 official environmental labels indicate products from organic farming (French and European AB), those from high environmental value farming (HVE) and those from sustainable fishing.