Assessment of the European Union Green Public Procurement criteria for four product groups

In the European Union (EU), sustainable consumption is promoted by the ‘Circular Economy Action Plan’. In particular, the voluntary scheme of the EU Green Public Procurement (EU GPP) provides guidance to reduce the environmental impacts of the public sector. To this end, the European Commission proposes EU GPP criteria for 20 product groups. The fitness for use of EU GPP criteria needs to be periodically assessed, because technological developments, changes in the regulatory and strategic context, and other factors could affect their suitability and effectiveness. For this reason, this report assesses the fitness for use of EU GPP criteria for four product groups: 1) electrical and electronic equipment used in the health care sector (Health Care EEE), 2) copying and graphic paper, 3) water-based heaters and 4) waste water infrastructure. The study was developed within an administrative arrangement between the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV), which is responsible for the EU GPP policy. The performed desk research revealed that all the investigated sets of EU GPP criteria are not up to date. In particular, this is mainly due to: (a) the new regulatory and strategic context for Health Care EEE, water-based heaters and waste water infrastructure, (b) the introduction of new technologies for water-based heaters, (c) specific industry practices for copying and graphic paper, and (d) lack of references in the verification process for waste water infrastructure. The presence of no up-to-date criteria could negatively affect the uptake of the EU GPP policy.