What implies green public procurement?

The "Green Public Hiring", or GPP if you are doing more the international roll, basically it is the attempt that government purchases are not a disaster for the planet. The idea? Buy things, services, works, whatever ... but contaminate less, last longer, and do not leave the planet made a landfill. It is a way to push the market so that everything is not cheap plastic and dirty energy, but rather sustainable, recyclable products, all that "echo" roll that is so fashionable but that, seriously, is needed.

Now, the issue does not just look at the price and already: you have to put the magnifying glass on environmental issues from the beginning to the end of the process. That is, if you are a company that wants to catch public contracts, it is not enough to deliver the best budget and already: they will ask you to demonstrate that your products or services are not the demon for the environment. As? Than if energy efficiency, that if you lower CO2 emissions, that if you use recycled materials, that if your product holds more than three news before going to the landfill, etc. The list can be long.

And be careful, this is not just an extra headache. Actually, it is an opportunity to put the batteries and improve how companies work inside. They can ask for certificates ISO 14001, or get serious with the carbon footprint and start using renewables instead of pulling coal as if you were in the nineteenth century.

The problem? Well, there are several, as always. To begin with, many people or idea how to put all these green criteria in public tenders. Missing training, lack of desire, and sometimes even lack of common sense. But well, that is fixed with courses, workshops, and, finally, with a little will.

Then there is the myth that the "echo" is more expensive. Man, if you only look at the departure price, yes. But if you stop to think about the whole life cycle - what it costs to use it, maintain it, and get rid of it without contaminating half planet - many times the sustainable ends up being cheaper. It is typical of "the cheap is expensive", but applied to green things.

In short, Green Public Procurement is a brutal tool to push companies to be more responsible and so that the State does not continue to buy crazy without thinking about the future. If you have a company and want to get into the world of public contracts, you can already put the batteries with the environmental criteria because this goes for long. Yes, it costs at the beginning, but it also opens doors to innovation, to save costs and, why not, to end up being part of the change and not the problem. Who does not want that today?