Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a key strategy in Europe’s journey toward sustainability and circular economy principles. By prioritizing environmental considerations in public sector purchasing, GPP supports sustainable development goals, reduces ecological footprints, and encourages innovation. If you’d like to explore the concept of GPP further, be sure to check out our latest article here. 

However, implementing GPP is not without challenges. Many public sector organizations face obstacles such as regulatory fragmentation, financial constraints, and gaps in knowledge, making it difficult to fully adopt green procurement practices. The CIRCUIT project, supported by the European Union, is tackling these barriers head-on. By focusing on transport infrastructure as a model sector, CIRCUIT has developed practical and innovative solutions to streamline the integration of green and innovative procurement practices. These efforts provide a clear roadmap for overcoming obstacles and enabling transformative change in public sector operations. 

Understanding the Challenges in Green Public Procurement Implementation 

 
The implementation of Green Public Procurement (GPP) within European Union (EU) member states faces numerous challenges, even with a strong legal and policy framework established by directives like 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU. Partners involved in the CIRCUIT pilots identified and ranked these challenges into the following key areas: 

• Lack of cooperation between authorities and the private sector: The fragmented legal landscape across EU countries results in inconsistencies in GPP implementation. While EU directives offer guidance, differing national and local interpretations create complexities in procurement processes. This disconnects hampers strategic planning for road infrastructure, complicates implementation assessments, and limits innovation and sustainable solutions due to weak public-private collaboration. 

• Low weight in public tendering processes for elements related to innovative and green products and technologies: Public procurement often fails to adequately prioritize green and innovative products, leading to missed opportunities for sustainable procurement practices and hindering the transition to greener technologies. 

• Financial obstacles for local and regional administrations due to scarcity in public budgets: Limited public budgets often prevent investments in greener or innovative technologies, despite their potential for long-term savings. These challenges are further aggravated by insufficient public-private collaboration, which reduces opportunities to share costs, risks, and innovative solutions. 

• Lack of economic return for private sector investments due to short- and medium-term approaches in public procurement processes: The focus on short-term budget considerations can limit the willingness of private companies to invest in sustainable innovations, as the economic returns are often not realized within the short timeframes of typical procurement cycles. 

• Legal difficulties and low expertise for public authorities (national, regional, or local): Many public authorities face challenges due to complex legal frameworks and a lack of expertise in green procurement. These legal barriers and the complexity of tenders reduce interest from both public authorities and private companies, hindering the full deployment of GPP.  

• Lack of tools/common metrics for different products/limited criteria for products or services: The absence of standardized tools and metrics to assess the environmental and innovative aspects of products complicates the objective evaluation and comparison of procurement options, making it difficult to integrate green criteria effectively. 

• Lack of training and tools on GPP/IPP at all levels: A significant gap in training and resources limits the effective adoption of GPP practices. Many public authorities lack expertise and tools like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of procurement. This knowledge deficit, coupled with poor dissemination of best practices, often leads to cost-based decision-making. The absence of standardized tools and metrics further complicates the objective comparison of green and innovative solutions, hindering the consistent integration of sustainability criteria. 

• Others: In the Slovenia pilot, stakeholders emphasized “lack of knowledge and practice” as a major challenge to implementing GPP principles. Without clear guidelines or regular capacity-building initiatives, public authorities struggle to align procurement with sustainability goals. 

CIRCUIT Project’s Approach to Addressing Barriers 

The CIRCUIT project directly addresses these challenges, focusing on circular and resilient transport infrastructures across five pilot countries: Croatia, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Italy. Through its initiatives, CIRCUIT is promoting innovative public procurement strategies, with methodologies and recommendations to mitigate the barriers: 

1. Better and simplified procedures: The public administration is encouraged to promote instruments and tools that allow then inclusion of environmental and innovative criteria in 

procurement processes, from a full life cycle perspective. Financial incentives are also seen as an important driver for innovation, and an “environmental ranting” of the operators is also mentioned as a possible innovation. 

2. A more coordinated approach at EU level: CIRCUIT advocates a comprehensive framework that aligns GPP in a coordinated approach at EU level, ensuring a cohesive application of green criteria in public tenders in all EU countries. A more central

approach will be of great interest and assistance to share and thoroughly understand the best GPP practices that are currently being implemented in other EU countries, such as the development of tools and the use of metrics and indicators (KPIs). 

3. Dialogue between industry and public authorities: The project emphasizes the importance of engaging various stakeholders, including public authorities, private companies, and research institutions, to create a collaborative environment conducive to innovation. The phase of the definition of the criteria was flagged as main focus and methodologies were suggested such as LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), LCC (Life Cycle Cost), or carbon footprints. 

4. Encourage the use of environmentally friendly materials (for example recycled or low-carbon materials) by setting award criteria for the use of these materials. The management of a database of construction products that have been evaluated in terms of their environmental impact (LCA, EPDs – Environmental Product Declarations, etc.) is recommended.
5. 5.  Ensure the effective monitoring and verification of environmental performance and compliance with GPP requirements throughout the road construction and maintenance process (or throughout all life cycle stages) by road authorities. Different solutions are recommended, such as adding a pre and post projects task on verification and control both on the part of the contracting authority and the project bidder. The monitoring of the implementation of environmental performance all along the project is crucial and should be included in contract provisions. 

Future Directions and Strategic Recommendations 

The lessons from CIRCUIT underscore the need for a strategic approach to GPP. Continuous efforts are required from both governmental and private sectors. CIRCUIT’s recommendations for public bodies include prioritizing green criteria in tenders, leveraging innovative technologies, and aligning national policies with EU-level strategies to enhance market competitiveness and sustainability. Simplified procurement processes, supported by harmonized EU guidelines, can bridge the gap between policy and practice. Establishing a centralized EU database for sharing information and tools can also aid in overcoming the knowledge barriers currently hindering GPP deployment. Financial incentives and targeted funding are essential to alleviate budgetary constraints, while capacity-building initiatives ensure that procurement officials are equipped to prioritize sustainability. Stakeholder collaboration remains a cornerstone of successful GPP. CIRCUIT’s emphasis on public-private partnerships highlights the value of shared innovation and resource pooling.  

Conclusion 

The CIRCUIT project’s holistic approach to integrating GPP into procurement processes addresses key barriers such as legal inconsistencies, limited expertise, and the need for innovative methodologies. By tackling these challenges, the project paves the way for the successful adoption of sustainable practices, enhancing the role of public procurement in achieving environmental goals. These efforts will contribute to a more circular and resilient European infrastructure.  

👉🏽 For detailed guidance, refer to Deliverable D4.1 “Manual for a Successful Deployment of GPP in CIRCUIT Pilots”, which offers practical recommendations based on the project’s early findings to support GPP implementation in transport infrastructure.