Buy Sustainable Quick Wins 2008
"Buy Sustainable - Quick Wins" are a set of sustainable specifications for a wide range of commonly purchased products. They comprise both a set of minimum standards at the market average level and also best practice specifications. The best practice specifications are a new feature to the 2008 updated version and are more stretching than the base minimum standard. Organisations wishing to purchase the "best in class" products in certain areas should consider using the best practice specifications. It is envisaged that these are likely to become the minimum over different time periods depending on the product or product group.
It is important to understand that the EU procurement rules are less concerned with what you buy than with how you buy it and public bodies are, in general, free to specify sustainable options, provided that doing so does not distort competition or discriminate against products and suppliers.
It is possible, for example, to specify recycled paper or energy-efficient IT equipment, and the earlier that consideration is given to incorporating sustainability into your specification, the greater impact it is likely to have; it is much easier and more cost-effective to build sustainability into the procurement process at the outset when requirements and specifications are being defined.