Putting your money where your mouth is: green procurement as a form of sustainability

Abstract

Purpose There is a robust and growing literature on the adoption of sustainability policies in US local governments. Scholars have examined locality involvement in climate protection networks, sustainability policy adoption and the allocation of resources for sustainability-oriented responsibilities. While a significant body of literature, the substantive meaningfulness of the sustainability policies being investigated has varied greatly. Design/methodology/approach The authors assert that governments that engage in green procurement activities are truly putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to sustainability policy. They ask the question of whether the traditional determinants of sustainability policy adoption influence the adoption of permissive and mandated green procurement policies in local governments. Findings In particular, scholars have not examined one of the most significant ways that local governments have of promoting environmentally responsible behaviors and mitigating climate change: public procurement.

Sustainability Certification and Green Public Procurement: Ideals and Outcomes in a New Jersey School District

“…GPP is typically seen as a voluntary environmental initiative, where public organizations consciously purchase products and services that have a lesser negative impact on the environment (Lundberg & Marklund, 2018;Majernik et al, 2017;Rainville, 2017;Terman & Smith, 2018), than choosing products and services with a low ecoefficiency metric (Koltun, 2010). Organizations that exercise acquiring goods that follow the standards of GPP pay attention to numerous criteria measures (Rainville, 2017).…”

“…Suppliers want to get as much money for their goods as possible and buyers want to acquire goods for as low of a price as possible. To maintain the integrity of this relationship, public procurement legislation formally regulates the cooperation between the buyer and the supplier (Sparrevik et al, 2018;Terman & Smith, 2018;Tomossy & Alam, 2017). Additionally, public procurement rules look to mitigate waste, fraud and corruption that can compromise the buyer/supplier relationship (Sparrevik et al, 2018).…”

“…Buyers have a responsibility to their organizations to make purchases that align with GPP standards, which also meet the needs of the organizations (Igarashi et al, 2015(Igarashi et al, , 2017Majernik et al, 2017;Terman & Smith, 2018). The decision-making process of which goods buyers should choose can be complex, but buyers may be able to navigate the tricky process by following specific criteria that assess the environmental implications of the products (Igarashi et al, 2015;Tomossy & Alam, 2017).…”

Improvement Actions for a More Social and Sustainable Public Procurement: A Delphi Analysis

“…Firstly, public procurement is the most suitable means of enabling the public sector to promote environmentally responsible practices that contribute to the fight against climate change [17]. Secondly, applying environmental criteria to public tender procedures favors the creation and implementation of sustainable policies [18,19]. Finally, cooperation between procurers and suppliers through public tender processes may lead to more environmentally sustainable economic models [20].…”

Stakeholders’ categorization of the sustainable public procurement system: the case of Brazil

“…Between the elements that make up the SPP system of public organizations, stakeholders have central position, because they are able to influence and be influenced by the results of sustainability practices in public procurements. In addition, in the development and implementation of public policies, the state and its representative organizations must deal with multiple and sometimes conflicting interests of the stakeholders (Rainville, 2017;Terman and Smith, 2018).…”