EU GPP Helpdesk Webinar: 'Tackling plastic pollution through public procurement'

Approximately 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year. Around 12% of these plastics are incinerated, and only 9% are recycled. The remainder is either disposed of in landfills or released into the environment, including the oceans. In 2023 alone, global production reached 436 million tonnes, valued at over $1.1 trillion, and three-quarters of all plastic ever produced has already become waste. Each year, 11 million tonnes leak into oceans and marine ecosystems. These figures highlight the urgent need to act on multiple fronts.

One powerful lever available to public authorities is public procurement. By rethinking how products and services are purchased, governments and institutions can shift markets away from linear “take-make-dispose” patterns and towards circular solutions. Procurement requirements that specify recycled materials, encourage reuse or repurposing of plastic-containing products, and prevent the use of single-use plastics, are strategic tools that can help curb the plastic crisis. France, for instance, has introduced mandatory criteria requiring public buyers to include 20–40% reused or recycled content across 17 product categories such as textiles, office furniture, and vehicles, with further expansion planned through 2030.

This webinar presented concrete examples of how contracting authorities are limiting plastic waste and pollution through procurement decisions. Dr. Mervyn Jones (Rijkswaterstaat, Netherlands) outlined the challenges of problematic plastics, such as materials that cannot be recycled, designs that hinder recovery, or items prone to leakage into the environment. He also introduced a hierarchy of procurement actions: avoid unnecessary products, optimise the use of existing assets, extend product lifetimes through repair and remanufacture, and close loops with recycling and substitution of virgin materials.

In Finland, the City of Espoo shared newly developed procurement criteria for construction plastics, created through broad market dialogue with industry, waste managers, and civil society. These criteria, structured at both “basic” and “pioneer” levels, aim to reduce single-use plastic on construction sites and are already accessible in Finland’s national Criteria Bank.

Agenda:

• Welcome and Introduction from the EU GPP Helpdesk, Ivan Azevedo, Policy Officer, Unit B.1, Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission.
• Overview of the Sustainable Public Procurement of Plastics report, Mervyn Jones, Senior Adviser, Circular Economy, Rijkswaterstaat.
• The French Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law and targets for the integration of reused and recycled materials in public contracts, Marline Weber, Sustainable Procurement Project Manager, Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion of France.
• Procurement criteria that support the circulation of plastics, Tuuri Tiia, City of Espoo, Finland.

The event was held in English and attracted a diverse audience of policy officers, procurement professionals, and sustainability experts. Discussions underscored that public procurement, when used strategically, can be a decisive driver in reducing plastic waste, fostering innovation, and accelerating the transition to a circular economy.

The recording and presentations can be found at Circabc

Framework: The GPP Helpdesk Webinars provide a forum to inform stakeholders working in the field of public sector procurement about important new developments in the resources available and legislative context for Sustainable Public Procurement, and offer an opportunity for questions and discussion. For more information, visit the European Commission’s GPP website.