Green Procurement

Green procurement is the purchase of products, services, and work which have a minimal environmental impact. It can contribute to local, regional, national, and international sustainability and enhance cost-effective use, maintenance, and the final disposal of products; lower the cost of water and energy; and help attain environmental targets, such as the reduction of environmental impacts and the promotion of sustainable production (European Union, 2016; APEC Committee on Trade and Investment, 2013).

The life cycle approach is fundamental in green procurement because it helps the measurement of the environmental performance of a whole process, including production, transportation, procurement, and disposal. Governments and the market/industry control the success of green procurement. Governments are also in charge of developing a sound policy framework, collecting commitment to greening purchasing from producers and politicians, setting environmental requirements, advertising standards, training, monitoring, and conveying the benefits of green procurement. The market/industry is responsible for environmental standards in the market, training, and the certification of green procurement (APEC Committee on Trade and Investment, 2013).

Japan was the first Asia-Pacific country to implement green procurement to reduce environmental degradation, with the Eco Mark Program, which came into force in 1989, and was the country's first green procurement milestone (APRSCP, 2014). The programme was initiated by the Japan Environment Association, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and other organisations. It operates in accordance with the principles and standards of the International Organisation of Standardisation (ISO). The Eco Mark Programme covers a range of products, including recycled plastic such as household and industrial textiles, stationery and office supplies, plastic, furniture, and refillable and resource-saving containers.

Japan promotes green purchasing in a number of ways, such aslaunching the Action Plan for Greening Government Operations in 1995, establishing the Green Purchasing Network in 1996, and enacting the Act on Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the State and Other Entities in 2000 (Nakahara, n.d.). The act obliges all government ministries and entities to implement green purchasing policies, release their own procurement policies, and report them to the Ministry of Environment.

Green procurement efforts are decentralised to local governments, who are responsible for formulating annual green procurement policies and implementing them upon integration with national regulations. The law regulates categories for eco-friendly products mainly designed based on the Eco Mark Programme (APRSCP, 2014). Products from recycled plastic covered by this regulation include stationery, office furniture, imaging equipment, computers, mobile telephones, home electronic appliances, uniforms and work clothes, and interior fixtures and bedding.

Although the products listed in the regulation refer to Eco Mark, several Eco Mark products have a higher standard for plastic recycled material used. For instance, the recycled plastic material in ballpoint pens must be 70%, while the law requires only 40% (Japan Environmental Association, n.d.,b; Ministry of the Environment of Japan, 2019). Thus, Eco Mark is considered a leader in green procurement in Japan (Nakahara, n.d.)

In Thailand, public procurement contributes 20% of the national economy, so promoting a green procurement policy encourages manufacturers to produce more green products. Thailand has taken several steps to foster green procurement. The Pollution Control Department is tasked by the minister of natural resources and environment to implement the green procurement policy. Unlike Japan, Thailand has no legal framework for green procurement. However, it released two green public procurement (GPP) plans in 2008–2011 and in 2013–2016 (APRSCP, 2014).

The first GPP plan aimed to promote green procurement in government, with central and local government agencies as target groups (Suksod, 2015; UNEP, 2017). The second targeted a wider range of groups, including public organisations, universities, the private sector, and the public, and also encouraged behavioural change for more sustainable consumption (Suksod, 2015). Although green procurement is voluntary, the two plans have specific goals that must be achieved (Table 1).