Original title: Towards a more Circular Economy: Proposing a framework linking sustainable public procurement and sustainable business models
A circular economyAn approach that aims to turn waste into resources and connect production with consumption. tries to keep materials useful instead of throwing them away. This paper proposes a way for public buyers and suppliers to work together on products combined with services, rather than relying only on selling products. Their agreements include practical requirements, such as recovering materials, as well as social and cultural needs. The authors argue that this collaboration can help reduce raw material use and waste and support more sustainable business models.
Imagine a school arranging meals with a local kitchen. It is harder to cut waste if the school only buys food and never talks with the people preparing it. In this paper, the school is the public buyer, the kitchen is the supplier, and planning meals and leftovers together stands for collaboration that can reduce wasted materials.
Public agencies buy goods and services, and their choices can shape how suppliers design and provide them. A collaborative, service-focused approach may reduce raw material use and waste while helping both sides gain economic benefits.
The abstract proposes a framework and says collaboration can lead to less raw material use and waste, but it gives no details about how the framework was tested or how large those reductions were. It also notes that setting specifications may take longer.
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Towards a more Circular Economy: Proposing a framework linking sustainable public procurement and sustainable business models — Sjors Witjes, Rodrigo Lozano — Resources Conservation and Recycling — doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.04.015
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.