Use of the Blue Angel in procurement
Alongside the functional characteristics of products, it is also possible to take account of their environmental compatibility in public procurement. Public institutions can thus make a contribution to reducing environmental pollution, support the market penetration of environmentally friendly products and fulfil their duty as role models. It is also possible to save costs in many cases if bids are evaluated not only based on the purchase costs but also the life cycle costs of the products. The same thing applies to procurement processes in companies.
The ability to take account of environmental labels in procurement processes has been expanded with the reform of the German public procurement law 2016/2017. It makes things significantly easier both for public authorities and also for those companies bidding for contracts. It is now possible, for example, for public awarding authorities to refer to certain ecolabels – such as the Blue Angel or the EU Ecolabel – when defining the technical requirements, award criteria and conditions for the execution of contracts. These ecolabels can also be requested or used as verification of compliance with the requirements. Equivalent ecolabels must also be accepted. It is only in certain cases that public awarding bodies are required to accept other appropriate supporting documents as verification (Article 34 VgV/ Article 24 UVgO).
If there are no products or only a few products with the Blue Angel, the relevant criteria for the Blue Angel can be adopted as requirements in the invitation to tender. Compliance with the criteria can then be verified either by submitting the ecolabel or other suitable supporting documents (such as test reports).
The recommendations from the German Environment Agency for invitations to tender for all of the Blue Angel products in the list below can provide you with comprehensive support when you want to implement environmentally friendly procurement processes. You can also find further information in the publications listed at the bottom of this page and on the web portal operated by the German Environment Agency on the theme of environmentally friendly procurement www.beschaffung-info.de.
The product-specific recommendations for invitations to tender for the Blue Angel products in the list below consist of a guidebook and one or more supplier questionnaires for each product group. The procedure described in the guidebook can also be transferred to other products with the Blue Angel.
