Circular printing, copying and scanning

Building circularity into the contracts of Zorgbedrijf and OCMW Leuven

ZORG Leuven wants to continue to focus on sustainable purchasing and innovation. Our ultimate goal is a purchasing strategy that generates as little waste as possible. We want to buy products with a long life span and which are easy to recycle, and we want to opt for production that uses sustainable energy sources and raw materials that are extracted in an environmentally friendly and socially just manner.

During this project, we want to analyse how we can integrate circularity into our purchasing strategy of reproduction materials. In concrete terms, it is about hiring sustainable printing, copying and scanning capacity, and management and reporting software.

For this, we entered into a dialogue with the sector and our existing suppliers. After all, good cooperation throughout the chain is crucial to obtaining good, circular solutions.

The study included an analysis of the procurement procedure from the preparatory phase with market prospection, the assessment of legality and feasibility, the drawing up of the tender, the assessment of the applications and tenders and the assessment of conformity at start-up.

In order to integrate circularity into the tendering procedure, ZORG Leuven finally opted for an existing framework agreement with the circular objectives in a side-letter.

OCMW Leuven

Partners Zorgbedrijf Leuven, The Global Picture

Sectors

Themes

Organisations

MOST IMPORTANT
RESULTS

  1. Our objectives were largely achieved: we analysed the chain, worked together with existing partners and investigated how we could stimulate circular innovation while retaining previously realised sustainability gains.
  2. The project delivered an applicable project plan for our buyers with an appropriate purchasing strategy, a matrix of objectives and specifications and an overview of questions for the market consultation.
  3. In order to create added value in a broader context, we shared the knowledge we acquired with, among others, the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities, the Flemish Association of Purchasing Managers in Care Institutions, the participants in the European project GPP4 Growth, etc.

MOST IMPORTANT
LESSONS LEARNED

  1. Circular criteria are not only possible for new contracts, and the current market is sometimes further ahead than expected in terms of circularity. After our research project, for example, we were able to make our existing contracts more circular by means of a side deed.
  2. This case shows that you can also negotiate with existing partners and within current agreements. A good dialogue with the sector is crucial for reaching good circular agreements. Thanks to this project, our supplier has become so enthusiastic that he is now introducing circularity himself in other projects.