Use of Labels in Sustainable
Procurement
Presented by
Christine Storry – PIPEN Project Manager
South West England

Sustainable Procurement –
to recap
Social
Workers’ rights
Ethical issues
Fair pay
Economic
Local economy
Life cycle costs
Employment
Environmental
Air quality
Water use
Energy

An Ecolabel…
• Identifies environmental preference
• Based on life cycle cost
• Awarded by an impartial third party
• Through accurate and verifiable
communication
• To encourage demand
• Stimulating the continuous
improvement of products

Types of Ecolabels
Type I a voluntary, multiple-criteria based, third
party program that awards a license which
authorises the use of environmental labels on
products indicating overall environmental
preferability of a product with a product
category based on life cycle considerations
Type II informative environmental self-declaration
claims
Type III voluntary programs that provide quantified
environmental data of a product, under pre-
set categories or parameters set by a
qualified third party and based on life cycle
assessment, and verified by that or another
qualified third party

Other types of labels
Quality
Standards
• Eg ISO, SA,
BS
‘Beyond eco’
labels
• Eg, Fairtrade,
Rainforest
Alliance
Production
standards
• Eg, Organic
production

A label can be…
• Generic
– Covers more than one product category
– Eg; Blue Angel, EU Ecolabel, Nordic Swan,
Fairtrade
• Specific
– Covers one category of product
– Eg; FSC/PEFC – timber; MSC – fisheries

💣 Must meet these criteria
• (a) they only concern criteria which are linked to
the subject matter of the contract;
• (b) the criteria for the label are verifiable, and
non- discriminatory;
• (c) they are established using an open and
transparent procedure in which all relevant
stakeholders, including government bodies,
consumers, social partners, manufacturers,
distributors and non-governmental organisations,
may participate;
• (d) they are accessible to all interested parties;
and
• (e) they are set by a third party over which the
economic operator applying for the label cannot
exercise a decisive influence.
Article 43.1 – EU Procurement Directive

Specific criteria and
subject matter
Criteria need
to be specific
to the
subject
matter
If not specific
– cannot
require that
label
BUT can refer
to criteria in
the label that
do relate
AND accept
the label as
verification

Labels in the procurement
process
To define
• Technical specification; or
• Including award criteria; or
• Contract performance clauses
To verify compliance
• With the technical specification; or
• Award criteria; or
• Contract performance clauses
Voluntary –v- mandatory use
• Generally voluntary
• Limited mandatory ones; eg EU Energy Star
• Central government bodies and agencies

If bidders don’t have the
label
• If cannot obtain within time limit
– appropriate other means of
verification, eg a technical dossier
will be acceptable
– accept other labels which meet
equivalent label requirements
• Cannot exclude bidder if they can
prove equivalency

Successful use of labels
Give careful thought to the subject matter
• Easier to include sustainability and verification
by label use if defined at the start of the
process
Know your labels
• What does each one of the pertinent labels
achieve and which one is relevant to the
contract
Link to organisation's priorities and policies
• Use the priorities and policies to support the
use of labels where relevant

South West England
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www.uwe.ac.uk