Green Deal – Circular Economy

The Polytechnic of Coimbra is part of the Centro Green Deal pilot project that aims to increase circularity in public procurement and is promoted by the Commission for Coordination of the Central Regional Development (CCDRC), whose protocol was signed by 14 regional entities on April 10th, 2019.

Circular public procurement is a process that allows public entities to acquire products, goods and services with a reduced environmental impact, seeking to reduce energy and material consumption, avoiding negative impacts and the production of waste throughout the life cycle.

This is a project inspired by the Green Deals developed in the Netherlands, integrated in the Regional Agenda for Circular Economy in the Centre of Portugal. The project has the support of a team of experts in circular public procurement belonging to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Dutch Government and will be treated with special attention by consultants from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in the context of a pilot action on Strategic Public Procurement promoted by the European Commission.

The protocol signed provides for the selection of two public procurement processes by each entity, to be launched in accordance with the principles of circular economy, integrating a network made up of the other signatory entities of the agreement, with the aim of sharing experiences and learning on a collaborative basis.

The first pilot project of the Polytechnic of Coimbra was the acquisition of 100% Reusable and Recyclable glass bottles for the institution’s new students, without any plastic packaging, transported in a single vehicle and delivered only once, to avoid unnecessary emissions, as well as produced with materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, taking into account the Declaration of Conformity of Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 of the European Parliament and Council of October 27th, 2004.

The second was “O Jornal Politécnico de Coimbra”, printed in double-sided format, on paper with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification which guarantees its provenance from a responsibly managed forest, using inks that take into account compliance with the certification of the European standard EN71/3 of the European Economic Community. In addition, the newspapers are bound with paper with the same characteristics as the newspaper, instead of being packaged using plastic wrapping, and each edition is delivered to CTT and to the Central Services of the Polytechnic of Coimbra in a single journey, thus reducing the pollutant emissions associated with its transportation.

Meanwhile, more projects are being prepared.