EUPAVE is committed to both encourage its application and to provide guidance and expertise to its members, the Member States, and all contracting authorities across the European Union as the best way to achieve the following goals:
- Development of Green Public Procurement (GPP)—Europe’s public authorities using their purchasing power to choose environmentally friendly goods, services, and works, therefore, they can make an important contribution to sustainable consumption and production (GPP or green purchasing)—criteria for road construction (PAPER “Green Public Procurement for Road Construction”: https://www.eupave.eu/wp-content/uploads/eupave-position-paper-green-public-procurement-gpp-for-road-construction.pdf).
- Advocation of circular economy as a necessary change to switch towards an economic model that is more respectful to the environment and its limited resources (PAPER: “Concrete Roads— an Integral Part of the Circular Economy”: https://www.eupave.eu/wp-content/uploads/eupave-position-paper-circular-economy.pdf).
- Welcoming of the Public Procurement Directives of 2014 and highlighting its benefits. EUPAVE is committed to both encourage its application and to provide guidance and expertise to its members, to the Member States, and all contracting authorities across the European Union (EU). (PAPER: “A Brief Guide to the 2014 Public Procurement Directives”: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/560261/Brief_Guide_to_the_2014_Directives_Oct_16.pdf)
EUPAVE firmly believes that in many circumstances, concrete roads can provide the most appropriate answer to achieve the goal of a more sustainable infrastructure.
In EU Green Public Procurement Criteria for Road Design, the European Commission establishes that the awarding criteria to procurers of public tenders should be made, foremost, by means of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which evaluates the impact of the main road elements over the entire life-cycle of the infrastructure, including the impact from using the infrastructure. (EU PAPER: “EU Green Public Procurement Criteria for Road Design, Construction and Maintenance”: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/GPP%20criteria%20Roads%20(2016)%20203.pdf)
Tenders awarded under LCA prioritize environmental performances over solely price-based criteria, thus entailing that more durable materials such as concrete are used in road construction. Moreover, recycled aggregates from concrete demolition are used in road base applications, as well as in the production of new concrete for pavements. Hence, the construction of concrete roads is made with respect to both the goals of GPP and circular economy.
With regard to the economic assessment of bids, both the EU Green Public Procurement Criteria for Road Design and the Public Procurement Directives plead for the use of Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA). LCCA enables consideration to be taken for the initial investment cost AND all the costs during the life cycle including periodical maintenance, rehabilitation, etc.—leading to the most economically efficient decision. For this reason, EUPAVE’s latest publication “A guide on the basic principles of Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) of pavements” has been entirely dedicated to this important topic. (PAPER: “A guide on the basic principles of Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) of pavements” https://www.eupave.eu/resources/publication-a-guide-on-the-basic-principles-of-life-cycle-cost-analysis-lcca-of-pavements/).
It is possible to combine the LCCA with other criteria that relate to quality, social, environmental and innovative aspects. When concrete pavements are evaluated over the entire life cycle of the pavement, they can provide great performance in all those aspects, making them perfectly compatible with the sustainable construction philosophy.
EUPAVE is committed to continue to provide guidance in using LCCA and GPP approaches to its members, Member States, and contracting authorities. This will result in long-lasting and better value for money, as well as more sustainable infrastructures—with increased respect towards circular economy.
For the PDF of the EUPAVE Position Paper “Tendering for Sustainable Infrastructure in the Circular Economy”, please click on image above, or go to: https://www.eupave.eu/wp-content/uploads/Position-Paper-Tendering-for-sustainable-infrastructure-in-the-circular-economy-17-October-2018.pdf.
For the EUPAVE website, please go to: https://www.eupave.eu/resources/eupave-calls-on-member-states-to-take-full-advantages-of-new-eu-rules-on-public-procurement/
For the GPP website, please got to: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=green+public+procurement+(GPP)&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8