The biggest successes in public procurement were honored last night at the 2019 Procura+ Awards ceremony, which took place during the Nordic Edge Expo in Stavanger (Norway).

ICLEI Members Ghent (Belgium) and Zurich (Switzerland) were winners in their respective categories, fighting off strong competition from other European cities, regions and national authorities.

The Procura+ Awards, an annual public procurement award organised by the Procura+ network and supported by the Procure2Innovate project, rewards successful, already running, sustainable and innovative public procurements, which lead to the significant improvement of public goods, services, processes and infrastructure.

The Procura+ network is a network of European public authorities and regions, co-ordinated by ICLEI, that connect, exchange and act on sustainable and innovation procurement.

The City of Zurich and its initiative to use recycled concrete in buildings was awarded the title of ‘Procurement Initiative of the Year’. Zurich has saved around 17,000m3 of virgin materials and landfill space through their project.

The City is now increasing recycled asphalt, with up to 30 percent of recycled material used in new road foundations and 60 percent reclaimed asphalt in the road base.

Speaking about the win, Wiebke Rösler Häfliger, Director at the Office for Building Construction, City of Zurich said: “We are very proud of our work and it shows that we are working in the right direction. The market has responded positively and our new art museum will be constructed using recycled concrete that includes CO2 reduced cement.”

The ‘Sustainable Procurement of the Year’ Award went to the City of Ghent, who launched a pilot procurement for ethically produced workwear in line with the socially responsible requirements in its procurement policy and worked in partnership with suppliers to get the product required.

“We are thrilled that we are able through our public procurement to encourage the market to change in a sustainable way, and that we can share our experience with other purchasing authorities through our toolbox for socially sustainable workwear,” said Aline De Cokere, Public Buyer for City of Ghent.  

Other awards handed out include the ‘Innovation Procurement of the Year’ award, which was won by the Municipality of Frederiksberg (Denmark) and the ‘Outstanding Innovation Procurement in ICT’ award, which was scooped up by CERN.

The Procura+ Awards is an initiative of ICLEI Europe, with support from the EU-funded Procure2Innovate project.

For more information about the Procura+ Awards, click here.