Taking lead in the circular transition - closing implementation gaps in sustainable public procurement

In Sweden, public organizations procure goods and services for approximately SEK 800 billion, annually. This means that public procurement presents unique opportunities to influence production, companies and markets. At the same time, public consumption accounts for almost 30% of Sweden´s climate impact.

This project is about circular and fossil-free procurement, which the government has pointed out as crucial in the transition to sustainable societies.

Extensive changes in procurement practices are therefore necessary and many actors must interact to develop new approaches and working methods, including collaboration with supplying companies. However, in-depth analyzes about such change processes are lacking.

The aim of the project is to identify and explain the challenges that public organizations face in organizing and implementing circular and fossil-free procurement and thus contribute with knowledge that can be used to bridge the gap between policy and practice.

Through in-depth studies of two municipalities and two different areas of procurement (construction and food), the organizational conditions for circular and fossil-free procurement are analyzed as well as what happens when policies are transformed into concrete measures in the procuring and supplying organizations.

In addition to practical knowledge, the project theoretically contributes to an emerging multidisciplinary research literature on procurement in relation to governance and organization of markets.