Closing the loop without reinventing the wheel: public procurement for innovation promoting a circular economy

Abstract

This theoretical paper adopts a procedural perspective to identify the challenges associated with the implementation of the full scope of approaches to circular public procurement (CPP). We contend that beyond considering CPP from a substantive standpoint (i.e. the procurement affects outside of the organization), adopting a procedural perspective (i.e. the procurement affects inside an organization) to public procurement can pave the way for reflecting transversally on how CPP can borrow from public procurement for innovation (PPI). Building on the challenges identified in the literature on CPP, we identify that PPI can contribute to consolidating CPP through such mechanisms as market engagement and intermediation, functional specifications, and coordinated unbundling. We provide illustrations for each of the identified procedural contributions of PPI to CPP derived from five cases. We discuss how procurement capabilities and evaluation can act as critical drivers for moving from a substantive to a procedural approach to CPP.