Evaluation of sustainable public procurement in Spanish Universties. A focus on canteen services

Abstract

Universities play a key role in the transition towards sustainable and circular models. Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) is a useful policy tool to mitigate the environmental impact of products and services, while also creating social value for the community. In this context, the aim of this study is to assess the SPP criteria that Spanish public universities are currently implementing in their tendering processes, focusing specifically on canteen services, due to their high consumption of products and considerable generation of waste. For this purpose, the tenders under analysis are selected and, for each tender, the criteria included are identified and classified according to their type (mandatory, award and tie-breaking) and their related-aspect (technical, economic, environmental and social). In addition, the weighting given to the award criteria is identified and the relationship between tender criteria and EC-GPP criteria is analysed.

The results show a gradual integration of new criteria included in the tenders related to sustainability (SPP), with social criteria taking precedence over environmental features. Although these aspects are mainly included as mandatory criteria, they represent a minor factor of the weighting during the award process. Moreover, in the majority of cases, the recommendations and criteria proposed by the EC-GPP are not considered. Therefore, research is needed to achieve a balance between technical-economic and environmental-social aspects.