Sustainable Procurement is an efficient purchase of goods, works and services that considers the environmental and social standards and are based on the choice of procurement subject, assessing its full cost of life cycle.

Sustainable procurement is one of the key instruments of sustainable consumption and production in the private and public sectors of the economy and agrees with Goal 12 of the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals "Responsible Consumption and Production".

Applying this approach, budget organizations contribute to the achievement of such goals as improving safety indicators, resource efficiency, pollutant and greenhouse gas emission reductions, waste management, etc. In the social sphere, green procurement provides safer purchasing, reducing the impact on human health. In economic terms, the criterion of choosing a "price", which takes into account the full cost of the life cycle provides an objective assessment of the benefits or losses associated with the subject of procurement and the effectiveness of procurement as a whole.

Sustainable procurement will also highlight the leadership positions of government and budget organizations to address environmental and social issues and the effective management of budget funds.

Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement"

The application of environmental criteria to the item of procurement meets the requirements of the Law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement" regarding the necessity of applying environmental protection measures. According to Article 22 of this Law, the customer has the opportunity to apply environmental criteria in the technical specifications of tender documentation as selection criteria. Customers may refer to the requirements of international or national standards, norms and rules that establish environmental criteria for the procurement item, including its characteristics (for example, energy efficiency, functional characteristics, toxicity, biological degradation and other environmental characteristics).

The technical specification should not include a reference to a particular trademark or firm, patent, design or type of procurement item, source of origin or manufacturer. If such a link is necessary, it should be substantiated, and the specification should contain the expression "or equivalent".

The potential of the current Law will be strengthened during the reform of the public procurement system in Ukraine. According to Article 152 of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, before 2020 Ukraine is obliged to introduce at the legislative level the requirements that will ensure greater integration of environmental and social criteria into suppliers and to the procured by budget organizations for the state needs goods, services or works based on relevant standards, including ecolabels.