Starting from 2ndFebruary 2016, the Italian Public Administrations are obliged to insert their goods and service suppliers’ environmental qualification criteria in their purchasing policies (Green Public Procurement or GPP) for an order of any amount.
This is a formidable tool of environmental policy that could constitute a driving force for several post-consumption products and materials, among which also rubber recycled from end-of-life tyres.
Recycled rubber is, indeed, a precious material characterised by physical properties that distinguish it from other materials: it is elastic, resistant to repeated loads and to extreme weather conditions and long-lasting.
These properties make it a widely used material for the creation of “silent” and extremely long-lasting asphalts, for safety elements for “soft” mobility, such as: curbs, coatings forpoles and vertical signing, bollards, retarders, benches and other urban furnishingobjects.
Ecopneus has always been integrated in the Green Economy. As such, it is also a member of the ministerial works for the preparation of the Minimum Environmental Criteria (MEC) for “Sustainable roads” and for “urban furnishingelements”. The definition of the MEC is a fundamental element to be able to adopt them within the Public Administration’s Green Purchases Policies: last November a Decree of the Ministry of the Environment inserted recycled rubber from ELTs among the materials provided for by the Minimum Environmental Criteria for the building, renovating, maintenance and energy redevelopment of public buildings.
To measure the effective level of adoption of GPP policies from the part of the Public Administrations, the National Association of the Virtuous Councils decided to carry out a timely reporting of the application of the Minimum Environmental Criteria (MEC) for the year of reference, 2017, in agreement with the European Community’s indication n. 400/2008. It directly involved its over 100 Member Councils. The monitoring will be carried out by Punto3 Ltd in collaboration with Ecopneus and Sumus Italia.
The monitoring of the “green” purchases is necessary to quantify the obtained results both in terms of environmental results and of financial ones, because a concrete GPP policy aims at the reduction of the environmental impacts, the rationalisation of expenditure and of the consumption of the Public Administration.
Collect ELT