Circular procurement of school furniture: Aalborg Municipality

The City of Aalborg has implemented a circular public procurement of learning environments in the municipal primary schools. The tender provided the framework for how to recycle and repair the furniture to the municipality’s primary schools: instead of investing in brand new furniture and throw the old away, the task was furnishing classrooms with a mix of new, recycled and refurbished furniture. Sustainable procurement is about being deliberate and conscientious when it comes to purchasing decisions, and where possible, reusing and repairing rather than replacing. Aalborg is the first municipality in Denmark to apply the circular economy to the procurement of furniture for primary and secondary schools.

WHAT WORKED WELL

• Schools can reuse and repair classroom furniture rather than buying new, saving on costs and reducing the need for production of new furniture.
• The City of Aalborg believes in voting through purchasing decisions, through choosing purchasing habits that reflect broader goals linked to addressing climate change, social well-being and resilience, and green growth. For example, at the Centre for Green Transition if we are buying new computers, we look for those that have the lowest energy demands, and here at Aalborg Municipality, we have hydrogen and electric vehicles that our staff can use to get to meetings, steering away from fossil fuel dependent transport.

LESSONS LEARNED

• Sustainable procurement looks beyond short-term needs and considers the whole lifecycle of a product or service.

WORKING GROUP

• Aalborg Municipality