Kolding is the seventh largest city in Denmark. Kolding was a founding Participant and the Chair of Procura+ from 2004 - 2007. Kolding was a European frontrunner for sustainable procurement, first implementing Green Public Procurement (GPP) in 1998.
 | 93k Population |
 | 2004 Date joined |
In 1994, the Town Council unanimously signed the Aalborg Charter, and 10 years later adopted the Aalborg Commitment. Kolding began the implementation of Green Public Procurement (GPP) in 1998 and the GPP policy was revised in 2012. Kolding is now moving towards a sustainable and responsible consumption of resources.
Acquiring and consuming resources when solving the Municipality's task portfolio cannot be avoided, however they want to be as sustainable as possible in that context.
They are starting to move away from a 'buy, use, throw away' culture and, instead, they are trying to cover their need for resources in the most sustainable way. New purchases must be the last of a long list of options.
They want to shape the choices they make when procuring and using resources. In concrete terms, this means that they will look at which sustainable option they can use when a need for resources arises, when they procure a product, service or plant, and until in the long term, they no longer need the resource.
The vision of Kolding Municipality's procurement and resource consumption is to create sustainable change.
The Five Design Principles
From waste to resource. Their efforts create closed circuits and help regenerate their products and resources. This means designing things for repair, reuse, disassembling and inclusion in new circuits again. Everything is a resource; nothing is wasted.
From ownership to parts. They make the best possible use of our resources and therefore they share products and resources among themselves. This means that they go from an owner mentality to a loan and sub-mentality, where they share and pass on their products and resources to the next user and the next generation.
From silos to wholes. They have an eye for the system that their efforts are part of; everything connects and affects each other. This means that they look across organizational boundaries and financial boxes, and find solutions in interaction with different actors. In doing so, they ensure that an improvement in one place does not create a major unintended problem elsewhere.
From one to several bottom lines. They focus on creating sustainable growth, where they emphasize the environmental and social bottom line on an equal footing with the economic one. This means that they relate to all the focus areas when they make decisions based on the whole economy.
From least harm to most benefit. Their efforts must not only avoid doing harm, but do the most good and regenerate our ecosystem and society. This means that they take an active approach to how their efforts can create value for all focus areas.
Take timely care – ‘New’ roof made of reused roof tiles
Renovating a 120-m2 roof at the Kindergarten ‘Trekløveren’ saved the climate for about 1 tonne of CO2. The term showed that approx. 80% of the old roof tiles were of such good quality that they could be recycled. The roof tile has thus extended its life by at least 50% by carefully removing, cleaning and re-laying the stones.
Economically, there has been a small gain from reusing the roof tiles. However, the consideration of the resources weighed the most. It is resource-intensive to produce new bricks and their transportation would have contributed to additional CO2 emissions.
Give IT-equipment a sustainable life
Computers, phones, tablets and similar IT equipment do not last forever. However, why throw used and damaged IT equipment in the trash when it can have a sustainable life?
Kolding Municipality has entered into an agreement with a social economic company, Special Minds. The company buys the municipality's used equipment, cleans it and gives the equipment new life. At the same time as IT-equipment is recycled, the agreement provides meaningful jobs for people on the edge of the labour market. The agreement is also good business for Kolding municipality, as they can sell the used equipment rather than payto get rid of it.
In 2020, Kolding Municipality sold 2,456 pieces IT-equipment, of which 957 telephones to the company.
Share left over furniture
In the spring of 2021, Kolding Municipality started collecting used furniture from basements and storage rooms from 25 administration buildings. Desks, chairs, meeting tables, etc., which were in good condition, have been photographed, described and entered into the municipality's e-purchasing system. All the municipality's departments can see the furniture and 'buy' it for free.
During the first quarter after the furniture became available in the e-purchasing system, furniture valued approx. DKK 200,000 has been handed.
The project expands as resources become available. In the long term, the project will cover other things that can be recycled.
For further information on the activities of Kolding visit their website:
or email procurement@iclei.org
