News & Press Releases - Fair procurement for the public sector © newafrica - depositphotos.com 25 June 2025 Future-proof and fair: Hamburg sets the course for procurement How can sustainable procurement be achieved at the municipal level? In Hamburg, FEMNET, together with Stadtreinigung Hamburg (SRH) and other stakeholders, has further developed strategies for anchoring eco-social criteria in purchasing. A workshop shows: The will is there – and the knowledge is growing. In our project ‘Procurement fairnetzen", funded by the Norddeutsche Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung (North German Foundation for Environment and Development), we have worked together with municipal actors in Hamburg in recent months to permanently anchor social and ecological sustainability criteria in the public procurement of textiles and workwear. At the beginning of June, an awareness-raising workshop for and with Stadtreinigung Hamburg took place: "In FEMNET, we see a competent partner who supports us in practice in the implementation," says Eva Brahmstaedt, speaker for sustainable procurement at Stadtreinigung Hamburg, on the motivation for a cooperation with FEMNET. The workshop then focused on deepening various possibilities and ‘tools’ for taking sustainability into account in the tendering process. At first, however, common myths were disproved and arguments for an eco-social transformation of the public sector were highlighted. Thus, the prize, as the most important award criterion, could be invalidated: On the one hand, there are mandatory requirements on the part of the legislator to take into account environmental and social aspects, on the other hand, attention should be drawn not only to the purchase price but also to those costs incurred during or after use. Subsequently, a procurement process was played out with the participants and consideration was given to how social and ecological criteria can be considered even more strongly in the individual ideal-typical phases. “I was particularly impressed by the confirmation of how important and crucial sound market research is for the successful implementation of sustainable procurement. Only those who know the market well can formulate realistic and at the same time ambitious sustainability requirements. I found the reference to early dialogue with potential bidders equally valuable. This exchange is an effective tool to better match needs and opportunities and to develop realistic but effective criteria.”, Eva Brahmstaedt reported back. Examples from municipal procurement practice also illustrated how the purchase of ecologically and socially sustainable textiles and workwear can succeed and obstacles can be overcome. Our conclusion Municipal actors in Hamburg can and want to use their creative freedom in procurement effectively in order to work for the protection of human rights and the environment. Therefore: We'll stay tuned! We would like to thank the Stadtreinigung Hamburg for the committed exchange and all other project partners for the good cooperation!
