Circular purchasing of polyethylene pipes

Test case for more circularity in future procurement files

Polyethylene pipes are used by network operators for the construction of gas and water networks.

Eandis (now Fluvius) wants to purchase and transport these PE pipes for several utility companies at the same time. By bundling purchases and including circular principles in the specifications, we want to examine whether we can move our suppliers more in the direction of circularity.

Specifically, with this pilot project, we want the awarded suppliers to make a maximum effort to recycle surplus PE pipes and PE fittings, expired PE pipes and possibly excavated PE pipes and fittings, preferably through their own production process. To this end, we are going to include sustainability as an award criterion in our purchase dossiers. The tenderers' offer must include a plan of approach for sustainability, which counts for 20 out of 100 points.

This dossier can also serve as an example dossier for other purchasing dossiers for all participating clients. The ultimate goal is to create a framework to introduce circularity in all possible purchases.