While detergents can help make our clothes clean again, they often risk polluting the environment.

When flushed away, even a small amount of the synthetic chemicals like surfactants used in detergents harm aquatic life and damage water quality when coming into contact with the natural world.

Meanwhile, the pesticides widely used to control pests affecting food production also risk harming wildlife, water quality and people.

 
Yet greener detergents are just some of the products UN Environment is now helping to bring to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Moldova aims to bring organic food and other green products into government buildings with UN Environment’s support.

In recent weeks, UN Environment held four trainings for public sector officials and private sector representatives from the two countries on the launch of public tenders with newly added sustainability criteria – whereby companies bid to provide a service or products for the government.

In Ukraine, this will help bring environmentally-friendly washing powders to the market that contribute less to water eutrophication for example, whereby plant life over-expands and starves other biodiversity of oxygen and light. Public tenders will also be launched by the country for paintwork and thermal insulation material.

In Moldova, the tenders are set to be held for organic fruit and vegetables and energy-efficient windows and doors.

During the trainings, the private sector was informed on the green criteria that will be required in the future tenders to be launched by State and city administrations, State-owned companies, and educational institutions.

By reducing the amount of energy needed for heating, not only does improved insulation material contribute to less greenhouse gases, it also saves on energy bills. The green products being sourced will have a lower environmental impact throughout their lifecycle, from resource extraction to packaging and transport, while reducing impact on air and water and in turn bring health benefits.

Sustainable Public Procurement can therefore generate income, reduce costs and support the transfer of skills and technology while reducing emissions, encouraging resource efficiency and recycling.
Given that public spending accounts for up to 7.5% of Moldovan GDP for example and even more on average in OECD countries, it holds enormous potential to drive markets towards greater sustainability and the green economy transition.

The four trainings carried out under the EU-funded “Greening Economies in the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood” (EaP GREEN) Project gathered around 100 participants and were co-hosted by Moldova’s Public Procurement Agency and the State Environmental Academy of Ukraine. They follow market assessment studies and legal reviews which UN Environment contributed to, and technical support to select which products are included in the sustainable procurement.

 
The EaP GREEN Project is carried out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, UN Environment, the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the UN Industrial Development Organisation. It assists Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in their transition towards a Green Economy. UN Environment is leading the work on sustainable public procurement under the project.

For more information please contact rie.tsutsumi@unep.org.