The GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT National Action Plan (DM 11th of
2008), focus on
april
The “Minimum Environmental Criteria on the supply of ink jet and toner cartridges and
on the integrated service of take back used cartridges and supply of ink jet and toner
cartridges”
Italian Green Public Procurement National Action Plan : the “Minimum
Environmental criteria”
The Minimum Environmental Criteria are the environmental characteristics considered
along the whole life cycle of the category addressed, defined in terms of object of the contract, technical
specifications, contract clauses, award criteria, which aim to select and to stimulate the bid of
products/services/works with a good level of environmental performance in terms of use of natural
resources, energy consumption, waste minimization, recycling/reuse and a less use of hazardous
chemicals.
These requirements are "minimum" as to qualify public tenders as “green” (reduced
environmental impacts). They are also “minimum" as they are basic requirements for qualifying
“green” the services/products complying with, and to ensure a sufficient market supply.
Ink jet and toner cartridges: some data
8.000.000 = number of cartridges for printing and copying machines consumed in Italy per year (70% OEM, 11,5%
remanufactured, 18,5% compatibles)
1.500 million €. = charges volume for the purchase of cartridges in Italy
60% of this amount is for products manufactured in Southeast Asia countries
3.000 = n. companies in Italy producing toner and ink jet remanufacturers cartridges
10.000 = n. of employed people
 This sector is in particular crisis in Italy
Costs of separate collection waste management
The minimum environmental criteria on ink jet and toner cartridges purpose
 Promote the goal of environmental policy to develop the recovery of materials
 Promote the reduction of environmental impacts of the cartridges, especially considering the
very relevant impacts when they are disposing of in landfills or incinerated (1.1 billion cartridges are sold
yearly; of these 500 million are destined to landfill; each cartridge can be regenerated at least 2-3 sometimes; where extended to all cartridges the
waste sent to landfills would reduce by 66-75%);
 Address the problem of unfair competition made by companies that clone or counterfeit
cartridges
 Explain that lower price it’s not the best value for money; qualitative characteristics, also
intrinsec, have to be taken into account especially by a contracting authority
The Minimum Environmental Criteria on cartridges: the working group
Composition of the working group (2013)
Coordination: officials of the Ministry of the Environment , Departemnt “Green Public Procurement”
Members:




Experts on public procurement of ink-jet and toner cartridges (ArpaToscana, Arpa Emilia Romagna)
Officials of Ministry of the Environment, Department “Management of the waste cycle”
Representatives of Ecoetico, Associazione PACTO, ARTI-Italia
Representatives of “Stazione Sperimentale Carta e Cartone”
 The final document has been shared with OEM
The minimum environmental criteria on ink jet and toner cartridges
Supply of cartrtidges: the “green” public tender in Italy
Under national law on Green Public Procurement a public tender on cartridges supply is
“green” if:
foresees the supply of remanufactured cartridges (made from empty originals or, in any case, made
from empty used cartridges manufactured in compliance with intellectual property rights) comply with
technical specifications:
-“traceability and production characteristics”
- “print quality and durability”
- “limitations and exclusions of hazardous chemicals “
for almost the 30% of total supply.
It’s also “green” the:
Integrated service of take back used cartridges and the supply of remanufactured cartridges (comply
with the tecnical specifications above mentioned)
The collected cartitridges have to be, whenever technically possible, “preparing for reuse R12 code”. This solution also
permits the reduction of environmental impacts linked to trasnsport (and promote a circular economy)
The minimum environmental criteria on ink jet and toner cartridges
Environmental criterion 4.2.1: “Traceability and production characteristics”
Means of presuming conformity:
 Eco-labels ISO 14024
(product category: remanufactured cartridges)
 Environmental Products Declaration ISO 14025 validated by a conformity assessment
body accredited in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008
 Self-declared environmental claims ISO 14021 validated (remanufactured, rectior “prepared for re-use” )
In absence:
A declaration subscribed by manufacturer or importer with:
The business name, the registered office of all companies in the supply chain; the headquarters of the treatment plants
and recovery of cartridges, their permissions and a specific declaration to accept an on-site inspection from a
conformity assessment body.
The contracting authority reserves the right to verify the veracity of the assertion "regenerated / reconstituted" through
verification
conducted
by
such
body
on
a
sample
"X" of products, chosen randomly.
The minimum environmental criteria on ink jet and toner cartridges
Criterion 4.2.2: “Garantee on print quality and print capacity”
Performance on print quality and print capacity have to be tested and comply with one the following standard/test
methods:
print capacity ink jet and toner cartridges:
ISO/IEC 19752; ISO/IEC 19798; ISO/IEC 24711:2007
Print quality remanufactured ink jet and toner cartridges:
DIN 33870-1; DIN 33870-2; DIN 33871-1; DIN 33871-2
Verification: A declaration of the bidder. Means of presuming conformity: eco-labels comply with this criterion
(Nordic Ecolabelling..); EPD if reports the information required by this criterion, validated by an “recognized” body.
In the other cases, the contracting authority will require, taking into account the value of the contract, a certification
by a recognized body attesting the compliance of the criterion of a sample "X" cartridges chosen randomly and in
proportion to the value contract.
Criterion 4.2.3: “Hazardous chemicals and heavy metals”
Toner powder and inks: exclusion of specific hazardous chemicals and some others h.c. classified by hazard
designations; exclusion of heavy metals.
Verification: A declaration of the bidder on the basis of inks and toner powder safety data sheets.
Means of presuming conformity: eco-labels comply with this criterion (Nordic Ecolabelling); EPD if reports the
information required by this criterion, validated by an “recognized” body, if presents the results of analyzes carried
out on the basis of standardized test methodologies (such as test AMES, LGA).
In the other cases, the contracting authority will require, taking into account the value of the contract, a certification
by a recognized body attesting the compliance of the criterion of a sample "X" cartridges chosen randomly and in
proportion to the contract value.
The minimum environmental criteria on ink jet and toner cartridges
“Integrated service of take back used cartridges and supply of ink jet and toner
cartridges”
OBJECT OF THE TENDER
Integrated service of take back used cartridges and supply of ink jet and toner remanufactured cartridges, comply
with the MEC.
…
SELECTION OF THE BIDDERS
Authorizations
The bidder, in order to award the service, must have directly, or anyway call on companies that have valid
authorizations for the collection, transport, recovery and disposal of waste, with reference to the CER codes
concerned (R12 for recovery activities).
Verification: the bidder must declare the list of companies that compose the chain of collection and cartridge
productions, with their authorizations references, the locations of production sites where all of these operations are
performed.
Contract clause: if any of the companies of the supply chain changes, the contractor must inform the public authority
and give all the information described above.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
Traceabiability ….
Others considerations and perspectives
 The “Minimum Environmental Criteria on cartridges supplies is coherent with the Minimum Environmental criteria
of printing, copying and multifunctional devices annex to DM 13th december 2013.
Environmental criterion: “Products must accept remanufactured ink jet and toner cartridges. Devices and practices that
prevent the use of remanufactured cartridges (for instance practices or devices that inhibit or restrict the use of
remanufactured products) should not be present nor applied.
 The application of MEC is still voluntary based. A bill “Provisions relating to promote environmental measures of green economy
and for containment of excessive use of natural resources” includes the mandatory integrations in public tenders of the Minimum
Environmental Criteria set within the GPP NAP. Probably it will be approved by Italian parliament in summer
In parallel, the transposition of the Directive on public procurement and concessions it’s going on; it’s not sure that it
will maintain consistency with the provisions on Minimum Environmental Criteria (MEC) under the draft of the legal
framework above mentioned
 A new monitoring system on MECs application, others communications activities and probably a guideline on
verification of MECs on cartridges compliance are scheduled. It’s stressed, whenever it’s possible, the need of close the
waste cycle and increase the purchase of remanufactured cartridges, made under the respect of all the environmental
and safety legal framework, to develop circular economy models and green economy growth.
Alessandra Mascioli
[email protected] tel. 06 57223818
Ente Capofila
Ecosistemi srl
Viale Liegi, 32 00198 Roma
Tel. +39 06/68301407
Fax +39 06/92912226
[email protected]
Provincia di Cagliari
Settore Ambiente
Ufficio Sviluppo Sostenibile, Nodo In.F.E.A.
Parco di Monteclaro, Via Cadello, 9/B - Cagliari
Tel. 070 5284525 Fax 070 4092054
[email protected]
www.forumcompraverde.it