The route to circular office furnishings
The Office Furnishings department, which is responsible for the Government-wide purchase of office furnishings and is organisationally part of Rijkswaterstaat's Purchase Implementation Centre (InkoopUitvoeringsCentrum (IUC)), wants to actively work in its sphere of influence on a transition to a circular economy. Together with REBus, PIANOo, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and TurnToo, the Office Furnishings department recently took the first step by implementing a study into the possibility of achieving a circular economy (October 2016).
The resulting report, 'The route to circular office furnishings', is the first step towards developing a vision, exploring opportunities and making recommendations for a circular economy. Besides exploring the influence and potential of circular business operations in the Office Furnishings department, the report also analyses the organisational environment, formulates aspirations and goals and identifies feasible options for implementation.
Reuse of the existing office furnishing
The aim is for the entire Government to ultimately reuse the existing office furnishings. And in cases where office furnishings are nevertheless purchased, this must be done in a circular way. "We want to start with Rijkswaterstaat and then do the same for the rest of the Government," says Sabine van der Leij, Department Manager at the IUC. This can be done because Rijkswaterstaat organises, among other things, the purchase of office furnishings for most of the Government through its Purchase Implementation Centre (IUC) corporate department.
The long term
In the long term, the circular use of office furnishings can save Rijkswaterstaat around 2 to 3 million euros compared to the purchase of new office furnishings. The total savings for the Government can amount to as much as 8 to 11 million euros. However, this depends on the precise effect of the circular use of office furnishings. The initiative will help the Government to achieve its aspiration to create a 100% circular economy and will help Rijkswaterstaat to make its business operations more sustainable. The first contracts for the circular use of office furnishings will be signed with Rijkswaterstaat in 2017.
More information
This article is part of the dossier on Circular Procurement - REBus. REBus aims to inspire purchasers and market players to think about retaining the value of raw materials in the whole supply chain, from the very first request for a product or service. This includes considering the possibilities for reuse and recycling.
Dossier: Circular procurement/REBus