PROCURING SUSTAINABLY, LEADING GLOBALLY

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2 February 2021
Oslo
Helsinki

Two GLCN Cities among group to declare joint statement on demand towards fair, circular smartphones

Power of Procurement - as major consumers of smartphones, GLCN cities Helsinki and Oslo together with ICLEI members Malmö and  Copenhagen are challenging the market with a joint statement of demand outlining their vision towards fair and circular smartphones by 2025.

The statement comes as 9 points of actionable ambitions such as 

  • By 2025, we are tendering with harmonised criteria and clauses that push for fair and safe working conditions and environmental sustainability across the entire supply chain including raw materials extraction, manufacturing and delivery stages as well as at repairing, reuse, recycling and disposal stages of smartphones and its components.
  • By 2025, we work with resellers and suppliers on the actionable increase of transparency of the supply chain and end-of-life, including locations and conditions of production. This will be possible also in hardware-as-service agreements.
  • By 2025, we aim to establish processes, internally and in collaboration with suppliers and resellers, to collect 100% of smartphones at the end of life with a view to find a second-life, reuse or remanufacture all smartphones where possible. The remaining smartphones should be recycled, critical raw materials should be safeguarded and as many materials as possible should be reused and recycled for new devices.
  • By 2025, we can apply certification and worker-driven monitoring to contribute to circularity, environmental and social responsibility supported by regular dialogue for continuous improvement. 

As an important public procurer, Helsinki sees its participation in the initiation as important. The City’s goal is to be carbon-neutral by 2035 and, as part of this goal, Helsinki strives to promote circular economy strongly.

Helsinki’s recently updated procurement strategy puts a stronger emphasis on responsibility and impacts. Our goals must also be reflected more strongly in the mobile device procurements of the City. Indeed, Helsinki will address the matters brought up in the joint statement in its future tenders. In addition, we want to review the City’s own practices regarding the use and decommission of devices,” says procurement director Jorma Lamminmäki.

The joint statement has been developed under the European project Make ICT Fair over a period of six months including several internal and external feedback loops. The Nordic Forum for Market Dialogue on 25th November 2020 was one of the opportunities for discussion and reflection on the statement in collaboration with representatives from suppliers and resellers, as well as relevant third-party organisations. The market engagement event, opened by Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, Mayor of the City of Malmö, has proven to be a highly valuable tool to strengthen cooperation between the relevant stakeholders. The dialogue emphasised that the ambitions of the statement can be achieved only through collaboration.


From now on, the Joint Statement is open to other public authorities who support the ambitions. Pooling demand and sharing ambition between public buyers will create a collective power that will help ensure fair and safe conditions for workers as well as to create a market for circular solutions. If you are interested in learning more and to support the statement, please contact Josefine Hintz josefine.hintz@iclei.org. 

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GLCN

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
Mr. Philipp Tepper

Leopoldring 3
79098 Freiburg
Germany

Telephone: +49 (0) 761 – 368 92 0
E-mail: philipp.tepper@iclei.org

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