Good practice:

Pre-Commercial Procurement of Nano Bitumen

In Lithuania, circular procurement is yet poorly established practice and the majority of existing examples are focused only on secondary circularity stages such as consumption, waste collection and recycling, rather than ensuring the initial steps of circular economy with lifelong design and durability. A more advanced way to improve this situation and integrate circularity principles in procurement is represented by the good practice of pre-commercial procurement (PCP) of nano bitumen.
The nature of PCP is that the solution must be provided in an innovative, R&D driven way. In order to improve the quality of the roads, Lithuanian Road Administration initiated this type of procurement for bitumen. The aim is to design the longest-lasting road surface. The tender is focusing on materials that would be the most suitable for local climate and, thus, the road would be durable for a longer time without any major repairs. This procurement contributes to a circular economy by promoting the creation of new materials that require less raw materials, have a longer useful life and are easier to maintain.
The main stakeholder of this procurement is the Lithuanian Road Administration. Also, a significant role can be dedicated to scientific institutions and companies which carry out R&D in related area.
With the implemented procurement, the new surface for roads will bring benefits not only for the drivers but also for the government as there will be fewer costs for road repair.

The total available funding for the PCP is 536 998 EUR. Yet equally important part of this good practice is the tender that sets the criteria with circular aspects. Therefore, it is important to have procurers or external experts with sufficient knowledge in a circular economy and related topics.

The success of the PCP of nano bitumen can be seen from different approaches. Firstly, this procurement enables local scientific potential, uses local resources instead of imported materials (20 % decreased costs), and creates 40 additional workplaces. Secondly, the features of new bitumen allow avoiding frequent road repairs (around 60 % less repairs needed) and damage to cars (saving up to 8 MEUR per year).

The main challenge is to clearly define circular aspects for the criteria of the tender. It must be noted that the criteria should be easily and equally understandable, and should aim for the most efficient result.

The tender of this procurement serves as a good example because the aim of it is to enable the use of local resources and create the most durable road covering which would have much longer lifetime compared to current alternatives. Thus, similar criteria could be applied in other procurement related to the use of road covering. The inclusion of circularity into the tender with a prospect of extended life-cycle and the customization of the product can generally be applied to the majority of procurement cases which are related to the creation of new products.
This procurement is financed under policy measure "Pre-commercial procurement LT" which can be used as an effective way to connect circular economy and public procurement.
For future learning adequate preparatory work with potential suppliers is critical. Because of the procurement specificity the number of offers is low. Market consultation and dialogue would help to attract relevant stakeholders and increase overall cooperation.