7 lessons learned from the Green Deal Circular Procurement

1. Commit to long lifespan and energy efficiency in new installations.
   One solution is to use LED lighting. The significant savings in energy costs immediately create a clear business case. Although 60% of the CO₂ footprint is usually caused by material consumption, energy consumption remains lighting’ main impact.
2. Determine which option retains the most value and the financial consequences over the entire lifespan. A TCO analysis can be useful in this respect. Keep the existing installation, invest in new, more energy-efficient materials, or LAAS solutions? The decision isn’t always easy. The business case also depends on the context of your building or site, so it’s best the supplier and the buyer optimise this together.
3. Design lighting fixtures and installations with a view to circularity.
   Design with a view to reuse, easy disassembly and recycling at the end of life.
4. Lighting-as-a-service (LAAS) is not necessarily circular.
   It’s important to make good agreements about upgradeability, maintenance, repair and take-back at the end of the contract. The best option, therefore, is for the provider to remain the owner of the lighting fixtures. To assess circularity, transparency about the supply chain and processing after take-back is required. LAAS is interesting for major projects (more than 200,000 euros) or projects where upscaling is expected.
5. Make sure that you sufficiently define and specify circular criteria in your lighting contract documents.
   Otherwise, it will be difficult for suppliers to demonstrate the benefits of their circular solutions over traditional installations.
6. Circular products have to be used in the right place in projects
   to be beneficial for the buyers. Circular applications begin to become advantageous if lights are on for 10 hours or more a day. As the number of hours lights are on increases, the system offers more financial benefits for the purchaser.
7. Make sure the contract is for a long enough period.
   As a guide, a contract should be for a period of about 10-15 years for maximum return.