Become a green supplier
At the City we are highly conscious about from where and whom we buy products and services. We like to work with businesses using sustainable production and disposal methods. We call this approach green procurement.
Why green procurement?
Green procurement, otherwise known as sustainable public procurement, is the system the City uses to buy products and services that are better for our environment, businesses and residents. Our green procurement approach works to ensure that we do our utmost to support and sustain green industries and solutions in Cape Town. The City’s approach to green procurement is integrated in our
Supply Chain Management Policy.
Climate change and pollution has a big impact on the health of our people, our natural ecosystems and important industries like farming and agriculture. Government, including municipalities, have enormous purchasing power. By leveraging our spending power, we can do a lot to encourage suppliers and service-providers to use environmentally-responsible production solutions in their day-to-day business.
Why go green
- Buying resource-efficient products and services is more cost effective in the long run.
- By adopting a green approach now, we won’t have to try and catch up later if national or international law enforces increased carbon taxes.
- Encouraging green procurement drives healthy competition and innovation amongst suppliers.
- In cases where local suppliers are used, we can avoid higher transport costs and also support local job creation.
- The use of greener products and services creates a healthier and safer working environment.
- Using greener products and services helps the city to minimise its environmental impact.
Did you know?
An opportunity city: Our approach to green procurement is in line with global thinking about cities. Our strategy helps control global climate change and pollution and also helps create sustainable world economies.
Putting green procurement into action
Would you like to know more about how the City is putting its green procurement into action? Some of our green achievements to date include the following:
- 26 large City buildings have been retrofitted to improve their energy efficiency so far, including the Cape Town Civic Centre - this includes training hundreds of City staff on energy efficiency.
- All traffic lights across the city have been fitted with energy-efficient LED lights.
- 25 210 street lights (and counting) have been replaced with LED technology.
- Over 6 000 solar water heating units have been installed as part of the
Solar Water Heating Programme, creating 177 years of jobs and saving 20 GWh of electricity – that is equal to 1 billion watt hours!
- 264 kWp of roof top solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been installed on the roofs of City-owned facilities, with over 6 000 kWp worth of PV power planned for the next three years.
- A City project has seen 8 000 lower-income households fitted with thermal efficiency ceilings to reduce heating and cooling needs.
- Over 2 000 Wonderbag smart cookers – an insulation bag which can cook anything from meaty stews and vegetables to pap and rice – were distributed between 2011 and 2014 - this has opened up business opportunities for many low-income households who make and sell them.
Our targets for change
Our targets for change showcase how we are focusing on making Cape Town a sustainable city of the future. View or download our
Energy 2040 Brochure to see what measures we are putting in place to achieve our goal of becoming a low carbon, resource-efficient city.
These targets are based on a number of strategies and policies. If you would like to read more of these, see our Climate Change Action Plan and Summary.
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