AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre has set off as coordinator a European project whose main objective is the development of a tool to boost the sustainability in cities.

The tool, known as the GUF TOOL, is described as a platform that will allow city councils to acquire those products that are more sustainable.

According to AIMPLAS, this tool is aimed at the staff responsible for public purchasing of urban furniture and it will guide them during the tender process; from the generation of environmental requirements, to the comparative environmental assessment of the different products offered by suppliers, in order to achieve a "green" public procurement.

The impact of its use will be directly beneficial to the environment and AIMPLAS has calculated that the incorporation of this kind of sustainable product can reduce up to 26.5% the impact on the global warming, 15.5% the energy consumption and 10.8% the volume of waste generated.

AIMPLAS explains that, during the product validation phase, at least 200 urban furniture products were sold. It is expected that during the five years after the end of the project an overall acquisition of 17,500 products will occur. Using the results of this validation, a "green guide" will be prepared, which will be incorporated in the urban furniture acquisition processes of the city councils. The tool will be accessible both to the public administrations purchasing this kind of products and to suppliers.

The project is framed within the European Union programme LIFE and is coordinated by AIMPLAS, and counts on the participation of the Toy Technology Centre (AIJU), the University Jaime I of Castellà³n (UJI), the Valencia City Council through the Foundation INNDEA, the Koprivnika City Council and finally the ACR+, the association of cities and regions who promote sustainable resource management, located in Belgium.

» Publication Date: 06/10/2015

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