The application of environmental requirements in Swedish road maintenance contracts

This paper reports two studies of the implementation of environmental requirements in Swedish road maintenance contracts. It aims to examine the fulfillment and follow-up of the requirements, the client intentions behind the requirements, and factors influencing the contractors' environmental performance. The study shows that a serious effort to integrate environmental aspects into the contracts has been made. However, the application of the requirements is hampered by deficient information transfer to key actors and a lack of systematic follow-up of the requirements. In order to make green procurement effective, simpler and clearer requirements and effective follow-up routines are needed.