Tallinn pilots CCC-oriented procurement across ICT, catering and cleaning services

Within the CCC-2 project, the City of Tallinn is piloting how circular, climate-friendly and chemical-smart (CCC) principles can be embedded into a wide range of everyday municipal procurements. Tallinn’s pilot cases span smartphones, catering and cleaning services, reflecting both the city’s digital ambitions and its responsibility for healthy learning and care environments.

Across all cases, the overarching objectives are to reduce hazardous substances, strengthen circular economy practices and lower climate impacts. A key lesson emerging from Tallinn’s experience is the importance of integrating CCC expertise early in the procurement preparation phase, when criteria can still meaningfully shape market outcomes.

Case 1: Catering services for schools – safer chemicals and organic food

Tallinn’s first pilot concerns catering services for Tallinn English College, covering breakfast, lunch and additional meals for pupils and teachers. The framework agreement has an estimated value of 660,000 euros and a contract period of 36 months.

The key CCC objectives focus on reducing harmful substances, promoting pesticide-free and organic food products, and supporting climate-friendly practices in food services. Schools play an active role by providing input through the Educational Department, ensuring that sustainability requirements reflect real needs at the local level.

Environmental labels and existing criteria are used as a basis, with verification relying on certificates or equivalent third-party evidence. The case highlights how even relatively standard service procurements can contribute to healthier environments when chemical and climate considerations are clearly integrated.

Case 2: Smartphones for kindergartens – combining chemicals, climate and social circularity

An ICT-related pilot addresses the procurement of smartphones for kindergartens, with an estimated value of 161,000 euros and a short contract period of six months. This case combines all three CCC dimensions in a particularly concrete way.

Tenderers must declare all substances listed on the Candidate List referred to in the REACH Regulation that are present in a concentration above 0.1% in the entire product, deliveries are required to use electric vehicles to reduce emissions, and circularity is addressed through a reuse model in which old phones are handed over to the supplier for redistribution to socially vulnerable groups.

Market dialogue is used to assess supplier readiness for these requirements, and Tallinn sees strong potential to further refine chemical and circularity criteria with support from CCC-2 experts.

Case 3: Cleaning services for interior textiles – safer chemicals in sensitive environments

The third pilot focuses on cleaning services for interior textiles such as upholstered furniture, mattresses and carpets in facilities including nursing homes and care institutions. The framework agreement has a duration of 36 months and an estimated value of 200,000 euros.

The main objective is to reduce hazardous substances in cleaning agents and to use ecolabelled products wherever possible. Ordering departments play a central role in defining technical requirements and managing contracts, while end users are kept informed throughout the process.

As with other cases, verification relies on certificates or equivalent third-party documentation, and Tallinn has identified a clear need for chemical expertise during the preparation phase to further strengthen the criteria.

From individual procurements to a stronger CCC approach

Together, these three pilot cases demonstrate Tallinn’s ambition to apply CCC principles across very different procurement categories. From smartphones to catering and cleaning services, the city is testing how chemical safety, circularity and climate considerations can be translated into concrete requirements.

Through CCC-2, Tallinn aims not only to improve individual procurements, but also to strengthen internal practices by involving the right expertise early on and building a more systematic approach to CCC-aligned public procurement.

Contact details:

Krista Kiil

Purchase- and Procurement Centre, Tallinn Strategic Management Office

Krista.Kiil@tallinnlv.ee

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