2025, Vol. 12, No. 4. - go to content...

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DOI: 10.15862/19ECOR425 (https://doi.org/10.15862/19ECOR425)

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Belokrylova O.S., Stetsenko I.A. The role of innovative procurement in the transition to a circular economy. Russian journal of resources, conservation and recycling. 2025; 12(4). Available at: https://resources.today/PDF/19ECOR425.pdf (in Russian). DOI: 10.15862/19ECOR425

The role of innovative procurement in the transition to a circular economy

Belokrylova Olga Spiridonovna
Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia
E-mail: obelokrylovf@sfedu.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4880-4943
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=72884

Stetsenko Ivan Alexandrovich
Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia
E-mail: istetsenko@sfedu.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9756-0981

Abstract. Modern humanity faces key challenges such as the rapidly approaching ecological point of no return, the catastrophic depletion of non-renewable resources, including vital ones (clean air, water), population growth, and increasing negative anthropogenic impact on the environment. This necessitates a transition from a «brown» to a «green», circular economy as strategic objectives for implementing the concept of sustainable development. World experience in innovative procurement and «green» procurement shows that the key mechanism for solving the global problem of sustainable development in the context of «horizontal» policy, and due to its scale, is the procurement by the state and large companies. The article examines the role of innovative public procurement in stimulating the economy’s transition to a circular model. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that procurement requirements for reparability, reuse, and reverse logistics can create demand for circular technologies. Empirical research, based on content analysis of public contracts, revealed the fragmented implementation of circular practices: elements are present in only a third of procurements, mainly in the form of operational maintenance and equipment refurbishment. Constructive reparability, the use of secondary raw materials, and return logistics systems are virtually absent in the description of the public procurement object. Key institutional barriers are substantiated: gaps in the regulatory framework, lack of lifecycle assessment methodologies, and insufficient competence of contracting authorities. Promising measures for developing a comprehensive reform of procurement policy, aimed at a systematic transition to a resource-saving economy, are proposed.

Keywords: innovative procurement; circular economy; public procurement; maintainability; reuse; reverse logistics; institutional barriers; prospects

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