Independent Editorial Board
To provide buyers with a valuable and independent tool, the product offering must be of sufficient quality and quantity. For this purpose, we appoint an independent Editorial Board. This board includes experts from, among others, universities of applied sciences and NEN, along with independent subject matter experts for each product category.
The Editorial Board establishes criteria and characteristics that ensure the information per product is clear, comparable, and meets international definitions and standards. The information provided by producers is regularly reviewed by the experts of the Editorial Board.
Suppliers in Control
Producers of biobased products have free access via www.biobasedinkopen.nl. Through this platform, the supplier adds products, makes changes where necessary, and provides (contact) information about their organization. If a buyer is interested in a product, they can directly contact the supplier without any intervention from the platform.
Database Purpose
- Up-to-date overview of biobased products and materials
- Comparable, qualitative data
- Authority and independence
- Continuity
- Sustainable purchasing policy
The government has determined that a significant shift toward sustainability must take place in public procurement in the short term. National, regional, and local governments are the largest purchasing organizations in the Netherlands. However, in practice, it has proven challenging for them to achieve this sustainability goal or make socially responsible purchases. According to the four initiating provinces—North Brabant, North Holland, Overijssel, and Zeeland—this independent database, which contains recognized sustainable biobased products and their characteristics, helps with this.
Comparing Biobased Products and Materials
The new database answers many procurement questions, such as: when is a product biobased? What is it made of? What is available in specific procurement categories? How can I compare different products and materials based on sustainability characteristics?
In addition to the actual database, the platform has a comparison module and provides background information on developments in biobased applications and sustainable procurement. For this, the partners work closely with, among others, the Expertise Center for Public Procurement PIANOo. This information helps buyers to make socially responsible purchases more easily.
Up-to-date and Reliable
In the past, other initiatives were launched aiming to provide a similar overview for buyers, but these databases did not meet the necessary standards. The experiences from these initiatives have been incorporated into the development of the management organization and business model, ensuring that the new database remains up-to-date and reliable in the long term.
Phased Development
With the launch of the supplier portal, we are working toward a well-filled database. We expect to reach this point in the coming months, after which we will go live for all government and business buyers. They will have free access to the database. In addition to the procurement database, we will also provide news and general information about biobased developments.
Interested and/or want to join as a producer or buyer? Contact Bas Koebrugge!
Partners involved
