CFIT launches Recommendations: Towards harmonised guidance for Circular and Fair ICT procurement

Building on a shared foundation

Since its launch in 2021, the CFIT Pact has focused on building a common understanding of how procurement can address the environmental and social impacts of ICT. Through the Criteria & Guidance Working Group, participants developed the CFIT Framework, which structures sustainability considerations across the ICT lifecycle in four key impact areas:

• Circularity (including Critical Raw Materials)

• Due Diligence and Transparency

• Climate and Energy

• Chemicals of Concern

This framework has provided a shared reference point for participants to align procurement practices with circular and fair principles.

Over the past years, CFIT participants have deepened this work through thematic Deep Dives, expert sessions, and peer exchange. Topics have included extending product lifespans, enabling reuse and remanufacturing, improving end-of-life systems, and reducing carbon emissions. The insights generated have been captured in practical resources such as the CFIT Mini Guides and the Manual on Due Diligence. These materials provide concrete examples, recommended criteria, and implementation considerations that organisations can integrate into their procurement processes.

From knowledge sharing to harmonised guidance

The CFIT Recommendations consolidate these lessons and experiences into a more structured and harmonised set of practices. They identify areas where participants already demonstrate alignment and shared priorities, and translate these into prescriptive guidance for all phases of the procurement cycle.

The Recommendations follow a “comply or explain” approach. Participants commit to implementing the Recommendations, or to providing a clear explanation if implementation is not feasible in their specific organisational or national context. This approach balances ambition with practicality: it encourages alignment while recognising that public procurement operates within diverse legal, institutional, and market realities.

Positioned at an advanced level (Level 2), the Recommendations are implementation-focused and designed to support experienced public procurers in strengthening and refining their practices.

What this means for CFIT participants

For CFIT participants, the Recommendations establish a shared baseline for procurement practices across the network. They:

• Support consistent engagement with suppliers

• Strengthen internal decision-making and policy alignment

• Reduce duplication of effort through shared criteria and approaches

• Enhance collective market influence

By aligning around common guidance, participants amplify their collective voice as public buyers and increase their ability to shape market developments in the ICT sector. At the same time, the flexibility embedded in the “comply or explain” principle ensures that harmonisation does not come at the expense of practical applicability. Organisations retain the ability to adapt the guidance to their specific context while contributing to shared objectives.

An invitation to the wider public sector

Although developed within the CFIT network, the Recommendations are also intended as a resource for other public organisations. By encouraging broader uptake, CFIT aims to extend the impact of its work beyond the Pact itself. Wider alignment around circular and fair procurement practices can provide clearer market signals, reduce fragmentation, and accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable ICT sector.

With the launch of the CFIT Recommendations, the Pact moves from knowledge exchange to structured, harmonised implementation. In doing so, it advances its original purpose: to accelerate circularity, fairness, and sustainability in ICT through coordinated, procurement-led action.