Sustainability in Public Procurements: Legal Guidelines, Practical Challenges and Implementation Strategies

Contextualization: This article explores the main determinants of the volume of public procurement among Brazilian federal agencies, using simulated data that reflect real procurement patterns. Objective: To investigate the influence of sustainability on public procurement in Brazil, analyzing how the legal framework regulates the inclusion of sustainable requirements in bidding processes, as well as to identify the operational challenges and possible strategies for their effective implementation. Methodology: A log-linear econometric model was constructed, incorporating institutional characteristics such as number of employees, federal budget, transparency index, ICT adoption and age of the agency. The results indicate that larger and more transparent public authorities, with better digital integration, tend to have significantly higher purchasing volumes. The analysis provides valuable insights to improve the efficiency and transparency of public procurement in Brazil. Results: It is concluded that, despite the existence of a solid legal framework that encourages the inclusion of sustainable requirements in public procurement, its implementation still faces substantial challenges, such as the lack of training of public agents, resistance from suppliers and higher initial cost of environmentally responsible products. However, strategies for implementing these requirements are envisaged, such as incentives targeted at the production chain, adoption of systematic monitoring, training programs for public agents, in addition to the creation of indicators to assess the impact of such procurement. Sustainable procurement, in turn, has the potential to mitigate environmental damage, strengthen the circular economy and improve responsible public governance.