xvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5306)
EPA530-F-94-005
January 1994
WasteWi$e Tip Sheet
Buying or Manufacturing
Recycled Products
WasteWise Program Elements
• Waste Prevention
• Recycling Collection
m Buying or Manufacturing Recycled Products
What Is "Buying
Recycled"?
What Are the
Benefits of Buying
or Manufacturing
Goods with Recycled
Content?
How Does
Purchasing Recycled
Products and
Recovered Raw
Materials Fit into
the WasteWise
Program?
"Buying recycled" means purchasing recycled products (products made
with recovered materials). A necessary precedent to "buying recycled" is
that manufacturers purchase recovered materials and use them in lieu of
virgin materials in the manufacture of new products.
Purchasing recycled products or recovered materials for manufacturing con-
serves valuable landfill space by using goods made from materials that oth-
erwise would have been discarded. Using recycled products and packaging
also conserves natural resources and energy. In addition, purchasing recy-
cled products promotes the continued manufacture of these products and
helps strengthen markets for collected materials.
This component of the Waste Wise program helps to " close the recycling
loop" by encouraging the manufacture and purchase of products contain-
ing recovered materials, thus providing more customers for the recyclable
materials that companies and communities are collecting.
Companies in the Waste Wise program commit to purchase products con-
taining either preconsumer or postconsumer recycled content in lieu of
products manufactured from virgin materials, and/or purchase products
with an increased percentage of preconsumer or postconsumer recycled
content in goods already being purchased. Participants are asked to moni-
tor their progress over the calendar year and report annually on the
amount of money spent on the purchase of recycled products.
Manufacturers also have the option of increasing the percentage of postcon-
sumer content in a product or product line they manufacture. Manufactur-
ers who choose this option will monitor their progress over the calendar
year and report annually on the increase of postconsumer content in each
product or product line selected.
Other elements of the Waste Wise program include a commitment to imple-
ment significant waste prevention activities and to expand or improve pro-
grams to collect recyclable materials.
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What Do Recycled The terminology used to refer to recycling, recycled products, and recov-
Content Terms Mean? ered raw materials can seem confusing. The following definitions are pro-
vided to help clarify some of these terms.
• Recycled content. The portion of a product, by weight or volume, that
is composed of preconsumer and/or postconsumer recovered materials.
• Preconsumer materials. Materials recovered for recycling prior to use
by the consumer, excluding materials and by-products generated from
and commonly reused within an original manufacturing process. Exam-
ples of preconsumer recovered materials are envelope cuttings and scrap
from plastic manufacturing.
• Postconsumer materials. Materials that have served their intended
use as consumer items and have been recovered or diverted from solid
waste for recycling. Examples of postconsumer recovered materials in-
clude used beverage containers and old computer printouts.
The percentage of recovered materials used in a product or within product
categories can vary significantly. For example, corrugated boxes can be
made from 0 to 40 percent postconsumer materials. Generally, higher lev-
els of recycled content are desirable, but other factors, such as perform-
ance requirements, will likely need to be considered in your purchase
decision.
Although WasteWise does not require that you seek out products with
postconsumer content, EPA encourages businesses to do so in order to create
markets for materials that have been collected by businesses and communities.
Manufacturers that choose to increase the recycled content in their products as
their WasteWise commitment are required to select postconsumer materials
in order to help build markets for materials collected by businesses and
communities.
What Kind of
Products Are
Available with
Recycled Content?
A wide variety of products are now
including:
• Paper and paperboard products
• Retread tires
• Oil
• Insulation
• Road building materials
• Erasable boards
• Mulch
• Geotextiles
• Plastic pipe
• Plastic desk accessories
• Outdoor benches and tables
• Playground equipment
available with recycled content,
• Bicycle racks
• Wall panels
• Sign posts
• Garbage bags
• Fiberboard
• Furniture
• Fences and fence posts
• Sign posts
• Office products
• Wastebaskets
• Carpeting
• Binders
BUYING OR MANUFACTURING RECYCLED PRODUCTS
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Do Products and
Raw Materials with
Recovered Material
Content Cost More
Than Virgin Products
and Materials?
The cost-competitiveness of recovered materials and products is highly
variable and dependent on the specific product or material, and supply and
demand market forces. For example, in the past, paper made with recov-
ered content was often considerably more expensive than virgin paper. To-
day, however, the price of many types of recycled paper is comparable to
that of virgin paper. As more recycled products of all types are purchased,
manufacturers increasingly will realize economies of scale, and prices
should tend to decrease and stabilize.
Are Recycled
Products and
Recovered Raw
Materials of High
Quality?
How Do We Start or
Improve Our "Buy
Recycled" Program?
In the past, some recycled products did not perform as well as their virgin
counterparts. Today, however, recycled products are manufactured to
meet the same performance standards as virgin products. Work with your
vendors to purchase recycled products that meet your needs and specifica-
tions. When considering any new product, whether it is made from virgin
or recovered materials, it is advisable to obtain samples and, if necessary,
to test the products on your equipment and with your end users.
When using recovered raw materials to manufacture recycled products,
the key to quality is securing reliable quantities of clean, homogenous ma-
terials. The quality of recovered materials should meet your operation's
technical specifications. Be sure to consider performance standards or ap-
plicable regulations before switching to recovered raw materials.
A program to preferentially purchase recycled products should involve end
users, operations staff, and company purchasing managers. You can start
buying recycled by determining which products and raw materials used by
your company are available with recycled content. Select these as an al-
ternative to virgin products or materials, where possible. To get started,
you may want to begin with one or a few product categories.
You should review contract specifications and revise them to encourage
suppliers to provide recycled content products and raw materials. Compa-
nies sometimes require more stringent product specifications than are ac-
tually needed. For example, many companies have very high paper
brightness standards for applications where high brightness is not neces-
sary. Reviewing and revising paper brightness standards would facilitate
the purchase of recycled paper.
Sources of Additional Information
The Buy Recycled Guide. This guide describes the
basics of purchasing products with recycled content and
provides state information and contacts.
Buy Recycled Business Alliance
National Recycling Coalition
1101 30th Street NW., Suite 305
Washington, DC 20007
202 625-6406
The Official Recycled Products Guide. $155 per
single issue, $275 per year for updates and a
monthly newsletter. This is a comprehensive catalogue
of recycled products, indexed by product category and
recovered material content. It also contains an extensive
reference section.
American Recycling Market, Inc.
P.O. Box 577
Ogdensburg, NY 13669
800 267-0707
BUYING OR MANUFACTURING RECYCLED PRODUCTS
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McDonald's McRecycle USA, March 1992. Free. This
206-page reference provides information focused on
recycled construction materials and products.
McDonald's Corporation
McDonald's Plaza
Oak Brook, IL 60521
800 220-3809
Buy Recycled Training Manual, December, 1993.
$20.00. Although the audience for this training manual
is government agencies, the information also is
applicable to the private sector.
Richard Keller
The Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority
25 South Charles Street, Suite 2105
Baltimore, MD 21401
410 333-2730
The Business and Government Buyers Guide to
Recycled Products, 1992. $24.95. This 166 page
document provides general information on buying
recycled with specific information on markets in
California.
Buy Recycled Campaign
Californians Against Waste Foundation
926 J Street, Suite 606
Sacramento, CA 95814
916 443-8317
Resource Guide to Office Products Manufacturers,
Recycling, Products, and Programs, 1993. $20.00.
This 71-page book lists companies that sell
recycled-content office products.
National Office Products Association
301 N. Fairfax Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703 549-9040
WasteWise is a partnership between EPA and America's leading businesses.
Participants set their own waste prevention, recycling, and recycled product
purchasing goals. WasteWise supports company efforts through technical
assistance and recognition of participants' successes.
For more information about any aspect of WasteWise, call 800 EPAWISE
(800 372-9473).
BUYING OR MANUFACTURING RECYCLED PRODUCTS
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