United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5305W)
EPA530-F-97-049
November 1997
Office of Solid Waste
xvEPA Environmental
Fact Sheet
EPA EXPANDS COMPREHENSIVE
PROCUREMENT GUIDELINES (CPG)
As part of its continuing program to promote the use of recovered materials, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is expanding the government buy-recycled program by adding 12 new items to
its CPG, which will make a total of 36 recycled content items designated for procurement. EPA issued
the CPG and related Recovered Materials Advisory Notice (RMAN) in May 1995. The CPG designated
24 items in seven product categories containing recycled content that government procuring agencies are
required to purchase. The RMAN provides recommendations for purchasing the products designated in
the CPG. The 1995 CPG and RMAN covered: paper and paper products, vehicular products,
construction products, transportation products, park and recreation products, landscaping products, and
nonpaper office products. Guidelines for paper and paper products were revised in May 1996.
Categories and Designated Items
(Items in bold are designated in CPG II)
Paper and Paper Products
Vehicle Products
Engine Coolants
Re-refined Lubricating Oils
Retread Tires
Construction Products
Building Insulation Products
Carpet
Cement and Concrete Containing
Coal Fly Ash and Ground Granulated
Blast Furnace Slag
Consolidated and Reprocessed
Latex Paint
Floor Tiles
Patio Blocks
Shower and Restroom Dividers
and Partitions
Structural Fiberboard
Laminated Paperboard
Transportation Products
Channelizers
Delineators
Flexible Delineators
Parking Stops
Traffic Barricades
Traffic Cones
Park and Recreation Products
Plastic Fencing
Playground Surfaces
Running Tracks
Landscaping Products
Garden and Soaker Hoses
Hydraulic Mulch
Lawn and Garden Edging
Yard Trimmings Compost
Non-Paper Office Products
Binders
Office Recycling Containers
Office Waste Receptacles
Plastic Desktop Accessories
Plastic Envelopes
Plastic Trash Bags
Printer Ribbons
Toner Cartridges
Miscellaneous Products
Pallets
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In section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Congress directed
government agencies to promote recycling by increasing their purchases of products containing recovered
materials. RCRA requires EPA to designate products that can be made with recovered materials and to
recommend practices for buying these products. Once a product is designated, procuring agencies are
required to purchase it with the highest recovered material content level practicable.
President Clinton reinforced RCRA's buy-recycled components when he issued Executive Order
12873, requiring Federal agencies to establish an affirmative procurement program for EPA - designated
items purchased by the agencies.
Who Is Required to Buy Recycled Products?
Under RCRA, the requirement to purchase an EPA-designated product containing recovered
materials applies to procuring agencies that spend more than $10,000 a year on that item. What is a
"procuring agency"? Procuring agencies are federal, state, and local agencies, and their contractors, that
use appropriated federal funds. For example, if a county agency spends more than $10,000 a year on an
EPA-designated item, and part of that money is from appropriated federal funds, then the agency must
purchase that item made from recovered materials.
Purchases unrelated or incidental to the purpose of federal funding are not subject to these
requirements. When it is not apparent that the guidelines apply to a purchase, EPA encourages procuring
agencies to follow the guidelines to help expand markets for products made from recovered materials.
What Is an Affirmative Procurement Program?
Affirmative procurement — or buy-recycled program ~ is an agency's strategy for maximizing its
purchases of EPA-designated items. These programs should assure that procured items are composed of
as much recovered material as possible. Programs should be flexible enough to incorporate newly
designated items, and must consist of the following components:
• A recovered materials preference program;
• An agency promotion program;
• A program for requiring vendors to reasonably estimate, certify, and verify the recovered
materials content of their products; and
• A program to monitor and annually review the effectiveness of the affirmative
procurement program.
Additionally, within one year following EPA designation of items, procuring agencies must revise
their specifications to require the use of recovered materials to the maximum extent possible without
jeopardizing the intended end use of items.
The May 1995 RMAN provides general guidance for developing affirmative procurement programs.
Each RMAN provides recommendations for purchasing the designated items, including recovered
materials content levels and specifications.
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Preference Program
A preference program is the system by which an agency implements its stated preference for
purchasing products containing recovered materials. RCRA identifies three options for preference
programs:
< Minimum Content Standards specify the minimum amount of recovered materials that designated
items should contain. EPA recommends ranges of recovered materials content that are currently
available, and procuring agencies should establish their own standards based on these ranges.
< Case-by-Case Policy Development is used when a procuring agency determines that minimum
content standards are inappropriate for a specific procurement action. This option allows the
procuring agency to establish a separate recovered materials content requirement for the specific
procurement action, while still enabling the agency to procure the designated product with the highest
amount of recovered materials practicable.
< Substantially Equivalent Approaches, such as establishing service contracts for product
remanufacturing, are used when minimum content standards are inappropriate. For example,
procuring agencies may establish service contracts for remanufacturing toner cartridges.
Promotion Program
Agencies must actively advertise their desire to buy recycled products, both within their
organizations and to product vendors. Internal promotion usually is a broad-based employee education
program that affirms an agency's procurement policy through advertising, workshops, agency
newsletters, and technical and staff manuals. Examples of external promotion include publishing articles
in trade journals, participating in vendor shows or trade fairs, placing statements in bid solicitations, and
discussing an agency's procurement policy at bidders' conferences.
Estimation, Certification, Verification, and Monitoring
Agencies must establish procedures for estimating, certifying, and, where appropriate, reasonably
verifying the amount of recovered materials content used in a product. Programs also must be monitored
and tracked to ensure that they are fulfilling their requirements to purchase items composed of recovered
materials.
May an Agency Purchase EPA-Designated Items that Do Not
Contain Recovered Materials?
Agencies may elect not to purchase designated items when: the cost is unreasonable; inadequate
competition exists; items are not available within a reasonable period of time; or items do not meet
reasonable performance specifications.
Does the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Address Purchasing
of Products Designated in the CPG?
Under RCRA section 6002, purchasing of EPA-designated items must be consistent with other
federal procurement requirements. The FAR is the primary regulation used by Federal executive
agencies in their acquisition of supplies and services. On August 22, 1997 (62 FR 44809), the Civilian
Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council issued a final rule
amending the FAR to reflect the Federal government's preference for the acquisition of environmentally
sound and energy-efficient products and services and to incorporate the requirements of RCRA section
6002 and Executive Order 12873. The FAR revisions include
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solicitation provisions, clauses for obtaining certifications and estimates of recovered materials content
from contractors, and a requirement that agencies establish an affirmative procurement programs for
EPA-designated items.
Are Items Designated in the CPG Environmentally Preferable
Products?
Executive Order 12873 directs Federal agencies to identify and purchase environmentally preferable
products, which are products that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment
when compared to other products and services that serve the same purpose. Generally, multiple
attributes are considered when purchasing environmentally preferable products, including energy use;
conservation of resources; impacts on air, water, and land; and use of toxic or hazardous constituents.
Products containing recovered materials have one of tghe attributes considered for environmentally
preferable products.
For More Information
The Federal Register notices containing CPG I and II, RMAN I and II, and the Paper Products
RMAN are available in electronic format on the Internet System through the EPA Public Access Server
at www.epa.gov/fedrgster. The Federal Register citations are as follows: CPG 1-60 FR 21370, May 1,
1995; RMAN I - 60 FR 21386, May 1, 1995; Paper Products RMAN - 61 FR 26986, May 29, 1996;
CPG II - 62 FR 60961, November 13, 1997; and RMAN II- 62 FR 60995, November 13, 1997.
For copies of fact sheets, product manufactures lists, and additional supporting information, go to
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/procure.htm. For additional information or to order paper copies
of any documents, call the RCRA Hotline. Callers within the Washington Metropolitan Area must dial
703-412-9810 or TDD 703-412-3323 (hearing impaired). Long-distance callers may call 1-800-424-
9346 or TDD 1-800-553-7672. The RCRA Hotline operates weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Write to
the RCRA Information Center (5305W), US EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460.
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