Buy-Recycled  Series
                         MISCELLANEOUS  PRODUCTS
COMPREHENSIVE
 PROCUREMENT
   GUIDELINES
(MISCELLANEOUS
       More and more procurement
       officials are realizing that
       buying recycled is an easy,
cost-efficient, and earth-friendly
alternative. Today's products made
from materials recovered for recy-
      cling offer the strength,
      durability, and performance
      equivalent to those made
      from virgin materials.
      That's why  businesses and
      public sector buyers across
      the country are buying and
      using recycled-content
      products.
  Buying recycled products...

  ...conserves natural resources
  ...saves energy
  ...reduces solid waste
  ...reduces air and water pollutants
  ...reduces greenhouse gases
  ...creates new jobs
 SER&
 Solid Waste and Emergency
 Response (5305W)
 Washington, DC 20460
 EPA-530-F-04-013
 www. epa. gov/osw
 May 2004
      To make it easier to buy
      recycled, the U.S. Environ-
      mental Protection Agency
      (EPA) updates the Comp-
      rehensive Procurement
      Guidelines (CPG) every 2
      years. Through the CPG,
      EPA designates items that
      must contain recycled mate-
      rials when purchased with
      appropriated federal funds
      by federal, state, and local
      agencies, or by government
contractors. Several miscellaneous
products are among these items.
These are items that don't corre-
spond to any of the other seven
CPG product categories. EPA's
research shows that the items desig-
nated in the CPG are of high quali-
ty, widely available, and cost-com-
petitive with virgin products. EPA
also issues nonregulatory compan-
ion guidance—the Recovered
Materials Advisory Notice
(RMAN)—that recommends levels
of recycled content for these items.

Why Buy Recycled?
Recycling is more than just drop-
ping off your cans, bottles, and
newspapers at the curb or at a local
collection facility. Diverting recy-
clables from the waste stream is
only the first of three steps in the
recycling process. The second step
occurs when companies use these
recyclables to manufacture new
products. The third step comes
when you purchase products made
from recovered materials. That's
how we close the loop.

Buying recycled products results in
many environmental benefits. It
supports local recycling programs
by creating markets for the collect-
ed materials that are processed and
used to manufacture new products.
This creates jobs and helps
strengthen the economy; conserves
natural resources; saves energy; and
reduces solid waste, air and water
pollutants, and greenhouse gases
that contribute to global warming.

-------
What is  CPG?
      The Resource Conservation and Recovery
      Act requires procuring agencies to buy
      recycled-content products designated by
EPA in the CPG. Issued in May 1995, the first
CPG designated 19 new products and incorpo-
rated five previously designated items in eight
product categories. The first CPG update (CPG
II) was published in November 1997 and desig-
nated an additional 12 items, including pallets.
A second CPG update (CPG III) was published
in January 2000 and designated an additional
18 items, including sorbents, awards and
plaques, industrial drums, mats, manual-grade
strapping, and signage. The third CPG update
(CPG IV), published in April 2004, designated
seven new products, including bike racks and
blasting grit.

Procuring agencies include all federal agencies,
and any state or local government agencies or
government contractors that use appropriated
federal funds to purchase the designated items.
If your agency spends more than $10,000 per
year on a product designated in the CPG, you
are required to purchase it with the highest
recycled-content level practicable. The CPG
also applies to lease contracts covering desig-
nated items. Executive Order 13101  and the
Federal Acquisition Regulation also  call for an
increase in the federal government's use of
recycled-content and  environmentally prefer-
able products.
Once any new items are designated in a pub-
lished CPG update, an agency has 1 year to
develop an affirmative procurement program
(or revise an existing one) to include these new
items. In previous years, agencies have had to
revise their affirmative procurement programs
to incorporate buy-recycled requirements for
items such as pallets, sorbents, awards and
plaques, industrial drums, mats,  manual-grade
strapping, and signage. Agencies  must revise
their affirmative procurement programs to
include the new items designated in CPG IV
by April 30, 2005. This effort might involve
reviewing specifications for these items and
eliminating provisions that pose  barriers to
purchasing them with recycled content (such
as aesthetic requirements unrelated to product
performance).

The CPG acknowledges that specific circum-
stances might arise that preclude the purchase
of products made with recovered materials.
Your agency may purchase designated  items
that do not contain recovered materials if you
determine that:  1) the price of a given  desig-
nated item made with recovered  materials is
unreasonably high, 2) there is inadequate com-
petition (not enough sources of supply), 3)
unusual and unreasonable delays would result
from obtaining the item, or 4) the recycled-
content item does not meet the agency's rea-
 onable performance specifications.

                               MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS
                                        PAGE 2

-------
How  Do  I  Purchase  Recycled-
Content  Products?
     EPA issues guidance in RMANs, which are
     designed to make it as easy as possible to
     buy the designated items. The RMAN rec-
ommends recycled-content levels to look for
when purchasing miscellaneous products, as
shown in the table below. Following the
RMANs' recommended levels will help ensure
your affirmative procurement program and stan-
dards meet the buy-recycled requirements. The
RMANs also provide other purchasing guidance.
Please refer to 
for more information on individual products.
                      Rather than specifying just one level of recy-
                      cled content, the RMANs recommend ranges
                      that reflect actual market conditions. The rec-
                      ommendations are based on market research
                      identifying recycled-content products that are
                      commercially available, are competitively
                      priced, and meet buyers' quality standards.
                      Access EPA's online recycled-content products
                      database by going to  and
                      selecting "Supplier  Database." See the last sec-
                      tion of this fact sheet for other helpful resources.
      EPA's Recommended Content Levels for Miscellaneous Products
  MISCELLANEOUS
     PRODUCT
    MATERIAL
   RECOVERED
 Awards and Plaques1   Glass
                    Wood
                    Paper
 Industrial Drums1
 Mats1
 Pallets1
Plastic and Plastic/Wood
Composite
Steel2
Plastic (HOPE)
Fiber (paper)
Rubber
Plastic
Rubber/Plastic Composite
Wood
Plastic
Thermoformed
Paperboard
POSTCONSUMER
   RECOVERED
    CONTENT
     75-100%

     40-100%

     50-100%
       16%
     30-100%
      100%
     75-100%
     10-100%
      100%
     95-100%
      100%
     25-50%
       50%
  TOTAL
RECOVERED
 CONTENT
                                                  100%
                                                  100%
  95-100%
  25-35%
  85-100%
   100%
                                                                    Continued next page
                             MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS
                                      PAGE 3

-------
    MISCELLANEOUS
        PRODUCT
  Signage1
  Sorbents1
 Manual-Grade
 Strapping1
 Bike Racks
 Blasting Grit
     MATERIAL
Plastic3
Aluminum
Plastic Sign
Posts/Supports3
Steel Sign
Posts/Supports4
Paper
Textiles
Plastics
Wood5
Other
Organics/Multimaterials6

Polyester
Polypropylene
Steel4

Steel2
Plastic (HOPE)
Steel7
Coal Slag
Copper and Nickel Slag
Bottom Ash
Glass
Glass/Plastic
Fused Alumina Oxide
Walnut Shells
POSTCONSUMER
    RECOVERED
      CONTENT
       80-100%
         25%

       80-100%
         16%
         67%
       90-100%
       95-100%
  TOTAL
RECOVERED
 CONTENT
        50-85%

          16%
          67%
          16%
         100%
        16-67%
                                                                     100%
                                                                     20%
                                                                     100%
   25-30%
    100%
    100%
                                                                                                 25-100%
                                                                                                   100%
                                                                                                   100%
   10-40%
   25-30%
    100%
   25-30%
    100%
  25-100%
    100%
    100%
    100%
    100%
    100%
    100%
    100%
1 EPA's recommendations do not preclude procuring agencies from purchasing miscellaneous products manufactured using other materials. EPA
 simply recommends that procuring agencies, when purchasing miscellaneous products designated in the procurement guidelines, purchase these
 products containing recovered materials.
2 The recommended recovered materials content levels for steel in this table reflect the fact that the designated item is generally made from steel
 manufactured in a Basic Oxygen Furnace (EOF). Steel from the EOF process contains 25% - 30% total recovered steel, of which, 16% is postcon-
 sumer steel.
3 Plastic signs and sign posts are recommended for nonroad applications only, such as, but not limited to, trailway signs in parks and
 directional/informational signs in buildings.
4 The recommended recovered materials content level for steel in this table reflect the fact that the designated items can be made from steel manufac-
 tured from either a Basic Oxygen Furnace (EOF) or an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF). Steel from the EOF process contains 25-30% total recovered mate-
 rials, of which 16% is postconsumer steel. Steel from the EAF process contains a total of 100% recovered steel, of which 67% is postconsumer.
5 "Wood" includes materials such as sawdust and lumber mill trimmings.
'' Examples of other organics include, but are not limited to, peanut hulls and corn stover. An example of multimaterial sorbents would include,
 but not be limited to, polymer and cellulose fiber combination.
7 The recommended recovered materials content levels for steel in this table reflect the fact that the designated item may contain steel manufac-
 tured in either a Basic Oxygen Furnace (EOF) or an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), or a combination of both. Steel from the EOF process contains
 25% - 30% total recovered steel, of which 16% is postconsumer. Steel from the EAF process contains 100% total recovered steel, of which 67% is
 postconsumer.  According to industry sources,  blasting grit containing a combination of EOF and EAF steel would contain 25% - 85% total recov-
 ered steel, of which 16% - 67% would be postconsumer. Since there is no way of knowing which type of steel was used in the manufacture of
 the item, the postconsumer and total recovered material content ranges in this table encompass the whole range of possibilities, i.e., the use of
 EAF steel only, EOF steel only, or a combination of the two.    _^^M
                                         MISCELLANEOUS  PRODUCTS
                                                     PAGE 4

-------
How Can  I  Get  More  Information?
        Information Available
        From EPA
      his fact sheet and the following publications on
      buying recycled-content products are available
      on the Internet.
    EPA Amends Comprehensive Procurement
    Guidelines (CPG). This fact sheet provides general
    information  about the CPG and the development of
    affirmative procurement programs. See
    .

    Federal Register (FR) notices promulgating CPG I (60
    FR 21370/EPA530-Z-95-006) and RMAN I (60 FR
    21386/EPA530-Z-95-007), May 1, 1995. FR notices
    promulgating CPG II (62 FR 60961/EPA530-Z-97-
    009) and RMAN II (62 FR 60975/EPA530-Z-97-010),
    November 13, 1997. FR notices promulgating CPG
    III (65 FR 3070) and RMAN III (65 FR 3082), January
    19, 2000. FR notices promulgating CPG IV (69 FR
    24028) and RMAN IV (69 FR 24039), April 30, 2004.
    See .
         Other Sources of
         Information—General
Buy Recycled Business Alliance. The Alliance
includes over 3,200 companies and organizations
committed to increasing their use of recycled-con-
tent products and materials in their day-to-day oper-
ations. The Alliance offers educational materials, a
quarterly newsletter, and product-specific guides.
Public purchasing entities can join for free. For more
information, contact the National Recycling
Coalition, 1325 G Street, NW., Suite 1025,
Washington, DC 20005-3104. Phone: 202 347-0450.
Fax: 202 347-0449. Web site: .

-  Environmental Products Guide. This guide is
   designed to help procurement officials identify
   environmentally preferable products and services.
   It contains nearly 3,000 items, including many
   recycled-content products. An electronic version
   can be viewed at .

Greening the Government: A Guide to
Implementing Executive Order 13101. This guide
provides detailed information on the requirements
of Executive Order 13101, and the benefits of
achieving compliance. Updated in February 2001,
it is available from the Office of the Federal
Environmental Executive. Phone: 202 564-1297.
                                   MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS
                                             PAGE 5

-------
Fax: 202 564-1393. Web site: .
Email: task_force@ofee.gov. An electronic version
of the document can be accessed at
.

National Association of State Purchasing Officials
(NASPO): . NASPO's Internet-
based Database of Recycled Commodities (DRC)
includes information from states on their recycled
product procurement. Data include product distribu-
tors, manufacturers, brand names, recycled and post-
consumer content, Energy Star rating, units
purchased, unit of measurement, unit price, and
type of procurement.  The database was developed
and is maintained by the Florida Department of
Management Services. To use the database, visit
.

Official Recycled Products Guide. This directory
lists more than 5,000 manufacturers and distributors
of recycled-content products. For more information,
Contact: Recycling Data Management Corporation,
P.O. Box 577, Ogdensburg, NY 13669.
Phone: 800 267-0707. Fax: 877 471-3258.

Plastic Lumber Trade Association (PLTA). PLTA is a
nonprofit membership organization working to pro-
mote the interests of the recycled plastic lumber
industry. Their work includes  collaborating with
ASTM to set industry-wide standards for recycled
plastic lumber. For more information, contact Alan
Robbins, President, The Plastic Lumber Company,
Inc., 115 W. Bartges St., Akron, OH 44311-1034.
Phone: 800 886-8990 Fax: 330  762-1913. Web site:
.

Recycled Plastic Products Source Book. This booklet
lists more than 1,400 plastic products from approxi-
mately 300 manufacturers, including pallets. For
more information, contact the American Plastics
Council (APC), 1300 Wilson Blvd., 13th Floor,
Arlington, VA 22209. Phone: 800 2-HELP-90.
Outside of U.S.: 703 253-0710. Web site:
.
Other Sources—Industrial Drums

•   Reusable Industrial Packaging Association (RIPA).
    This association represents about 100 container
    reconditioners. For more information, contact Paul
    Rankin, Reusable Industrial Packaging Association
    (RIPA), 8401 Corporate Drive, Suite 140, Landover,
    MD 20785-2224. Phone: 301 577-3786. Fax: 301 577-
    6476. Email: prankin@igc.org. Visit the RIPA Web
    site at .

•   The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI). This trade
    association represents the fourth largest manufactur-
    ing industry in the United States. For more informa-
    tion contact The Society of the Plastics Industry,
    1801 K St., NW Suite 600, Washington, DC 20006.
    Phone: 202 974-5200. Fax: 202 296-7005. Web  site:
    .

Other Sources—Pallets

•   National Wooden Pallet and Container Association
    (NWPCA). This international trade association rep-
    resents manufacturers, recyclers, and distributors of
    pallets, containers, and reels. NWPCA also devel-
    oped the Uniform Standards for Wood Pallets as a
    resource for pallet users and suppliers. For more
    information, contact Karen Wanamaker at NWPCA,
    329 South Patrick St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3501.
    Phone: 703 519-6104. Fax: 703 519-4720. Web  site:
    .

•   Sustaining Business & Jobs Through Pallet Repair &
    Reuse. This report lists pallet reuse and recycling
    operations across the country and highlights case
    studies of model reuse programs. To view an elec-
    tronic version of this report, visit
    . For  more
    information, contact Brenda Platt at the Institute
    for Local Self-Reliance, 2425 18th Street, NW.,
    Washington, DC 20009-2096. Phone: 202 232-4108.
    Fax: 202 332-0463.
                                  MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS
                                             PAGE 6

-------
        Internet Sites—Government

The Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG):
. This site describes EPA's effort
to facilitate the procurement of products containing
recovered materials, including information on CPG,
RMANs, and an online database of manufacturers
and suppliers of designated items.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP):
. EPA's EPP  program encourages
and assists federal agencies in purchasing environ-
mentally preferable products and services. The site
explains EPA's  proposed guiding principles for
including environmental performance in purchasing
decision-making, and includes case studies of suc-
cessful pilot projects in both the public and private
sectors.

Office of the Federal Environmental Executive
(OFEE): . OFEE's mission is to advo-
cate, coordinate,  and assist environmental efforts of
the federal community in waste prevention, recy-
cling, affirmative procurement of CPG items, and
the acquisition of recycled and environmentally
preferable products and services.

Federal Trade Commission: . The Federal Trade
Commission issued Guides for the Use of
Environmental Marketing Claims in May 1998.
Jobs Through Recycling: . EPA's
Jobs Through Recycling program stimulates eco-
nomic growth and recycling market development by
assisting businesses and supporting a network of
state and regional recycling contacts. This Web site
provides information on financing and technical
assistance for recycling businesses, as well as other
market development tools.

Municipal Solid Waste: . This
site includes information on recycling, source reduc-
tion, and reuse. Contains state municipal solid
waste data and the  latest facts and  figures on waste
generation and disposal.

WasteWise: . WasteWise
is a free, voluntary  EPA program through which
organizations eliminate costly municipal solid
waste, benefitting their bottom line and the environ-
ment. The program provides hands-on assistance to
members to help them purchase or manufacture
recycled-content products,  prevent waste, and recy-
cle solid waste materials.

King County Recycled Product Procurement
Program: 
-------