AS - ASL 98-04: Buy Recycled Procurement Policy

Attachment to ASL 98-04

Purpose
General Policy
AB 11 Recycled Content Product Buying Goals
Authority
Purchase Restrictions, Specifications and Bid Solicitations
Monitoring and Annual Report
Procurement and Source Reduction Examples
Recycled Product Price Preference

Buy Recycled Procurement Policy

PURPOSE

To increase the recycled content of products purchased and used by the Air Resources Board.
To increase demand for recycled products thereby enhancing markets for recycled materials.
To reduce waste in the manufacture and use of products and packaging purchased by the Air Resources Board.
To reduce the amount of toxic chemicals purchased by the Air Resources Board to limit environmental hazards, employee exposure to such materials, and cost of proper disposal of residual material.
To provide guidance to Air Resources Board staff in evaluating the purchase of products for the Air Resources Board.

GENERAL POLICY

It is the policy of the Air Resources Board to optimize the departmental procurement of recycled content products. Fitness and quality being equal, the Board shall buy recycled content products whenever the cost is the same or lower than non-recycled content products.
Board publications shall be printed on recycled content papers and/or recyclable papers.
The Board shall apply approved price preference to all purchases of recycled content products when they compete with non-recycled or reused rather than discarded.
The Board shall strive to attain the following AB 11 purchase goals.
The Board shall maintain an ongoing relationship with Green Seal Environmental Partners Program and continue to receive product updates.

AB 11 RECYCLED CONTENT PRODUCT BUYING GOALS

	1996 GOAL	1997	1998
Paper Products	40% of $ spent	50% of $ spent	50%
Fine Printing and Writing Paper	15% of reams bought	25% of reams bought	25%
Overall Purchase Goals	N/A	20% of $ spent	30%

AUTHORITY

Public Contract Code Sections 12162, 12205, 12159 and 12305.5

PURCHASE RESTRICTIONS, SPECIFICATIONS AND BID SOLICITATIONS

Purchases or rentals by the Air Resource Board shall be compatible, whenever practical, with the use of recycled content products.
Specifications and requisitions shall not require, unless justified, the use of products made from virgin materials, nor specifically exclude the use of recycled content products.
Performance standards must be reasonable and related to the function, and shall not be designed to exclude the purchase of recycled content products.
Department staff shall purchase (and return for recycling) remanufactured cartridges, where available, for printers and photocopying machines.

MONITORING AND ANNUAL REPORT

The Recycled Content Products Procurement Coordinator will include in the Annual report to the Integrated Waste Management Board an update on the status of the policy's implementation including a summary of recycled content products used by and available to the Air Resources Board.

PROCUREMENT AND SOURCE REDUCTION EXAMPLES

Purchase copiers that make double-sided copies and use recycled content paper.
Purchase recycled laser toner cartridges and return used ones for recycling.
Purchase of office supplies which contain recycled content material, including wastebaskets, pens/pencils, and desk supplies.
Implement and maintain a recycling program for white paper, newsprint, magazines, and cardboard. Cardboard boxes and manila envelopes will be reused whenever possible otherwise cardboard will be bundles for recycling.
Reference Green Seal's website www.greenseal.org for the most current updates of recycled products available.

RECYCLED PRODUCT PRICE PREFERENCE

Preference Percentage	Product	Minimum Content	Purchasing Goals	Sunset
5	Tire derived rubber product	(50 PC)	20% in 1997 30% in 1998	None
5	Refined automotive lubricants	(70)	20% in 1997 30% in 1998	01/01/1997
5	Recycled solvents	(70)	20% in 1997 30% in 1998	01/01/1997
5	Paper janitorial supplies	(50)	40% in 1997 50% in 1998	01/01/2001
10	Paper, fine printing & writing, sold in reams	(20PC)*	15% of reams in 1997 25% of reams in 1998	01/01/2001
10	Paper, non-janitorial, not sold in reams, excluding newsprint	(50)	40% in 1997 50% in 1998	01/01/2001
10	Plastic products excluding trash bags & rigid plastic containers	(50)	20% in 1997 30% in 1998	01/01/2001
0	Glass products	(10)	20% in 1997 30% in 1998	01/01/2001

The data in parentheses refers to required minimum recycled content a product must contain in order to qualify as a recycled product in each category and/or qualify for a price preference if available.

(50PC) means that the product must contain a minimum of 50 percent postconsumer material.

*PC means postconsumer material, defined in statute as a finished material which would normally be disposed of as a solid waste, having completed its life cycle as a consumer item. For example, empty soda bottles, returned to the recycler after people have drunk the contents, are postconsumer material.

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