2000 Buy-Recycled Series

Landscaping Products

United States 

Environmental Protection 

Agency

EPA530-F-00-010

April 2000

www.epa.gov/cpg

Solid Waste

and Emergency Response

(5306W)

1EPA

I

t might be easier than you think to

turn garbage into gardens! Whether

you’re a park manager, professional

landscaper, or tend a small garden bed,

you’ll find recycled-content products offer

a quick, effective, and affordable way to

make your grounds green. 

To make it easier to buy recycled, the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) updates the Comprehensive Procurement

Guidelines (CPG) every 2 years. Through the CPG, EPA designates

items that must contain recycled content when purchased by federal,

state, and local agencies, or by government contractors, using

appropriated federal funds. Several landscaping products are among

these items. EPA’s research shows that the items designated in the

CPG are of high quality, widely available, and cost-competitive with

virgin products. EPA also issues nonregulatory companion

guidance—the Recovered Materials Advisory Notice (RMAN)—that

recommends levels of recycled content for these items.

So the next time you need a garden hose, edging, landscaping

timbers, or soil amendments, buy recycled! You’ll help reduce waste,

and your landscape will turn a deeper shade of green.

EcoPurchasing means

considering attributes 

such as

❖

recycled content

toxicity

reusability

durability

repairability

❖

before you buy 

a product.

2Printed on paper that contains at least 30 percent postconsumer fiber.
Recycling is more than just dropping off

your cans, bottles, and newspapers at

the curb or at a local collection facility. Diverting recyclables 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.

To support markets for materials collected

in recycling programs and to help these

programs expand, the Resource Conservation

and Recovery Act requires agencies to buy

recycled products designated by EPA. In

addition, President Clinton signed Executive

Order 13101 in September 1998, which called

for an increase in the federal government’s use

of recycled-content and other environmentally

preferable products.

Issued in May 1995, the first CPG

designated 19 new products in seven product

categories, including yard waste trimmings

and hydraulic mulch. It also incorporated five

previously designated items. Procuring

agencies are required to purchase these items

with recycled content. The first CPG update

(CPG II) was published in November 1997,

and designated an additional 12 items,

including garden and soaker hoses and lawn

and garden edging. A second CPG update

(CPG III) was published in January 2000, and

designated an additional 18 items, including

food waste compost and plastic lumber

landscaping timbers and posts.

Procuring agencies include all federal

agencies, and any state or local government

agency or government contractor that uses

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 designated items.

Once designated, an agency has 1 year to

develop an affirmative procurement program

(or revise an existing one) for a designated

item it purchases. By May 1, 1996, agencies

were required to develop affirmative procurement programs to incorporate buy-recycled

requirements for hydraulic mulch and yard

trimmings compost. By November 13, 1998,

agencies were required to revise their affirmative procurement programs to incorporate

garden and soaker hoses and lawn and garden

edging. Agencies also must revise their

affirmative procurement program to add the

items designated under CPG III by January

2001. This effort might involve reviewing

specifications for these products and

eliminating provisions that pose barriers to

procuring them with recycled content 

(such as aesthetic requirements unrelated to

product performance).

The CPG acknowledges, however, that

specific circumstances 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 it determines that: 

1) the price of a given designated item made

with recovered materials is unreasonably high,

2) there is inadequate competition (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 reasonable

performance specifications.

What Is The CPG?

The CPG

requires

federal

agencies to

buy items

made from

recovered

materials.

2
EPA issues guidance in RMANs,

which are designed to make it as

easy as possible to buy the designated items. The RMANs recommend

recycled-content levels to look for when

purchasing landscaping products, as

shown in the chart below. Following the

RMANs’ recommended levels will help

ensure your affirmative procurement

program and standards meet the buyrecycled requirements.

Rather than specifying just one level of

recycled content, the RMANs recommend

ranges that reflect actual market conditions. The recommendations are based on

market research identifying recycledcontent products that are commercially

available, are competitively priced, and

meet buyers’ quality standards.

Refer to EPA’s availability list entitled

“Landscaping Products Containing

Recovered Materials” for sources of the

designated landscaping items. See the last

section of this fact sheet for this and other

helpful resources.

How Do I Purchase Recycled-Content Landscaping Products?

The RMAN

recommends

recycled-content

ranges at which

the designated

items are

generally

available in the

marketplace.

Hydraulic Mulch:

—Paper 100% (postconsumer)

—Wood/Paper 100% (total)

Compost Made From Purchase or use compost made from yard trimmings, leaves, grass 

Yard Trimmings and/or clippings and/or foodwastes for applications such as landscaping, 

FoodWaste seeding of grass or other plants, as nutritious mulch under trees and 

shrubs, and in erosion control and soil reclamation. EPA further 

recommends implementing a composting system for these materials 

when agencies have an adequate volume and sufficient space.

Garden Hose:

—Rubber and/or Plastic 60–65% (postconsumer) 

Soaker Hose:

—Rubber and/or Plastic 60–70% (postconsumer) 

Lawn and Garden Edging:

—Rubber and/or Plastic 30–100% (postconsumer) /30–100% (total)

Landscaping Timber and Posts:

—HDPE 25–100% (postconsumer)/75–100% (total)

—Mixed Plastics/Sawdust 50% (postconsumer)/100% (total)

—HDPE/Fiberglass 75% (postconsumer)/95% (total)

—Other Mixed Resins 50–100% (postconsumer)/95–100% (total)

Landscaping Products Recovered Material Content Recommendations

EPA’s Recommended Content Levels for Landscaping Products

3
How Do I Purchase Recycled-Content Landscaping Products? (Continued)

Planting the Seeds:

Hydraulic Mulch

You might be establishing wildflowers along

an interstate or replanting grass on a public

golf course. In either case, your first step is

to plant the seeds. Hydraulic mulch is a quick,

proven, and affordable way to help get the job

done. Utilizing recovered newspaper and wood

products, hydraulic mulch is commonly used in

highway construction projects to grow grass along

embankments, medians, and roadways. It also is

used in recreational areas and on residential lawns.

Through hydroseeding, a mixture of water, seeds,

and hydraulic mulch is sprayed over soil. The

mulch stabilizes the soil, prevents wind and water

erosion, and provides protection and warmth for

the seeds, helping them grow.

Be sure you require that contractors use

hydraulic mulch for all your hydroseeding projects,

where appropriate. Hydraulic mulch not only

protects young seeds from the elements; it also

strengthens demand for wood waste and the newspaper you recycle in your local recycling program.

Strengthening the Soil: 

Yard Trimmings and Food

Waste Compost

Used frequently in both commercial and

residential landscaping, yard trimmings

and food waste compost turns the organic

waste we might otherwise throw away—such as

grass, leaves, twigs, and fruit and vegetable

trimmings—into an effective soil amendment.

Compost returns nutrients to the soil, improves soil

texture, and promotes new plant growth.

Additionally, compost can suppress some plant

diseases and prevent soil erosion when used as

cover for seeded grass. 

With an increase in the number of composting

facilities from 651 in 1988 to more than 3,200 in

1996, the market is clearly growing for this

valuable product. Even so, more yard trimmings

and food waste could still be composted. In 1996,

For more than 10 years, the Texas Department of

Transportation (TxDOT) has used hydraulic mulch

made from recovered newspaper and other

recovered paper fibers in its seeding operations in

highway construction. In 1998 alone, the agency

used more than 2,000 tons of the product to

establish vegetative cover along roadways and

embankments. The agency has tested the product’s

performance and is pleased with the results. For

more information, contact Paul Northcutt of TxDOT

at 512 416-3091.

The Washington State Department of Transportation

(WSDOT) first began using yard trimmings compost

as a soil amendment in response to a 1992

legislative mandate. Since then, the department has

used the material in a variety of roadside

revegetation and restoration projects as well as in

wetland mitigation sites. On any given project, the

department uses between 100 and several thousand

cubic yards of material. One project along Interstate

405, for example, used more than 2,900 cubic yards

of compost to enrich the soil. The department also

gives contractors clearing land the option of

chipping trees and shrubs and leaving the material

on site, saving hauling and disposal fees and

returning this material back to the soil. The

department has been very pleased with the

performance of the yard trimmings compost and

continues to increase its use of the material. For

more information, contact Mark Maurer of WSDOT

at 360 705-7242.

CASE STUDY: Texas Department of Transportation

CASE STUDY: Washington State Department

of Transportation

4
these valuable organic materials constituted more

than 23 percent of our national waste stream, with

50 million tons generated, of which only about

one fourth that amount (11 million tons) was

recovered for composting.

Quenching Mother Nature’s

Thirst: Garden and Soaker

Hoses

Once your seeds are planted and the soil is

enhanced with nutrient-rich compost,

nothing is more important than adequate

watering. The questions of how much and how

often to water are a matter of local climatic

conditions, but one thing is clear—buying

recycled-content garden and soaker hoses is the

ideal choice for watering your garden or planted

areas. Not only will these hoses deliver water to

meet your garden’s needs, they also help create

new uses for old tires and recycled plastics from

items such as discarded cable wires and old 

traffic cones.

Building a Home for the

Garden: Landscaping

Timbers and Posts 

(Plastic Lumber)

To create attractive and effective

landscaping, you’ll need some construction

skills as well as a green thumb. Raised

beds, for example, will frame and protect flower

beds. Framed walkways, bordered lawns, and

flower beds all enhance the appearance of a

landscape. Likewise, retaining walls can control

erosion. Whether you’re beautifying a park,

highway, housing development, zoo, or the

exterior of an office building, you can do it with

recycled-content landscaping timbers and posts.

The National Park Service is leading the way by

planning more than a dozen projects with timbers

and posts manufactured with plastic or composite

lumber, which give new life to recovered wood

and plastic materials such as milk jugs and 

plastic bags.

The Border Line: Lawn and

Garden Edging

When you’re ready to finish the job,

recycled-content lawn and garden

edging provides the perfect barrier for

delineating your beds. Sold in both industrial and

residential strengths, these quality products help

keep grass and weeds out of flower and vegetable

beds, saving time and money. You can purchase

up to 100 percent postconsumer recycled-content

edging, which is made from scrap rubber, milk

jugs, and other plastic containers.

The Army Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES)

purchased more than 5.5 million feet of 65 percent

postconsumer recovered-content soaker hose during

the past 4 years, keeping thousands of scrap tires

out of landfills. AAFES operates retail stores for

active and retired members of the U.S. Army and

U.S. Air Force. Customers primarily use the product

in gardening and landscaping projects on military

bases and at private residences of military

personnel. For more information, contact Carol

Andrews of AAFES at 214 312-2236.

CASE STUDY: Army Air Force Exchange Service

5
Information Available 

From EPA

This fact sheet and the following publications on

buying recycled-content products are available or

can be accessed in electronic format on the Internet at

<www.epa.gov/cpg>. Use Internet e-mail to order paper copies

of documents. Include the requestor’s name and mailing

address on all orders. Address e-mail to: 

rcra-docket@epamail.epa.gov. 

Paper copies also may be ordered by calling 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 800 424-9346 or TDD 800 553-

7672. The RCRA Hotline operates weekdays, from 9:00 a.m. to

6:00 p.m., e.s.t.

❖ EPA Expands Comprehensive Procurement Guideline

(CPG) (EPA530-F-00-017). This fact sheet provides general

information about the CPG and the development of affirmative

procurement programs. 

❖ 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.

❖ Landscaping Products Containing Recovered Materials

(EPA530-B-99-015). This list identifies sources of landscaping

products containing recovered materials. 

❖ EPA has also developed a presentation folder that highlights

new and innovative uses for compost (EPA530-F-97-047).

The following compost fact sheets are available from EPA:

— Innovative Uses of Compost—Bioremediation and

Pollution Prevention (EPA530-F-97-042).

— Innovative Uses of Compost—Erosion Control, Turf

Remediation, and Landscaping (EPA530-F-97-043).

— Innovative Uses of Compost—Disease Control for

Plants and Animals (EPA530-F-97-044).

— Innovative Uses of Compost—Composting of Soils

Contaminated by Explosives (EPA530-F-97-045).

— Innovative Uses of Compost—Reforestation, Wetlands

Restoration, and Habitat Revitalization (EPA530-F97-046).

❖ A Study of State and Local Government Procurement

Practices that Consider Environmental Performance of

Goods and Services (EPA742-R-96-007). This report

provides important program elements and case studies of

state and county agencies purchasing environmentally

preferable products and services. For a copy of the report or

more information on EPA’s Environmentally Preferable

Purchasing (EPP) program, contact the Pollution Prevention

Information Clearinghouse at 401 M Street, SW. (7409),

Washington, DC 20460. Phone: 202 260-1023. Fax: 202 260-

4659. Visit the EPP Web site at <www.epa.gov/oppt/epp>.

Other Sources of 

Information

❖ Buy Recycled Business Alliance. The

Alliance includes over 3,200 companies and

organizations committed to increasing their use of recycledcontent products and materials in their day-to-day operations.

The Alliance offers educational materials, a quarterly

newsletter, and product-specific guides. Public purchasing

entities can join for free. For more information, contact Kevin

Barry, National Recycling Coalition, 1727 King Street, Suite

105, Alexandria, VA 22314-2720. Phone: 703 683-9025, Ext.

210. Fax: 703 683-9026. 

Web site: www.nrc-recycle.org 

E-mail: brbainfo@nrc-recycle.org.

❖ The Composting Council. The Composting Council offers

educational materials and workshops on composting and

seeks to develop standards for compost. For more

information, contact the organization at 114 South Pitt Street,

Alexandria, VA 22314. Phone: 703 739-2401. 

Fax: 703 739-2407. 

Web site: www.composter.com/composting/compcouncil/

❖ U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). GSA

publishes various supply catalogs, guides, and schedules for

recycled-content products available through the Federal

Supply Service. For copies of the following document and

other information, contact GSA, Centralized Mailing List

Service (7CAFL), 4900 Hemphill Street, P.O. Box 6477, Fort

Worth, TX 76115-9939. Phone: 817 334-5215. Fax: 817 334-

5561. You can also access GSA Advantage!, GSA’s Internetbased online ordering system, to order any GSA product at

<www.fss.gsa.gov/cgi-bin/advwel>.

How Can I Get More Information?

6
— 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.

❖ Green Seal. Green Seal is a national nonprofit labeling

organization that sets environmental standards, including

those for garden hoses, and awards a Green Seal of Approval

to products meeting those standards. For more information,

contact Green Seal at 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW., Suite

827, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: 202 872-6400. 

Fax: 202 872-4324. 

Web site: www.greenseal.org

❖ Greening the Government: A Guide to Implementing

Executive Order 12873. This guide provides detailed

information on establishing and implementing federal

affirmative procurement plans. Updated in the summer of

1997, it is available without charge from the Office of the

Federal Environmental Executive, Ariel Rios Building, Mail

Code 1600S, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC 20460. Phone: 202 564-1297. Fax: 202 564-1393. 

Web site: www.ofee.gov

You can also download an electronic version on the Internet

at <www.ofee.gov/html/guide/html>.

❖ Official Recycled Products Guide. This directory lists more

than 5,000 manufacturers and distributors of recycled-content

products. Contact: Recycling Data Management Corporation,

P.O. Box 577, Ogdensburg, NY 13669. Phone: 800 267-0707. 

Fax: 315 471-3258.

❖ Recycled Plastic Products Source Book. Recycled Plastic

Products Source Book. This booklet lists more than 1,300

plastic products from approximately 300 manufacturers. For

more information, call the American Plastics Council (APC),

1801 K Street, NW., Suite 7010, Washington, DC 20006.

Phone: 202 974-5400. Fax: 202 296-7119. Visit the APC 

Web site at <www.plasticsresource.com>.

❖ Recycled Rubber Products Catalog. This catalog lists

products manufactured from recovered rubber and provides

information on how to obtain them. For more information,

contact the Scrap Tire Management Council, 1400 K Street,

NW., Suite 900, Washington, DC 20005. Phone: 202 682-

4880. Fax: 202 682-4854. The catalog can be viewed on the

Internet at <www.rma.org/recycledcatalogn.html>.

❖ Products and Services Directory. This publication lists

manufacturers of erosion control products, including hydraulic

mulch. For more information, contact the International Erosion

Control Association, P.O. Box 774904, Steamboat Springs,

CO 80477. Phone: 800 455-4322. Fax: 970 879-8563. 

Web site: www.ieca.org

Internet Sites

Government Sites

❖ The Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines:

<www.epa.gov/cpg>. This site describes EPA’s effort to

facilitate the procurement of products containing recovered

materials, including information on CPG, RMANs, and the

Buy-Recycled Series.

❖ Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP):

<www.epa.gov/oppt/epp>. EPA’s Environmentally Preferable

Purchasing program encourages and assists federal agencies

to purchase environmentally preferable products and

services. The site explains EPA’s guiding principles for

including environmental performance in purchasing decisionmaking, and posts case studies of successful pilot projects in

both the public and private sectors.

❖ Federal Trade Commission: <www.ftc.gov/bcp/grnrule/

guides980427.htm>. The Federal Trade Commission issued

Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims in 

May 1998. 

❖ Jobs Through Recycling: <www.epa.gov/jtr>. EPA’s Jobs

Through Recycling program stimulates economic 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.

❖ King County Recycled Product Procurement Program:

<www.metrokc.gov/oppis/recyclea.html>. This site describes

the tools and techniques developed by King County,

Washington, agencies for purchasing recycled products. 

❖ Municipal Solid Waste: <www.epa.gov/msw>. This site

includes information on recycling, source reduction, and

reuse. Contains state municipal solid waste data and the

latest facts and figures on waste generation and disposal.

❖ WasteWise: <www.epa.gov/wastewise>. WasteWise is a 

free, voluntary EPA program through which organizations

eliminate costly municipal solid waste, benefitting their bottom

line and the environment. The program provides hands-on

assistance to members to help them purchase or manufacture

recycled-content products, prevent waste, and recycle solid

waste materials.

7
1EPA

United States 

Environmental Protection Agency

(5306W)

Ariel Rios Building

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.

Washington, DC 20460

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

Product Information

❖ Recycling Data Network Information Services:

<www.epa.gov/cpg/links.htm>. This commercial Web site

provides access, on a subscription basis, to a recycled-content

products database of over 4,500 listings in 700 product

classifications. It also provides a reference library and a

newsletter. Managed by the publisher of the Official Recycled

Products Guide, the product database is considered to be the

largest of its kind. 

❖ California Recycled-Content Product Database:

<www.ciwmb.ca.gov/RCP>. This site contains information on

why to buy recycled-content products, how to procure them,

and provides access to a database with information on 

products, as well as manufacturers, distributors, reprocessors,

mills, and convertors across the country who procure or

produce these products. 

❖ Fedmarket Procurement Assistance Jumpstation:

<www.fedmarket.com/sales_resources/bids/federal.html>. This

site contains links to many sites containing procurement

information.

In addition, contact your state solid waste management agency

for information about local and regional businesses that

produce or distribute recycled-content products.

How Can I Get More Information? (Continued)