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Miscellaneous Statutory Provisions SECTION V

Chapter 1: Federal Procurement Requirements

CHAPTER 1

FEDERAL PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS

In this chapter...

Overview........................................................... V-3

Promotion of Recycling .................................... V-3

Federal Procurement Requirements ................ V-4

- Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines ..... V-5

- Recovered Materials Advisory Notice ........... V-5

- Procurement Program .................................. V-6

- Compliance ................................................... V-7

Summary .......................................................... V-8

OVERVIEW

The purpose of RCRA is not merely to control

waste generation, waste management, or waste

disposal. The title of the Act itself clearly reveals a

major focus and intent of the regulatory program –

resource conservation and recovery. As discussed

in Section I, a major goal of RCRA is energy and

natural resource conservation through taking steps

to reduce the depletion of our natural resources

and to protect those resources from hazardous

constituents. Another major goal of RCRA is

resource recovery through extracting usable

resources from materials that are unintentionally

created (i.e., wastes).

More specifically, such resource recovery or

recycling entails the separation and collection of

wastes for their subsequent transformation or

remanufacture into usable products and materials.

Resource recovery is a major component of the

RCRA program because it diverts large amounts of

solid waste from landfills and incinerators,

conserves space in landfills, recovers the precious

raw materials that are often found in solid waste,

and preserves natural resources that would

otherwise be used to produce virgin products and

materials.

To further this waste management approach,

RCRA established specific provisions to promote

the development of recycling capabilities and

technologies, and develop a market for recyclable

materials. As a result, the Statute contains

provisions for technology and market

development activities, as well as federal

procurement requirements intended to bolster the

demand for products containing recycled

materials.

PROMOTION OF RECYCLING

When the Statute was enacted,

the waste management and

recycling industries were unable to

maintain and promote substantial

resource conservation and

recovery of a wide range of

materials. While specific

industries, such as metals and

glass recycling, were mature

and developed, recycling of

other commodities, such as old
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 SECTION V Miscellaneous Statutory Provisions

Chapter 1: Federal Procurement Requirements

newspapers was not as

advanced. While recycling was

a major component of the

regulatory program, there was

neither the technology to

recycle nor a market in which

to sell and purchase such

commodities.

Then (and now), without a

market to sell or a demand to

purchase recycled products,

there was no incentive to perform the recycling

activities in the first place. In other words, why

make a product with a recycled material if no one

will buy it?

Congress recognized this opportunity within

the recycling industry and sought ways to promote

both recycling activities and market development.

As a result, RCRA includes provisions requiring

EPA to take steps to identify markets for recovered

materials, identify economic and technical barriers

to the use of recovered materials, encourage the

development of new uses for recovered materials,

and promote recycling technologies. In addition,

RCRA requires the National Institutes of Standards

and Technology to develop specifications for

recycled materials to facilitate their reuse in

replacing virgin materials in various industrial and

commercial products.

FEDERAL PROCUREMENT

REQUIREMENTS

Realizing that recycling is not only the

collection of materials for remanufacture, but also

the purchase of products with recovered content

by consumers, Congress sought ways to stimulate

market demand for recycled materials. Congress

realized that the purchasing power of the federal

government, if focused on procuring materials

with recovered content, could create a significant

demand for recycled materials thus

stimulating the market. Increased

demand by the federal government for

products with recovered content

would boost manufacturing of such

items and encourage the private sector

to purchase such goods as well. As a

result, RCRA §6002 established the

federal government’s buy-recycled

program, formally referred to as the

federal procurement program.

The federal procurement program sets

minimum recovered materials content standards

for certain designated items and requires

procuring agencies to purchase those items

composed of the highest percentage of recovered

materials practicable. Minimum content standards

specify the minimum amount of recovered

materials that designated items should contain.

Procuring agencies are defined as:

• Federal government departments or agencies

• State government agencies that use

appropriated federal funds for procurement of

a designated item

• Local government agencies that use

appropriated federal funds for procurement of

a designated item

• Government contractors that work on a

project funded by appropriated federal funds,

with respect to work performed under the

contract.

Only procuring agencies that purchase

$10,000 or more worth of a designated item

during the course of their fiscal year, or that

purchased at least $10,000 worth of a

procurement item during the preceding fiscal year,

are subject to these procurement requirements.

Projections

Wholesale

Revenue

Retail

Revenue

Cost of

Goods Sold

Operating

Expenses

Research &

Development
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Miscellaneous Statutory Provisions SECTION V

Chapter 1: Federal Procurement Requirements

The Statute requires EPA to identify products

that are or can be made from recovered materials,

and to make recommendations concerning the

procurement of items containing recovered

materials. Procuring agencies can use these

guidelines to meet these statutory requirements.

■ Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines

EPA designates items in a Comprehensive

Procurement Guideline (CPG), which is updated

annually. Currently there are 36 items designated

within eight product categories (see Figure V-1).

These product categories are:

• Paper and Paper Products

• Vehicular Products

• Construction Products

• Transportation Products

• Park and Recreation Products

• Landscaping Products

• Nonpaper Office Products

• Miscellaneous Products.

■ Recovered Materials Advisory Notice

For each item designated in the CPG, EPA also

publishes a corresponding recovered content level

(see Figure V-2). These recovered material levels

are published in a Recovered Materials Advisory

Notice (RMAN). Procuring agencies can use these

levels as guidelines, but are encouraged to exceed

EPA’s recommendations. EPA also provides

information on specifications for purchasing a

particular item and other pertinent purchasing

information.

Figure V-1: DESIGNATED PROCUREMENT ITEMS

Paper and Paper Products

All (except building and construction paper grades)

Vehicular Products

Engine Coolants

Rerefined Lubricating Oils

Retread Tires

Construction Products

Building Insulation Products

Polyester Carpet

Cement and Concrete Containing Coal Fly Ash and

Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag

Consolidated and Reprocessed Latex Paint

Floor Tiles

Laminated Paperboard

Patio Blocks

Shower and Restroom Dividers and Partitions

Structural Fiberboard

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

Nonpaper 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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 SECTION V Miscellaneous Statutory Provisions

Chapter 1: Federal Procurement Requirements

Recommended Recovered Materials Content Levels 

for Fencing Containing Recovered Plastic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plastic.................................................. 60-100 90-100

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Material Postconsumer

content (%) 

Total 

recovered 

materials 

content (%) 

EPA's recommendation does not preclude a procuring agency from purchasing fencing that is manufactured 

from another material, such as wood. The procurement guidelines simply require that a procuring agency, 

when purchasing plastic fencing, purchase this item made with recovered materials to the extent possible. 

Total recovered materials content 

refers to the total percentage of 

recovered materials that EPA 

recommends for a designated item. 

For example, EPA recommends that 

procuring agencies purchase plastic 

fencing that contains 90-100% 

recovered plastic. 

Postconsumer materials are materials 

or finished products that have served 

their intended uses and have been 

discarded for disposal or recovery, 

having completed their lives as 

consumer items. For example, EPA 

recommends that 60-100%, of the 90-

100% recovered plastic that EPA 

recommends for plastic fencing, should 

originate from the recycling of 

postconsumer plastic. 

Figure V-2:

SAMPLE RECOVERED MATERIALS ADVISORY NOTICE CONTENT LEVEL SPECIFICATION

need to purchase items that do not contain the

minimum recovered content. The Statute

provides, however, that procuring agencies need

not purchase designated items if the designated

items will not be available within a reasonable

period of time, will not meet the agency’s

reasonable performance standards, or will not be

available at a reasonable price. EPA, however,

encourages such agencies to try to purchase

designated items with recovered content to the

extent practicable.

Each procuring agency must develop an

affirmative procurement program for each

designated item, setting forth the agency’s policies

and procedures for implementing the

requirements.

■ Procurement Program

If an agency meets the definition of a

procuring agency and is purchasing a certain

dollar amount of a designated item, that agency is

required to purchase items with recovered

content to the maximum extent possible. Within

one year after EPA designates an item, procuring

agencies must revise their product specifications to

require the use of recovered materials and to

eliminate administrative barriers to the use of

materials with recovered content, such as

removing purchasing provisions that prohibit the

use of recovered materials or require the exclusive

use of virgin materials.

Not all procuring agencies will be able to

purchase the designated items with recovered

content. In some instances, such agencies will
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Miscellaneous Statutory Provisions SECTION V

Chapter 1: Federal Procurement Requirements

agency can also choose an alternative that is

equivalent to either of these options, such as

contracting for recycling of spent engine coolant.

Promotion Program

Through the promotion program, the agency

must actively promote its desire to buy recycled

products, both internally within the agency and

externally 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, and Verification

Program

The estimation, certification, and verification

program establishes procedures for obtaining

estimates and certifications, and where

appropriate, reasonably verifying the amount of

recovered materials content utilized in the

performance of a contract.

Monitoring and Review Program

The monitoring and review program requires

agencies to monitor affirmative procurement

programs to ensure that they are fulfilling their

requirements to purchase items composed of

recovered materials.

■ Compliance

Once EPA designates an item in the CPG, the

responsibility for complying with the procurement

program rests with the procuring agency. There

are no provisions in the Statute for federal

enforcement of the guidelines. On the other

EXECUTIVE ORDER 12873

When RCRA established the federal procurement

program, EPA was required to follow the formal

rulemaking process in order to designate an item and

establish minimum content levels. After this

rulemaking process, these items were formally

codified in the CFR. Because of the length of this

rulemaking process, from 1980 to 1993, EPA had

only designated five items for the procurement

program. In order to streamline this process,

President Clinton signed Executive Order 12873 in

1993 to require EPA to change the process to allow

more items to be designated faster. This change led

to the CPG and RMAN.

The affirmative procurement program consists

of four parts:

• Preference program

• Promotion program

• Estimation, certification, and verification

program

• Monitoring and review program.

Preference Program

The preference program is a means by which

an agency can show its preference for products

made with recovered materials. It may consist of

established minimum content standards, a caseby-case approach when the minimum content

standard is inappropriate, or an equivalent

alternative. Minimum content standards specify

the minimum amount of recovered materials that

designated items should contain. Agencies can

adopt these standards on an agency-wide basis for

all procurement actions. Case-by-case policy

development allows the procuring agency to

establish a separate recovered materials content

requirement for a specific procurement action,

while still enabling the agency to procure other

designated products with the highest amount of

recovered materials practicable. The procuring
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 SECTION V Miscellaneous Statutory Provisions

Chapter 1: Federal Procurement Requirements

hand, RCRA §7002 citizen suit provisions allow

citizens to sue in U.S. District Court to seek relief

against any person alleged to be in violation of the

requirements of the Act, including the

procurement requirements. (Citizen suit

provisions are fully discussed in Section III,

Chapter 10.)

SUMMARY

In order to further RCRA’s resource,

conservation, and recovery goals, EPA established

provisions to promote recycling and market

development. RCRA created federal procurement

requirements to create a significant demand for

products with recovered content, boost

manufacturing of such products, and encourage

the private sector to purchase such goods as well.

The procurement requirements apply to

procuring agencies that purchase $10,000 or more

worth of a designated item during the course of

their fiscal year, or that purchased at least $10,000

worth of a procurement item during the preceding

fiscal year.

Procuring agencies are defined as:

• Federal government departments or agencies

• State government agencies that use

appropriated federal funds for procurement of

a designated item

• Local government agencies that use

appropriated federal funds for procurement of

a designated item

• Government contractors that work on a

project funded by appropriated federal funds,

with respect to work performed under the

contract.

The federal procurement program sets

minimum recovered materials content standards

for certain designated items and requires

procuring agencies to purchase those items

composed of the highest percentage of recovered

materials practicable. EPA designates these items

in the CPG and specifies minimum recovered

content levels in an RMAN.

Each procuring agency must develop an

affirmative procurement program for each

designated item, setting forth the agency’s policies

and procedures for implementing the

requirements. This program consists of four parts:

• Preference program

• Promotion program

• Estimation, certification, and verification

program

• Monitoring and review program.