The forms include the item description, manufacturer, costs, agreement terms and authorization. Finally, items are bid on by suppliers. The amount of recycled material is dependent on percentage weight composition. Yet, the more environmental friendly product has more post consumer waste. In addition to the raw materials content, products also affect the environment based on other materials and their respective end use.
Products can be nontoxic or organic.
When evaluating environmental impacts of products, it is important to take into account the costs and impacts over the product life cycle. This approach, called life cycle analysis, looks at a product based on its immediate and longterm effects. A large disposal cost may outweigh the benefits of a short term savings or a small disposal cost can make a purchase economically feasible. The University of Pennsylvania purchases 28,000 reams of copy paper annually. They are both purchased at no extra cost to the University.