Within a community, needs are combined in a single invitation for bids. All departments order the quantities they need from the resulting contract. The lead agency may be different for each commodity. Cooperative purchasing is useful for recycled products because it reduces duplicate research and expands total product demand. By joining with other people who are doing exactly what you do, you can save time and money.
Unit costs go down when the volume of purchases increases.
Participating jurisdictions simply determine the quantities they will need during the term of the contract and share their vendor lists. Others simply pass along the costs of special ordering small quantities of recycled counterparts to the buyer. When cooperative purchasing increases total demand, vendors may relax minimum quantity requirements to individual users because they have the stock on their shelves. This helps vendors to stock products with the same recycled content requirements. There is no guarantee that a local company will win the bid.