Program Areas - Green Purchasing

Program Manager: Doug Bruner (757) 824-2441

Background

As the single largest purchaser in the United States, the Federal Government is required by Executive Order (EO) 13423,Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management and EO 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance to procure green products and services. Programs which identify green goods or services include:

An excellent training presentation explaining Green Purchasing has been prepared by Dana Arnold, Office of the Federal Environmental Executive. This presentation explains each program, introduces applicable Federal Acquistion Regulation (FAR) clauses, and shares success stories. Click here to view the Green Purchasing training presentation.

An excellent website for green product information and requirements can be found at https://sftool.gov/greenprocurement.

About Affirmative Procurement:

Green Purchasing Example 1
Office supplies manufactured with recycled content

Affirmative Procurement requires the government and its contractors to purchase products with recycled content, thus creating a huge demand for items made with recycled products. The increased demand for recycled products encourages the development of new products, increases the number of companies producing recycled content products, strengthens the recycled product market, reduces the solid waste in our landfills, and decreases the depletion of our natural resources.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated a list of items, which can be made with recovered material in the Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG). The minimum-recovered content standards for designated and recommended practices for procurement of such items are published in Recovered Materials Advisory Notices (RMANs) and vary from item to item. A complete list of CPG designated items, content standards, and sources for purchasing items can be found on the EPA CPG page. The eight categories of items which must be purchased with recycled content are:

Green Purchasing Example 2
Printer paper made with 30% recycled content
  • Construction Products
  • Landscaping Products
  • Non-paper Office Products
  • Paper and Paper Products
  • Park and Recreation Products
  • Transportation Products
  • Vehicular Products
  • Miscellaneous Products

Proper implementation of an Affirmative Procurement Program can help assure WFF's compliance with the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Section 6002 (40 CFR 247), Comprehensive Procurement Guideline for Products Containing Recovered Materials; EO 12873, Federal Acquisition, Recycling, and Waste Prevention; EO 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management; FAR 23.4, Use of Recovered Materials; and NASA Procedural Guideline (NPG) 8830.1 Affirmative Procurement Plan for Environmentally Preferable Products. NASA has an agency goal of 100 percent compliance with Affirmative Procurement laws.

Each organization is responsible for implementing affirmative procurement by incorporating EPA designated items into their acquisitions as prescribed in FAR part 23.404 (b) (2).

About the BioPreferred Program:

The BioPreferred Program refers to the purchase of biobased (agricultural based) products in place of the purchase of products which would typically be manufactured from petroleum products. The following products must be purchased with agricultural content:

  • 2-cycle engine oils
  • adhesive and mastic removers
  • bathroom cleaners
  • Bedding and towels
  • carpet cleaners
  • carpet spot removers
  • carpets
  • chain and cable lubricants
  • composite panels, acoustical
  • composite panels, interior
  • composite panels, structural
  • composite panels, wall
  • concrete and asphalt release
  • corrosion preventatives
  • de-icers
  • diesel fuel additives
  • disposable containers
  • disposable cutlery
  • dust suppresents
  • fertilizers
  • films
  • firearm lubricants
  • floor strippers
  • fluid filled transformers
  • food cleaners
  • forming lubricants
  • gear lubricants
  • household cleaners
  • grease removers
  • glass cleaners
  • food grade greases
  • multipurpose greases
  • handcleaners and santitizers
  • hydrualic fluids
  • industrial cleaners
  • laundry products
  • lip care
  • metal working fluids
  • mobile equipment hydraulic fluids
  • parts wash solutions
  • penetrating lubricants
  • plastic insulating foam
  • roof coatings
  • sorbents
  • water tank coatings
  • wood and concreate sealants
  • disposable tableware
  • landscaping products

Affirmative Procurement Instructions:

To comply with the Affirmative Procurement program, first, visit the EPA CPG page and compare the listed items, which must be purchased with recovered material content, to the items you normally order. Items purchased through the GSFC Store Stock System should contain required recovered material content when ordered.

When the item cannot be purchased with recovered material content, please complete a waiver and save in your purchasing files. This waiver is no longer required to be signed by the Environmental Office.

BioPreferred Instructions:

To comply with the BioPreferred Program, first visit http://www.usda.gov/biopreferred and compare the listed items, which must be purchased with agricultural content, to the items you normally order. Please use the waiver form described above if the item you must purchase cannot be purchased with agricultural content.

The Procurement Office will no longer purchase requested items unless the above steps have been followed.

Notification:

Finally, each November 1, all purchasers and request initiators, including Government credit card users and contractors, who have purchased a CPG item (with or without recyled content) or BioPreferred item (with or without agricultural content) in the previous fiscal year, without using the SAP system, shall provide the Environmental Office with a record of those purchases. This Spreadsheet can be used to fulfill this requirement. This coordination will facilitate the Environmental Office's efforts to report on WFF's CPG and Biopreferred item purchases.

Points of Contact:

The Environmental Office and the Procurement Office worked jointly to formulate a process to fulfill the requirements of Affirmative Procurement.

In addition to the H-E-L-P desk (x4357), any member of the Green Purchasing Team would be able to answer your questions. Contact Doug Bruner x2441, Marianne Simko x2127, or Therese Patterson x1066.

The Environmental Office will assist organizations in obtaining the list of designated items, and in answering questions. The Procurement Office will assist with any market research necessary to determine the availability of green purchasing items.