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White House Task Force on Waste Prevention and Recycling Accomplishments -- 1993-2000

Promoting Sustainable Procurement

  • The White House Task Force on Waste Prevention and Recycling (Task Force) successfully promoted increased Federal purchase of recycled content products. From an initial list of five products in the 1980s, Federal agencies and government contractors now buy 54 different types of recycled content products daily, ranging from office supplies, to building materials, to re-refined oil and retread tires. Government purchases in 1997 for certain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated recycled content products exceeded $350 million -- an increase of $112 million a year, or 30 percent over the 1992 level. The most notable success for the program is in copier paper purchases. The General Services Administration and the Government Printing Office, the two largest suppliers of copier paper, in just 18 months after the enactment of E.O.13101 in 1998, reported that agencies increased their purchases of compliant recycled content paper to 98 percent from 12 percent.

  • The Task Force has promoted new and innovative procurement practices, such as "substitution policies," to increase Federal agencies' purchases of green products. Agencies request that the supplying agency automatically substitute recycled content, environmentally preferable or energy efficient products in place of any orders for non-recycled content or non-compliant products. Several of the agencies have begun to use this approach in filling orders for re-refined motor oil. The results are astonishing; in FY 2000, 87 percent of all purchases of motor oil from Defense Supply Center Richmond, one of Federal government's largest suppliers of motor oil, was re-refined oil.

  • The Task Force promoted two additional mechanisms to increase agency purchases of green products: incentive contracts and closed loop contracts. Incentive contracts provide financial incentives for identifying and using "green" products. Closed loop contracts allow agencies to purchase certain products, such as oil, tires or toner cartridges, with the added benefit of having the contractor also pick-up any resulting waste for recycling. This eliminates the administrative costs of disposal contracts and the environmental concerns surrounding disposal.

  • To continue promoting green purchasing, a new Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rule was published on June 6, 2000 to incorporate the E.O. 13101 provisions. The language is very strong and incorporates "green" considerations throughout the acquisition process, from pre-proposal design to proposal evaluation, to contract administration. It specifically covers the President's directive to Federal agencies to use only recycled content copier paper. It also specifies that RCRA section 6002 and the E.O. buy-recycled directives apply to micro-purchases (less than $2,500), retains provisions about affirmative procurement (buy recycled) programs, and retains the requirement that contractors provide documents printed or copied double-sided in order to save paper and energy.

  • The Task Force provided technical support in the drafting of two new Executive Orders on greening environmental management and fleet and transportation. Working in close coordination with CEQ, OMB, EPA, DOE and other agencies, the Task Force helped set a new course for the Federal government to enhance performance on environmental management, environmental compliance, community right-to-know, reduced petroleum consumption through improvements in fleet fuel efficiency and the use of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and alternative fuels. For example, agencies are required to revise their specifications and to purchase paper products using environmentally benign adhesives, thus removing a major contaminant in paper recycling efforts. New directives strengthen agency purchases of re-refined motor vehicle lubricating oils, retread tires, and biobased motor vehicle products.

  • The Task Force has worked with GSA, JWOD and SBA to intensify the use of "green.com" sites, and modify existing electronic catalogs and contract schedules to further promote use of recycled content, environmentally preferable and bio-based products and services. Efforts include the greening of Pro-Net -- an electronic gateway of procurement information on more than 195,000 small, disadvantaged, 8(a), HUBZone, and women-owned businesses -- to allow small businesses that offer green products and services to be highlighted in the database.

Raising "Green" Awareness

  • The Task Force has been very successful in raising the awareness of greening practices and the need to procure green goods and services. Publications such as "Recycling...for the Future - Consider the benefits" and "Recycling...for the future - It's everybody's business," prepared by the Task Force and EPA, document the environmental, economic and energy benefits of recycling, highlight success stories, and dispel misconceptions that recycling is not economically viable. The Task Force also issues a quarterly newsletter to 4,000 subscribers that provides the latest information pertaining to Federal acquisition, recycling, and waste prevention.

  • The Task Force prepared a practical guide, "Greening the Government: A Guide to Implementing Executive Order 13101," in an effort to help Federal agencies further improve their environmental performance in this area and in other greening the government activities. It is geared to help both beginners and experts and provides comprehensive guidance for implementing E.O. 13101, including examples of successful agency programs.

  • The Task Force also conducted high-level government summits and workshops to promote participation and support from senior level management in all sectors of the government and allow positive exchanges in addressing emerging environmental challenges. For example, the Task Force sponsored a White House Workshop on Recycling with key industry, government, and non-governmental organizations, three White House Paper Summits, and two Re-refined Oil Summits.

  • With support from the Task Force, EPA launched a campaign to promote Federal agency participation in "WasteWise," a voluntary partnership program designed to help organizations find practical and cost-effective methods for reducing municipal solid waste. More than 900 companies and organizations from across the country participate in WasteWise, representing 50 industry sectors ranging from aerospace to utilities, governments, and institutions. The WasteWise expansion will help Federal agencies comply with the Greening the Government Executive Orders by helping them increase their waste prevention and recycling activities. Agency participation will also provide Federal facilities an important tool to measure and quantify their efforts.

Providing "Green" Training and Education

  • Education and training are key components to the overall success of Executive Order 13101. The Task Force has conducted training on green purchasing for procurement personnel, engineers, and program personnel. The Task Force worked with DoD to include training on RCRA and E.O. 13101 as part of the DOD Senior Contracting course for DoD and services contracting personnel. The Task Force sponsored a workshop for Defense Acquisition University (DAU) staff and course directors to help them incorporate green purchasing information into the DAU curriculum. Work has also started with the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) to offer a free, web-based course for procurement and program personnel on E.O. implementation and green purchasing in general.

  • For the past five years, the Task Force has partnered with the National Recycling Coalition, a non-profit association committed to promoting recycling, to provide Federal educational sessions during the annual National Recycling Congress. Topics range from basic information on recycling program design to affirmative procurement to cutting-edge issues that will shape recycling's future well into the new millennium. Federal participation in the National Recycling Congress has increased significantly over the past five years.

  • The Task Force maintains a web site, www.ofee.gov, to provide agencies and the public with access to information resources on environmental policies and practices, documented success stories, and available products and services to promote the greening of the government.

Praising Green Successes

  • The White House Closing the Circle Awards Program, started in 1995, recognizes Federal employees and their facilities for efforts which result in significant contributions to, or have made a significant impact on, recycling, waste prevention, and purchasing of recycled-content and environmentally preferable products. To date, more than 120 programs have received White House Closing the Circle Awards in waste prevention, recycling, affirmative procurement, environmental preferability, model facilities, and advancing the objectives of Executive Order 13101.

Outreach Beyond the Federal Community

  • The Task Force has reached out - not just to the Federal sector - but to government at all levels, businesses, and consumers, to ensure that recycling is sustainable in the United States. The Task Force is a founding sponsor of America Recycles Day (ARD), an annual celebration that brings together government officials, environmental organizations, and manufacturing industries with the shared objective of increasing recycling and the purchase of recycled content products. This national event was launched as an effort to educate millions of Americans about the environmental and economic benefits of recycling and buying recycled content products. ARD includes the participation of all 50 states and over 130 public and private organizations.

  • In 1998, the Office of the Vice President, with the support of the Task Force, issued the "National Recycling Challenge" to government agencies at all levels, American businesses and industries, colleges and universities, and others. He challenged them to make a commitment to help make recycling more sustainable in the United States. More than 70 organizations have made commitments - including Federal, state, and local government agencies, major businesses, and the steel, aluminum, paper, plastic, and remanufacturing industries.

  • In July 2000, the Task Force conducted a Government to Government: Smart Green Purchasing Meeting with representatives from state, county and local offices. The meeting featured several breakout sessions which helped the group define the issues associated with purchasing environmentally preferable products, pool knowledge and experiences, identify fundamental problems, and come up with new ideas to take back to their respective jurisdictions.

Documenting Successes

  • The Task Force, in close coordination with OMB, prepares biennial reports to Congress in accordance with RCRA Section 6002, documenting the progress agencies have made in purchasing recycled content products and implementing other waste prevention initiatives. For example, from 1992 to 1997, major Federal procuring agencies, such as the Departments of Defense, Energy and Transportation, spent almost $2 billion on selected recycled content products. Also, data reported by six Federal agencies (DOE, DOT, VA, NASA, GSA, and USPS) indicate that the dollar value of recyclables collected was approximately $5.8 million in 1996, almost doubling to $11 million in 1997. Five agencies (DOE, DOT, VA, NASA, and GSA) reported that 100 percent of their offices operated active recycling programs in 1996.

  • The Task Force, in close cooperation with the Climate Change Task Force, EPA, DOE, and OMB, prepared the first ever "Greening the Government: A Report to the President on Federal Leadership and Progress." The report, released by the Vice President on Earth Day 2000, documents the significant progress Federal agencies have made over the past decade in achieving energy efficiency, recycling, pollution prevention, and purchasing recycled content and environmentally preferable products and services.

Planning for a Greener Future

  • In March 1999, the Task Force published a government-wide Strategic Plan for waste prevention, recycling, and Federal acquisition to define the program goals and provide the road maps to reach these goals. One of the unique aspects of the Plan includes the establishment of a new and aggressive national recycling goal for the federal government of 35 percent waste diversion by 2005. All Federal agencies are expected to advance toward this national goal with their respective waste diversion programs. The Plan also requires Federal agencies to demonstrate significant increases in the procurement of recycled content products from each preceding year through 2005.

  • One important and challenging area being examined is that of better tracking and reporting of Federal agencies' progress in meeting the buy-recycled and other green purchasing requirements. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy of OMB and the Task Force formed a reporting workgroup composed of representatives from many government agencies to find new ways to streamline and automate reporting on purchases of recycled content products. The work group achieved consensus on several methods to improve reporting and prepared recommendations to the Agency Environmental Executives and the White House Steering Committee to improve, streamline, and simplify reporting and tracking of agencies' purchases. The report was submitted to the Steering Committee on November 22, 2000 after AEE concurrence.

  • The Task Force is facilitating an Electronics De-manufacturing Work Group to pursue future common strategies for developing and implementing environmentally preferable and energy efficient practices and technologies throughout the life cycle of electronic equipment. An MOU between several key Federal agencies is in the signature process.

  • EPA, in coordination with the Task Force, completed a guidance document to assist agencies in determining the environmental preferability of products and services. Executive Order 13101 encourages agencies to test and evaluate the principles outlined in the guidance on products and services that have the greatest use within the Federal government. To date, there are twenty six (26) active pilot projects. The results of these test projects will help the government's future efforts to move into an even greater "environmentally preferable" direction.

  • The Task Force has also been working with several agencies to develop markets for sustainable construction materials. EPA has developed a common data base for green specifications and placed it on their web site. We worked with GSA to incorporate waste prevention, recycling, and green product clauses into building leases. We have also included construction as one of the topics in our training sessions. The future focus is to provide additional planning tools to help construction designers and contractors include sustainable material in their buildings and develop a training module for acquisition professionals on the requirement to use sustainable construction materials.

Additional "Green" Accomplishments

  • Executive Order 13101 also addresses the purchase of biobased products to develop markets for these items. Biobased products come from agricultural, marine, and forestry resources and provide renewable raw materials for the processing and manufacturing of a broad range of non-food and non-feed products, such as chemicals, fibers, construction materials, and energy sources. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in conjunction with the Task Force, published the process to be used to list biobased products for agency use. This notice includes an initial list of product categories and products that USDA is considering listing in a Biobased Products List.

  • Executive Order 13101directed EPA to add buy-recycled requirements to the multi-media compliance audits of Federal facilities conducted under the Federal Facility Compliance Act. EPA, in coordination with the Task Force, developed compliance inspection guidance and began inspecting Federal facility compliance with the buy-recycled requirements. During the first year of implementation, compliance inspections focused primarily on awareness of the acquisition requirements and assessment of compliance assistance needs at the field level.

  • In 1993, the President announced the "Greening of the White House" initiative to cut waste, improve energy efficiency, increase recycling and the use of recycled content products, and save money. The White House's running track, for example, is composed of rubber recovered from used tires and windshield wipers, the staff at the Executive Complex uses copier paper with at least 30 percent postconsumer content, and the President even changed the composition of his personal stationary to a 30 percent postconsumer cotton product.