University of California, Riverside
OP-17: Guidelines for Business Partners

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing 1.Environmentally preferable purchasing underlies and enables all other areas of sustainable practice in this Policy. Therefore, the University will maximize its procurement of environmentally preferable products and services. 2.The University will use its purchasing power to target environmentally preferable products and services for volume -discounted pricing to make them cost-competitive with conventional products and services. 3.For products and services without available environmentally preferable alternatives, the University will work with its existing and potential suppliers and leverage the University’s purchasing power and market presence to develop sustainable choices. 4.The University will integrate sustainability requirements into its practices for competitive bidding in materiel and services procurement, allowing for suppliers that meet these requirements to earn additional evaluation points. 5.Packaging for all products procured by the University should be designed, produced, and managed in an environmentally sustainable manner. The University shall seek products that have take-back programs, as appropriate. 6.When requested, suppliers citing environmentally preferable purchasing claims shall provide proper certification or detailed information on environmental claims, including benefits, durability, and take-back, reuse, and recyclable properties. Additionally, suppliers are responsible for providing proof of University of California-accepted third-party certification based upon the requirements of the University’s Procurement Services Department located in the Office of the President. 7.The goal of this section G shall be applied within the constraints of research needs and budgetary requirements and in compliance with applicable rules, regulations and laws. The University will require all strategically sourced suppliers to present their organization’s continuous improvement with the development of sustainable products and operational practices in the Procurement Services/Strategic Sourcing Quarterly Business Reviews. The University will require all strategically sourced suppliers, and eventually all suppliers, to report annually on the qualitative aspects of their business operations and to report quarterly on the sales of products, which will result in the quantitative measurement of their EPP business with UC. When requested, suppliers citing EPP claims shall provide proper certifi cation ordetailed information on environmental claims, including benefits, durability, and recyclability properties. The University will recognize recycled content and the following third party certifications and ratings for the purpose of calculating the percentage of sustainable products that the University purchases: a. ENERGY STAR®-Energy Star is a standard for energy efficient consumer products administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. b. EPEAT®The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool is a method for consumers to evaluate the effect of a product on the environment. It ranks products as gold, silver or bronze based on a set of environmental performance criteria. It is managed by the Green Electronics Council. c. GREENGUARD® The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute certifies products and materials for low chemical emissions. d. Green Seal®-A Green Seal Certification Mark on a product means that it has gone through a stringent process to show that it has less impact on the environment and human health. e. WaterSense®-WaterSense is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program designed to encourage water efficiency in the United States through the use of a special label on consumer products. Standards for packaging materials and their appropriate reuse or disposal will be outlined in all RFIs, RFQs, and RFPs requiring potential bidders to document their standards and practices for packaging materials, including materials contained in the boxes of shipped products to protect goods, as well as the boxes and cartons themselves. Suppliers who have reusable tote programs should make these programs available to the University. The University will specify that all packing materials abide by at least one, and preferably all, of the criteria listed below: a. Made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials and be recyclable or reusable b. Non-toxic c. Biodegradable d. Produced with the minimum amount of resources and sized as small as possible, while still maintaining product protection during shipping; where feasible, packaging materials should be eliminated. The University will use established programs or work with its suppliers to establish end-of-life reuse, recycling, or “take-back” programs at no extra cost to the University, and in compliance with federal, state, and local laws, and University environmental standards regarding waste disposal. The University may use other disposition methods, consistent with University Policy BUS Disposition of Excess Property and Transfer of University -Owned Property or, other appropriate University policies. When documentation is required to comply with federal, State, and local laws or University policy, this shall be incorporated into the end-of-life program.

UCR uses the Institute of Supply Management Principles and Standards of Ethical Supply Management Conduct UCR abides by State of California Fair Wage guidelines and UC Living Wage Guidelines for all contracts. See http://www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/pwd/