University of California, Santa Barbara
OP-12: Office Paper Purchasing

The University of California, Santa Barara has a campus and systemwide policy requiring the purchase of recycled content paper. Each department is responsible for purchasing its own paper, but the campus provides a service through Central Stores for negotiating best price (providing steep discounts over what each department could negotiate individually). Although UCSB does not currently have an adequate procurement system in place to verify each individual purchase, historical figures indicate that ~90% of paper purchases are completed through Central Stores. In order to direct campus departments toward purchasing recycled content paper, Central Stores originally charged a premium on virgin paper and significantly discounted recycled content paper. The purchasing figures indicate this resulted in a market shift throughout campus. Some departments continue to utilize virgin paper to address special needs or unique equipment. The UCSB policy can be found at: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/sustainability/documents/policy_sustain_prac.pdf