University of Cincinnati
OP-14: Office Paper Purchasing

Institution purchases office paper with post-consumer recycled, agricultural residue, and/or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified content.

This credit applies to all institutions. 

An institution earns the maximum of 1 point available for this credit by purchasing exclusively office paper that contains 90-100 percent post-consumer recycled and/or agricultural residue content or is FSC Recycled or FSC 100% labeled. Incremental points are awarded based on the percentage of office paper purchased with post-consumer recycled, agricultural residue, and/or FSC certified content. For example, if 50 percent of all office paper purchased by an institution was 90-100 percent post-consumer recycled content, the institution would earn 0.5 points (half of the points available).

Points for this credit are calculated automatically in the STARS Reporting Tool as follows:

Timeframe

Report the most recent data available from within the three years prior to the anticipated date of submission.

Sampling and Data Standards

Institutions may track purchases over a full one-year time period, report average annual expenditures over a two or three year period, or estimate annual expenditures based on a representative sample.  When using a sample, institutions should strive to ensure that the sample recognizes seasonal and other variations that influence purchasing behavior.

At a minimum, the figures provided must include office paper expenditures by the institution’s central purchasing unit, department, portal, or vendor. Other paper expenditures may be excluded at the institution’s discretion to simplify reporting.