Overall Rating Reporter - expired
Overall Score
Liaison Andy Mitchell
Submission Date Jan. 31, 2011
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.0

University of Illinois Chicago
OP-12: Office Paper Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete Reporter Cynthia Klein-Banai
Associate Chancellor for Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an institution-wide stated preference to purchase recycled content office paper?:
Yes

The URL where the recycled paper policy, directive, or guidelines are posted:
A brief description of steps the institution has taken to ensure that the purchasing policy, directives, or guidelines are followed :

UIC follows the statutes for procurement of recycled materials under the Illinois Procurement Code as follows:

a. Recycled Materials (30 ILCS 500/45-20)
When a public contract is to be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, an otherwise qualified bidder who will fulfill the contract through the use of products made of recycled materials may, on a pilot basis or in accordance with a pilot study, be given preference over other bidders unable to do so, provided that the cost included in the bid of the products made of recycled materials is not more than 10% greater than the cost of products not made of recycled materials (Source: P.A. 90-572, eff. date See Sec 99-5.)

b. Recyclable paper (30 ILCS 500/45-25)
All paper purchased for use by State agencies must be recyclable paper unless recyclable paper cannot be used to meet the requirements of the State agencies. State agencies shall determine their paper requirements to allow the use of recyclable paper whenever possible, including without limitation using plain paper rather than colored paper that is not recyclable. (Source: P.A. 90-572, eff. date – See Sec. 99-5)


Does the institution wish to pursue points for Part 2 of this credit (expenditures on recycled paper)?:
Yes

Expenditures on 10-29 percent recycled-content office paper :
40,688 US/Canadian $

Expenditures on 30-49 percent recycled-content office paper :
24,059 US/Canadian $

Expenditures on 50-69 percent recycled-content office paper :
0 US/Canadian $

Expenditures on 70-89 percent recycled-content office paper (required if claiming points for Part 2):
0 US/Canadian $

Expenditures on 90-100 percent recycled-content office paper :
0 US/Canadian $

Total expenditures on office paper :
123,426 US/Canadian $

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

At UIC, there is no centralized database of purchases of products with recycled content. In fact there is no central database of purchases in general. Instead, P-cards (credit cards) are used for most orders under $5,000, and the information of these transactions resides with the individual departments, not with the university’s Purchasing Office.

However, there are several departments that purchase items in large quantities, often to supply the university on a campus-wide basis. For example, Publications Services buys paper stock to create printed jobs for hundreds of departments and Facilities Management purchases paper towels that are placed in washrooms in dozens of buildings. Therefore, we went to several of these key departments to request purchasing data, including the recycled content (if any) of what they buy.

The departments surveyed:
Athletics
Computer Center
Facilities Management [Physical Plant Material Distribution]
Office for the Vice Chancellor of Research
Publications Services
Purchasing, Office of Business Affairs
Student Housing

Also, the data reported in the 10-29% range was actually for paper in the 10-100% range.

Waste Reduction Plan p.19


At UIC, there is no centralized database of purchases of products with recycled content. In fact there is no central database of purchases in general. Instead, P-cards (credit cards) are used for most orders under $5,000, and the information of these transactions resides with the individual departments, not with the university’s Purchasing Office.

However, there are several departments that purchase items in large quantities, often to supply the university on a campus-wide basis. For example, Publications Services buys paper stock to create printed jobs for hundreds of departments and Facilities Management purchases paper towels that are placed in washrooms in dozens of buildings. Therefore, we went to several of these key departments to request purchasing data, including the recycled content (if any) of what they buy.

The departments surveyed:
Athletics
Computer Center
Facilities Management [Physical Plant Material Distribution]
Office for the Vice Chancellor of Research
Publications Services
Purchasing, Office of Business Affairs
Student Housing

Also, the data reported in the 10-29% range was actually for paper in the 10-100% range.

Waste Reduction Plan p.19

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.