Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.68
Liaison John Gardner
Submission Date May 31, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
OP-14: Office Paper Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.62 / 1.00 John Gardner
Sustainability Planning & Policy Analyst
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an institution-wide stated preference to purchase office paper that has recycled content and/or is certified to meet multi-criteria sustainability standards for paper?:
Yes

A copy of the paper purchasing policy, directive or guidelines:
The paper purchasing policy, directive or guidelines:
---

A brief description of steps the institution has taken to ensure that the purchasing policy, directives, or guidelines are followed :

UWM purchases goods and services through State Procurement and adheres to policies, directives and guidelines established by the UW System. Per UW System, all agencies will continue to purchase recycled paper meeting the federal minimum content guidelines, provided the guidelines are consistent with the marketplace. In general, this means buying paper with a recycled content of 10 to 30 percent post-consumer content. UWM adheres to these guidelines and nearly all paper purchases range from 30-100% post-consumer recycled content. Federal RMAN Guidelines for Paper Products serve as recommendations for state agencies.
As per the guidelines, exceptions to the “buy recycled only” policy must be documented by each agency and are to be retained in agency files for 3 years. Contract vendors will report exceptions to Bureau contract administrators for all statewide contract purchasing; and agencies will record exceptions encountered in non-contract purchasing. Due to the much greater availability of high quality recycled paper meeting the federal standards, exceptions are expected to be rare for most agencies. (current law does not recognize higher cost as an acceptable rationale for not buying recycled paper.) Exceptions should be documented and filed as they happen, unless other arrangements need to be made for vendors and high-volume purchasers.


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

Expenditures on office paper with the following levels of post-consumer recycled, agricultural residue, and/or FSC certified content::
Expenditure Per Level
10-29 percent 0 US/Canadian $
30-49 percent 160,355 US/Canadian $
50-69 percent 0 US/Canadian $
70-89 percent (or FSC Mix label) 0 US/Canadian $
90-100 percent (or FSC Recycled label) 29,124 US/Canadian $

Total expenditures on office paper :
189,479 US/Canadian $

The website URL where information about the paper purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

UWM purchased roughly $189,479 on office paper products in Fiscal Year 2015, primarily through UWM Print & Copy Services. Roughly 50% of all paper purchases is office paper distributed to copy machines on campus. Copy machine paper is either 30% post-consumer recycled content or FSC 100% Label paper in those departments that have participated in the Green Office Certification (39 departments). For Printing paper (not counted-$115,348 in FY15), almost all is FSC Mix (this is used for all offset printing -- flyers, brochures, booklets, postcards, etc.)


UWM purchased roughly $189,479 on office paper products in Fiscal Year 2015, primarily through UWM Print & Copy Services. Roughly 50% of all paper purchases is office paper distributed to copy machines on campus. Copy machine paper is either 30% post-consumer recycled content or FSC 100% Label paper in those departments that have participated in the Green Office Certification (39 departments). For Printing paper (not counted-$115,348 in FY15), almost all is FSC Mix (this is used for all offset printing -- flyers, brochures, booklets, postcards, etc.)

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.