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

The Bureau of Procurement and state agencies will achieve the goals of recycling and waste reduction procurement by revising specifications, bidding effectively, and purchasing recycled products. The Bureau's role is to assist state agencies in complying with current state law. The majority of the following specific material requirements, timetables, deadlines, and compliance requirements come directly from 1989 Wisconsin Act 335, as amended by later legislation. s.16.75(8)(a) 2. Each agency and authority other than the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority shall ensure that the average recycled or recovered content of all paper purchased by the agency or authority measured as a proportion, by weight, of the fiber content of paper products purchased in a fiscal year, is not less than 40% of all purchased paper. State agencies are required to use recycled papers whenever possible. Paper offered on this contract shall meet the definitions and minimum content recommendations in the EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines issued October 2007. Current RMAN percentages can be accessed in electronic format on the Internet at www.epa.gov/cpg. Based on the following general recycled content criteria, paper specifications will achieve the maximum postconsumer content that is reasonable available from at least two manufacturers and that satisfies performance standards. The criteria for determining realistic recycled content specifications are: Adequate supply; Competitive market with at least two manufacturers producing the specified content; and Reasonable price. It is the awarded bidders’ responsibility to obtain mill certifications for all brands of recycled paper sold through this contract, and to submit the certifications to the State Bureau of Procurement upon request. A mill certification is a letter from a paper mill confirming recycled content based on the EPA definitions of terms. A mill certification letters must be submitted for both Lots 5 and 6. Paper purchased on campus typically carries the FSC Mix Label, although some manufacturers use the SFI label that indicates 100% responsible sourcing.

“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. (Remember that 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.”

http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/recycle/index.asp http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod19.asp http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/recycle/pim3.asp http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/asp/ContractDetail.asp?SystemContractNumber=2537