[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Stafford 4-5-1994 by Ord. No. 94-34. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter may be known as the "Recycled Product
Procurement Policy." Its purpose is to promote the reduction of waste
and development of markets for recycled products and recyclable products
by establishing preferential purchase programs applicable to all departments
and contractors, thereby diverting materials from the solid waste
stream and avoiding the costs of disposal for those materials.
The following terms may have the assigned definitions
for all purposes under this chapter:
One who uses goods or services for his or her or its own
needs rather than to produce other goods. This does not include providers
of value-added processes such as printers and converters.
A product designated in this chapter, or designated by the
purchasing agent pursuant to this chapter, that meets or surpasses
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) minimum recycled
content standards and other criteria for qualifications as specified
in this chapter.
An item having completed the manufacturing or converting
process and having been distributed or sold to its consumer.
Standards that specify the minimum levels of pre-consumer waste material and post-consumer waste material content established pursuant to § 165-6 of this chapter that is necessary for designated products to qualify as designated recycled products.
Paper products for which the manufacturer certifies that
elemental chlorine or chlorine containing compounds have not been
used to bleach or otherwise process the paper used in the final end
product. In the case of manufacturers who use pre-consumer waste material
and post-consumer waste material to be used in end products, such
manufacturers may certify that chlorine-containing compounds have
not been used in the processing and production of the end product.
Only those materials generated by a consumer which have served
their intended end use and which have been separated or diverted from
solid waste. Wastes generated during production of an end product
are excluded. All materials collected from residential sources in
a municipal recycling program may be considered post-consumer.
Materials or by-products generated after manufacturing of
a product is completed, but before the product reaches the end-use
consumer. Pre-consumer waste material does not include home scrap,
which is those scrap materials or by-products generated by a company
that can be used by the generating company or parent company.
The individual responsible for executing contracts for the
supply of goods and services.
A product which, after its intended use, 25% of the product
has been diverted from the solid waste stream for use as a raw material
in the manufacture of another consumer or procurable product. For
the purposes of this definition, burning or composting of products
may not be considered diversion.
A paper product with the minimum recycled content established by the purchasing agent pursuant to § 165-6B. "Recycled paper" means a paper product with not less than 50% of its total weight consisting of pre-consumer waste materials or post-consumer waste materials with not less than 10% of its total weight consisting of post-consumer waste materials.
A package, product or container which can be used in place
of an alternative disposable package or product and which contains
or holds a depletable resource or which can be refurbished for resale
and can be refilled or reused a minimum of five times by a consumer;
examples include but are not limited to laser and copy machine toner
cartridges, typewriter cartridges and shipping containers.
The following products may be considered as
designated recycled products that can be procured if they meet the
minimum recycled content standards:
A.
Recycled paper and paper products (including but not
limited to writing and copying paper, napkins, towels, toilet tissue
and facial tissue).
B.
Compost products.
C.
Cement and asphalt concrete containing recycled aggregate,
tire rubber or glass cullet.
D.
Recycled concrete aggregate and asphalt.
E.
Lubricating oil and hydraulic oil with re-refined
oil content.
F.
Recycled antifreeze.
G.
Plastic lumber.
H.
Retreaded and remolded tires.
I.
Products made from recycled tire rubber, including
rubber mats and playfield surfaces.
J.
Building insulation products manufactured using recycled
materials.
K.
Recycled paint.
L.
Recharged laser printer toner cartridges.
M.
Reusable products or products in reusable packaging
where the reusable products or packaging are alternatives to disposable
products or packaging.
N.
Lead acid batteries or rechargeable, reusable batteries.
O.
Plastic traffic cones.
P.
Other recycled products as designated by the purchasing
agent.
A.
All departments may practice waste reduction wherever
possible. All departments may use reusable or recycled and recyclable
products whenever practicable.
B.
The purchasing agent may offer a price preference
for any designated recycled product or reusable product. The agent
using this option must obtain products containing the highest percentage
of post-consumer content available.
C.
Departments may, at their option, require procurement
of designated reusable or recycled and recyclable products.
D.
Departments may require their contractors and consultants
(including private printers, food service vendors, etc.) to use recycled
products and recyclable products in fulfilling contractual obligations.
E.
Departments may promote the use of recycled products
and recyclable products by publicizing their procurement programs
and by disseminating information about recycled products.
F.
When purchasing recycled products, all departments
may maximize the procurement of recycled products that contain the
highest percentage of post-consumer waste materials.
G.
The purchasing agent may revise product procurement
specifications to eliminate any specifications that require the use
of virgin products or exclude the use of recycled products, unless
it can be demonstrated that such specifications are necessary to protect
health or safety or that recycled products could not meet necessary
performance standards.
A.
The recycled paper procurement goal for each user
department, expressed as a percentage of the total value of paper
purchased, may be not less than 25% by 1993, not less than 30% by
1994 and not less than 40% by 1995.
B.
The purchasing agent and departments may ensure that
the title page of all reports printed on recycled paper bears an imprint
identifying the paper as recycled and contains the percentage of pre-
and post-consumer content used.
C.
All imprinted letterhead paper, copy paper, envelopes
and business cards used by all departments may be recycled paper and
may bear an imprint identifying the paper as recycled.
D.
To reduce the volume of paper purchased, departments
may use both sides of paper sheets used for copying and printing purposes
on documents that exceed five pages in length. Departments may ensure
that all staff are informed of this requirement.
E.
The purchasing agent may review existing standards
or specifications for tissue products, including but not limited to
towels, toilet paper and napkins and coffee filters. The agent may
only purchase non-chlorine-bleached tissue products, provided that
such products fall within the price preference established by the
purchasing agent.
F.
All requests for bids and proposals issued may require
that contractors and consultants use recycled paper for documents
submitted to Stafford Township. Contractors doing business with the
municipality may be advised of the municipality's policies regarding
reusable, recycled and recyclable materials. All bids, proposals,
reports and other printed materials submitted to the Township of Stafford
or its agents pursuant to contractual obligations or rules and regulations
promulgated by the Township may be submitted on recycled paper and
recyclable paper and utilize double-sided printing. A contractor may
request a waiver from this rule if compliance would be technically
infeasible.
The purchasing agent may:
A.
Establish, update and promulgate a list of designated recycled products that may be purchased by the Township whenever practicable. This list may, at a minimum, contain the products specified in § 165-3 of this chapter. The purchasing agent may add to the list required by this section designated recycled products that are not specifically listed in § 165-3 of this chapter. For purposes of this section, "whenever practicable" means those recycled products that meet quality standards set by the purchasing agent.
B.
Adopt minimum recycled content standards for designated
recycled products. Except for reusable products or packaging, minimum
recycled content standards established for designated recycled products
may require no less than 10% post-consumer waste material content.
The purchasing agent may raise the post-consumer content standard
above 10% when such an increase will result in an increase in the
total utilization of post-consumer material within the products purchased,
used or submitted. For goods, supplies and materials and for which
the United States Environmental Protection Agency has adopted procurement
guidelines under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
(P.L. 94-580, 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq., 40 CFR 248 to 250,
252, 253), as amended, the minimum recycled content standard may not
be less than content standards specified in such guidelines. EPA guidelines
for the purpose of procuring fly ash in concrete are specifically
limited to the ash generated from coal-burning plants. In the case
of printing and writing paper, the purchasing agent may set minimum
recycled content standards with not less than 50% of the paper's total
weight consisting of pre-consumer waste materials or post-consumer
waste materials and with not less than 10% of its total weight consisting
of post-consumer waste material.
C.
Require that all copiers procured after enactment
of this chapter must be able to accept recycled paper and reusable
toner cartridges and make double-sided copies.
D.
Inform departments of their responsibilities under
this chapter and provide implementation assistance.
E.
Compile and disseminate to departments information
on recycled product specifications and procurement opportunities.
F.
Assist departments in resolving problems with recycled
product availability or performance.
G.
Coordinate periodic meetings with representatives
of departments to review policy requirements, communicate new procurement
opportunities to departments and monitor the status of policy implementation
efforts and product research results.
H.
Publicize the successes of the procurement policy.
I.
Evaluate supply and material usage by the department
and encourage department employees to reduce waste, and hence reduce
generation of solid waste.
J.
Submit an annual report to the Township Council detailing
the status of the procurement program. Said report may be submitted
within 60 days following the end of each calendar year.
Each department may:
A.
Ensure that contracts issued by the department require
recycled material content wherever practicable and that contractors
provide certification of both recycled and post-consumer content and
report the amount used.
B.
Report the progress of policy implementation by the
department at periodic meetings with the purchasing agent, including
status of product evaluations being conducted by the department and
types of recycled products purchased.
C.
Report total purchases of recycled products and nonrecycled
alternative products annually to the purchasing agent.
D.
Report total quantities of nonrecycled goods in both
tons and dollars to the purchasing agent.
E.
Report total quantities of recycled goods purchased
in both tons and percentages of recycled content to the purchasing
agent.
F.
Prepare an annual report containing the above information
to be submitted to the Township Council within 30 days following the
end of each calendar year. The report may be made available to the
public upon request.