Section 6: IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES TO GARNER MORE GREEN
A.  statutory requirements
B.  EDUCATE V. MANDATE
C.  BEST VALUE V. LOWEST PRICE
D.  SET-ASIDES AND PRICE PREFERENCES
E.  SOLUTION-BASED CONTRACT "CATEGORIES"

A. Statutory requirements

Federal agencies and many state and local governments are required to buy recycled content products that meet the recommended procurement guidelines established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guide, issued for the purpose of implementing some requirements of Section 6002 of the Resource Conversation Recovery Act (RCRA), identifies more than fifty categories of products containing recycled materials, with particular emphasis on post-consumer recycled content.  Some of the products covered by the procurement guidelines include paper and paper products, lubricating oils, re-treaded tires, building insulation products and cement and concrete containing fly ash.  The guidelines must be followed by federal, state, and local agencies that use appropriated federal funds and their contractors.  The guidelines apply only to agencies that spend more than $10,000 per year on each covered item.  For more information on RCRA visit www.epa.gov/rcraonline.

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B. Educate v. Mandate

While legislation mandating the procurement of specific EPPs can be effective in jump starting and/or growing a green purchasing program, oftentimes enacting a law is a long process and difficult to achieve. At the state and local levels, the issuance of Executive Orders (“EO”s) by Governors, Mayors and others is being met with a greater rate of success.  Executive Orders don't render the practice a “statutory' requirement, but they do provide high level directives, guidance and support that serve as a foundation for initiating action. 

There are numerous state and local governments with strong environmental purchasing programs that were built on just such Executive Orders.  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for instance, does not have any statutory requirements to purchase specific EPPs.  However, three EOs issued over the past fifteen years have established environmental procurement programs to include recycled content products as well as a broader range of EPPs and resulted in the adoption of sustainable business practices.  In addition, by requiring the procurement of specific energy-efficiency products and technologies and establishing clearly defined targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, Massachusetts' EOs have and brought focus to energy-efficient opportunities.  As a result, Massachusetts has increased the purchase of EPPs from $5.2 million in 1994 to over $180 million in 2007 and reports annual cost savings of close to $1.5 million.

The success of this program and others can be attributed in part to a comprehensive program of education and outreach to the procurement community, education on the environmental issues associated with purchasing goods and services and outreach on the benefits – both economic and environmental – that have been realized through these efforts.  While this process of educating rather than mandating may take a little longer, it tends to do a better job of engaging both the purchasers and the suppliers in the process by providing them with a sense of ownership.  Once the benefits are clearly understood and assurance obtained concerning the product performance, green purchasing becomes the preferable choice.

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C. Best Value v. Lowest Price

Although consumers at every level are burdened by the pressure of striving to get the best product they can for the lowest possible price, defining “best” has become a little more complex than it was a decade ago.  Determining the best product may involve considerations for performance, durability, affirmative market participation, local production, social responsibility issues and more.  The concept is often referred to as “total cost of ownership” or “life cycle cost / analysis”.

Environmental and human health matters are increasingly becoming a significant component in this process of life cycle cost, not just because of their eco-impact, but also because of their economical impacts. With rising costs for petroleum and electrical energy, disposal, maintenance, remediation of pollution in groundwater and soil, and insurance claims brought about by the human exposure to or handling of toxic substances, requiring manufacturers and suppliers to take responsibility for the safe operation and end-of-life-management of their products makes sense and makes for a responsible purchase. As a result, a slightly higher purchase price can easily represent “best value” when it provides an opportunity for significant cost avoidance throughout the total product life.

The State of Washington, for example, is required to award to the lowest responsive bidder.  The state is able to award EPP products/services that may be a higher purchase price than its non-EPP product/service by using EPP performance specifications and non-cost factors to consider for evaluation purposes.  This will determine the lowest responsive bidder – not just the lowest bidder.

Click here to be taken to the State of Washington's Best Value Calculator.

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D. Set-asides and Price Preferences

In the early years of green purchasing, several states used the practice of “set-asides” and “price preferences” to purchase recycled content products.  A set-aside mandates that a certain percentage of a particular product purchased must include post-consumer recycled material.  Price preferences enabled purchasers to pay more for recycled products up to a certain threshold (e.g. within 5% of the non-recycled product price).  In recent years, due to increased economies of scale and greater demand for green solutions, most recycled products and many other types of EPPs are competitively priced, so these practices are less necessary to encourage the use of EPPs.  However, as we enter the new era of a “global marketplace”, purchasers may find that providing some flexibility for price is required in order to obtain the desired environmental attributes indicated as part of the best value procurement.

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E. Solution-based Contract “Categories”

Whether you are issuing a contract for a new product or service or re-bidding an existing contract, consider including a solution-based category for the purpose of investigating and potentially capturing innovative technologies in that particular procurement area.  Such a category should be generic enough to allow bidders the flexibility to describe and offer their technology for consideration, yet specific enough to meet certain basic environmental criteria.  The purpose of introducing such a section in your contract bid is to gather information on what's new in the marketplace that may offer environmental as well as economic benefits and give your agency the chance to put it on the contract as an “alternative” to the conventional product you will award in the main category.  Once on contract, it allows interested agencies to try the new product or technology to determine its effectiveness.

For instance, in their bid several years ago for water treatment chemicals, Massachusetts included such a category and requested alternative technologies to any type of water treatment.  They received a bid for swimming pool ionization which offered the opportunity for agencies such as the Parks Department to reduce the amount of chlorine needed to sanitize their pools by as much as 70%.  Once on contract, the technology was tested in two public pools and by one of the state universities.  Since then, the system has shown to do an equal job of keeping the pools clean with the added bonus of eliminating human health issues such as skin rashes and respiratory problems among lifeguards and pool users.  In addition, because the purchase of chlorine was significantly reduced as well, the system paid for itself within the first two years. 

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