Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition
Headline: Orders Agencies to Prioritize Waste Prevention and Recycled Goods
What it does: Agencies must incorporate waste prevention, recycling, and preference for recycled and environmentally preferable products into procurement and operations, and set related goals and plans.
- Requires federal purchases of recycled and environmentally preferable products.
- Sets minimum recycled content for federal printing and writing paper, effective January 1, 1999.
- Creates new agency positions, committees, and reporting duties for environmental programs.
Summary
This order requires federal agencies to make waste prevention and recycling part of daily operations and to prefer products made from recovered or environmentally preferable materials.
It creates a Steering Committee, a Federal Environmental Executive, a Task Force, and Agency Environmental Executives, and directs agencies to adopt procurement programs, set waste and purchasing goals, and report progress.
The order aims to expand markets for recycled products, reduce pollution, and improve federal purchasing of greener goods.
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