RECYCLING, RECYCLED PRODUCTS PROCUREMENT, AND WASTE REDUCTION

These policies implement the university's commitment to recycling and waste reduction.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign implemented the University Recycling Program in February 1989 for both environmental and economic considerations. Recycling has become an important waste management activity, which conserves natural resources and landfill space and also reduces waste disposal costs. The University recognized that recycling is only one part of a complete waste reduction program and that in the long term, recycling efforts cannot be successful if there is not a strong demand for recycled products. Therefore, the program has been expanded into a Recycling and Materials Reduction Program (RMRP) to reflect a unified approach to campus waste management. The RMRP is assigned to the building operation section of Facilities and Services.

The three policies below should save resources, reduce our waste stream, and improve the market for recycled materials. Each individual's active participation is crucial if the University's program is to be successful.

I. RECYCLING

The University continues to expand campuswide recycling collection and supports the development and implementation of recycling collection for all campus units.

To implement this policy, the campus will:
  1. Ensure that all units, including residential facilities, departments, schools, colleges, laboratories, and offices, develop programs for recycling. These programs may begin with paper and paper products and should expand to include other recyclable materials, such as cans, glass, and plastic.
  2. Educate faculty, staff, and students about recycling. University employees and students are expected to participate in and support all aspects of the RMRP.
  3. Collect and review recycling operational data. Because individual units may require various recycling strategies, operational data should establish the most acceptable and effective recycling program for each campus unit. After a recycling program is instituted in a unit, the program should be periodically reevaluated to determine its effectiveness in removing materials from the waste stream and acceptability to the employees and students in the unit.
  4. Make the program cost-effective through cost avoidance, with the ultimate goal of becoming as self-supporting as possible.

II. PROCUREMENT OF PRODUCTS MADE WITH RECYCLED MATERIALS

The University will purchase products with recycled material content whenever cost, specifications, standards, and availability are comparable to products without recycled content. The University will identify those items that are frequently purchased for which items with recycled content can be substituted. Additional preference will be given to the specification of items with the highest content of recycled material.

Examples of products and materials covered by this policy include, but are not limited to, office supplies, paper products, building materials, lubricants of all types, reprocessed chemicals, remanufactured parts, landscape products (yard wastes), and materials used in pavement construction projects. The use of recycled materials should also be encouraged when orders are placed for brochures, catalogs, books, letterheads, business cards, etc. In addition, to ensure that a larger percentage of the University's waste stream can be recycled, the procurement policy will seek to eliminate the purchase of nonrecyclable materials when suitable substitutes exist.

To implement this policy, the campus and the Purchasing Division will:
  1. Act to identify and project needs that exist within the University for equipment, supplies, and services for which recycled and/or recyclable products might be available.
    1. By reviewing prior and current requests for equipment, supplies, and services to determine the present usage of recycled and/or recyclable products.
    2. By examining future needs to determine the extent to which they might involve requests for equipment, supplies, and services that might be met by the procurement of recycled and/or recyclable products.
  2. Actively and diligently strive to identify vendors that can competitively supply recycled products.
    1. By reviewing bid responses to determine the availability of commodities manufactured with recycled content.
    2. By utilizing commercial directories and federal, state, and local sources of information to identify marketed products that are manufactured using recycled materials.
  3. Make extra efforts to communicate to campus users the opportunities to meet requirements through the procurement of recycled and/or recyclable products, recognizing that the primary goal of purchasing such products is to reduce waste.
    1. By reviewing specifications and intended product usage to determine if recycled products are available that will competitively and adequately meet identified needs and comply with established state and campus policies and procedures.
    2. By supporting the campus Recycling and Materials Reduction Coordinator in the identification of recycled products for evaluation and testing to determine their suitability for campus use.
    3. By working with the campus Recycling and Materials Reduction Coordinator to develop and publish a campus recycled products list; only products from that list will be purchased unless substantial written justification can be made for a nonrecycled product.
    4. By coordinating procurement of recycled products with campus users to ensure satisfactory performance, recognizing that if recycled products do not perform satisfactorily, they become waste.

III. WASTE REDUCTION

The first priority of waste management is volume reduction at the source, reducing the original consumption of material. Using less material will reduce material expenses and waste disposal costs and will diminish the solid waste problem. Campus waste reduction can be effected by the application of a few simple guidelines.
  1. Paper and paper products represent by far the major portion of the campus waste stream. Methods of reducing waste are:
    1. Encouraging two-sided copying and printing. All copying and printing requirements should be two-sided by default. Single-sided copying should be specifically requested.
    2. Limiting printing needs to the actual requirements for distribution. Overruns should be eliminated. Units should routinely review the distribution lists of reports and limit them to essential persons. Campus mailing lists should be continually updated to eliminate unnecessary mailings. Bulletins and brochures can often be posted in a prominent location or circulated within the unit, rather than distributed to individuals.
  2. Share magazines and catalogs so that unnecessary subscriptions can be canceled.
  3. Use reusable products if at all possible. Examples are ceramic coffee mugs, glass drinking cups, metal silverware, rechargeable batteries, and campus mail envelopes.
  4. Purchase products that have a long useful life. By design, some items have greater reliability or are easier to repair than other similar items.
  5. Whenever possible, control the packaging of purchased material. For example, units that buy in bulk quantities often can reduce packaging waste.

Further questions or suggestions concerning the Recycling and Materials Reduction Program should be directed to the campus Recycling and Materials Reduction Coordinator, (244-SAVE). Please see also Facilities and Services.

Date Revised: June 30, 2003
Date Issued: May 3, 1990
Approved by: Executive Director, Facilities and Services
Use of Services and Stores Policies, Storerooms/Purchases, Section VII/B - 9