Comprehensive guideline for procurement of products containing recovered materials. Effective date: May 1, 1996

In Section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Congress acknowledges the importance of recycling by mandating that government agencies increase their purchases of products containing recovered materials (i.e., waste materials and by-products that have been recovered or diverted from solid waste, not including materials and by-products generated from and commonly reused within an original manufacturing process). To further that mandate, RCRA specifies that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) develop and issue procurement guidelines that designate specific items that are or can be made with recovered materials, and recommend practices with respect to the procurement of recovered materials and items containing such materials. Procuring agencies (Federal, State, and agencies of political subdivisions of States that use appropriated Federal funds) and their contractors are required to buy designated items with the highest recovered material content practicable. This Regulatory Bulletin describes the first Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG) (with 19 newly designated items) and Recovered Materials Advisory Notices (RMANs) (with recommendations for purchasing the items) developed by EPA using this new process