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Recycled Paper sign-on letter
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TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT - NATURAL RESOURCES POLICY ADVISORY
(please distribute freely)
TAP-RESOURCES
September 30, 1996
INTRODUCTION
Several years ago, President Bill Clinton signed an executive
order directing the government to buy recycled paper. Concern over the
implementation and oversight of this order led the Government Purchasing
Project to draft a letter to the president. This letter, shown below,
urges the president to take action to ensure compliance with the "Buy
Recycled" executive order.
The Government Purchasing Project is seeking organizations (no
individuals) who would like to sign this letter. If your organization
wishes to sign, contact Alicia Culver (see below). The deadline for
signatures is October 7. Do not send endorsements by replying to this
e-mail message.
Arthur Clark
* * * * * * * * * *
From: Alicia Culver <aculver@essential.org>
Subject: Recycled Paper sign-on letter
PLEASE POST & RETURN THIS SIGN-ON LETTER BY OCTOBER 7, 1996 to the
Government Purchasing Project, PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036; Tel:
202-387-8030; Fax: 202-234-5176; E-mail: aculver@essential.org
President William Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Clinton:
We are writing to urge you to direct the U.S. General Services
Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) to stop
selling to federal agencies copier paper that does not comply with your
"Buy Recycled" Executive Order (EO). It is an unnecessary practice that
violates the intent and letter of your EO, is confusing to federal
purchasers, is penalizing recycled paper companies, and is dampening the
demand for recycled paper and consequently discouraging communities from
expanding their recycling programs.
Only 19 percent of the paper purchased by federal agencies through the GSA
and GPO in 1995 complied with EO #12873, Federal Acquisition, Recycling and
Waste Prevention, according to the Office of the Federal Environmental
Executive (OFFE). This EO requires that all printing and writing paper
contain a minimum of 20 percent post-consumer recycled fiber as of December
31, 1994, increasing to 30 percent as of December 31, 1998. GSA and GPO
should make a commitment to end the sale of virgin copier paper as soon as
its existing stocks are depleted. Moreover, federal agencies should only
procure paper products that fail to comply with the EO when recycled paper
is not available, affordable or of acceptable quality.
We are focusing on recycled copier paper because it represents a large
portion of the paper procured by the federal government and is one product
line in which federal agencies are offered a choice between buying virgin
or recycled. Copier paper represents about 28 percent or approximately $74
million out of GSA's total paper product sales of $260 million.
GSA's and GPO's decision to sell copier paper that fails to comply with
this Executive Order means that the federal government is turning its back
on those companies that have invested in technology to de-ink and recycle
paper collected from businesses, homes and government buildings. It comes
at a time when there is a slump in the recycled paper market that is
causing some communities to decide against expanding their collection
programs to include various grades of mixed paper. In addition, this
practice is causing a tremendous amount of confusion among federal agency
personnel who "assume the copier paper that they purchase from GSA
automatically meets the minimum requirements of post-consumer content
specified in the Executive Order; when in fact it may not," according to a
letter by the OFFE dated June 25, 1996.
Finally, the federal government's decision to sell copier paper that does
not meet the minimum recycled content standards of the EO is particularly
egregious since there are no longer any price, quality or availability
issues surrounding the use of recycled copier paper. According to a survey
conducted by the Government Purchasing Project and Green Seal (two
nonprofit organizations) the paper industry currently has the capacity to
supply the federal government with enough 20 percent post-consumer recycled
copier paper to meet 100 percent of its demand. In addition, the price and
quality of recycled-content copier paper is now comparable to that of
non-recycled paper.
GSA's primary argument against phasing out the sale of virgin copier paper
is that federal agencies will start procuring their paper from private
office supply stores. This could be avoided by designating GSA and GPO as
mandatory sources for these items or by penalizing federal agencies that
continue to use non-recycled paper.
We agree with you that "the federal government should lead by example."
Unfortunately, in this case the federal government is not in the forefront.
Twenty of the 27 states surveyed by the Government Purchasing Project sell
a higher percentage of recycled copier paper than the federal government
does, and several states offer only recycled copier paper to state agencies
through their central purchasing divisions. The states that sell only
recycled copier paper have not experienced difficulties finding recycled
paper products that meet their needs or a loss of sales. In fact, several
states reported that the transition to selling only recycled copier paper
was often beneficial because it enabled them to purchase recycled copier
paper at a lower price due to economies of scale.
We strongly urge you to take immediate action to ensure that GSA, GPO and
other federal agencies comply with your Executive Order in order to
"strengthen the role of the Federal Government as an enlightened,
environmentally conscious and concerned consumer" as the EO states.
Sincerely,
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