• Why Buy Recycled?
• Environmental Benefits
• Recycled Products
• Recycled Content Terms
• EPA Support
• Suppliers
• Additional Information

Why Buy Recycled?

  Recycled-content products close the recycling loop by manufacturing new products from materials collected through recycling programs. The ultimate purpose of collecting waste material for recycling is to provide raw materials for making new consumer products. Purchasing recycled products ensures and increases the demand for these goods on the market. Without a demand for recycled products, there would be no use in collecting the recyclable materials through recycling programs.

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Environmental Benefits:

• Products made from recycled goods reduce energy consumption since the energy demand involved in the acquisition of raw materials is typically greater than the energy consumed in the use of recycled materials.
  
  
• Putting the collected materials from recycling programs into new products reduces the amount of solid waste in landfills.
  
  
• Using recycled content rather than raw materials conserves natural resources for the future.
  
  
• Buying recycled products helps ensure the perpetuation of recycling programs and builds hope for a sustainable future.
  
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What are recycled products? There are many recycled content products on the market including paper and office supplies, carpets, clothing, paper, office supplies, building materials, mulch, outdoor benches, playground equipment, furniture, etc.

Despite what some critics may say, the quality and performance of recycled products are not inferior to their virgin counterparts. Recycled products are manufactured to meet the same performance standards as virgin products.

More Information about Recycled Products:

• EPA list of designed and proposed recycled products
  
• EPA product category fact sheets.
  
• Recycled content products and online companies providing the products provided by The Bureau of Recycling & Planning
  
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Recycled Content Terms:

• Recycled content: the
  
• Preconsumer materials: materials recovered and recycled prior to consumer use, usually generated during the production process, such as paper cuttings and scrap plastic.
  
  
• Postconsumer materials: materials recovered or diverted from the solid waste cycle for recycling after their intended consumer use, such as beverage containers and catalogs.
  
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EPA Support through the Comprehensive Procurement Guideline Program (CPG)

Authorized by Congress under Section portion of a product, by weight or volume, that is composed of preconsumer and/or postconsumer recovered materials.
6002 of The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) RCRA Section 6002 and Executive Order 13101, CPG, set several requirements:

• The EPA is required to designate products that are made or can be made from recycled materials, as well as recommend practices to purchase these products.
• Federal or state agencies that use federal funds for purchasing are required to purchase designated products with highest recovered material content level practicable.
• The EPA issues guidance on buying recycled-content products in Recovered Materials Adivsory Notices (RMANs), which are updated as the market for recycled products changes.

View existing RMANs on the EPA website:
(http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/procure/backgrnd.htm)

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Find a supplier of a recycled product through:

• NJDEP database of companies providing recycled products categorized by product
• EPA Supplier Database searchable by product or category
  
  [back to top] Additional Information:
  
  • WasteWi$se Tip Sheet: Buying or Manufacturing Recycled Products
    
  • Buying Recycled and Environmentally Preferable Products Links
    
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