On Sept. 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a proposed update to the agency’s Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing (Recommendations), which help federal government purchasers and other buyers utilize private sector standards and ecolabels to buy products that are more sustainable and climate-friendly and contain safer chemical ingredients. This is the first time in nearly 10 years that EPA has comprehensively evaluated standards and ecolabels to determine whether to add them to the Recommendations.
The Recommendations help to identify thousands of products and services across 35 categories that conserve energy or water, include more recycled content, or reduce the use of PFAS and single-use plastics. By helping federal purchasers identify and procure environmentally preferable products and services, the Recommendations can save taxpayers money, reduce climate impacts, and prevent pollution.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability direct federal agencies to maximize the procurement of sustainable products and services and to prioritize products and services that meet EPA’s Recommendations.
The update proposes adding 14 standards and ecolabels to the Recommendations across three new product categories, covering healthcare, laboratories, and clothing and uniforms, and expanding the existing food service ware sub-category.
“With hundreds of ecolabels in the marketplace, EPA’s Recommendations cut through the clutter and give federal purchasers and other sustainability-conscious consumers confidence when making purchasing decisions. The ecolabels and standards that EPA includes in the Recommendations have demonstrated that they can truly help us achieve sustainability at scale,” said Jennie Romer, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Updating the Recommendations ensures the power of federal procurement, which accounted for more than $700 billion in annual spending last year alone, continues to advance the federal government’s effort to purchase products and services that are sustainable and climate friendly.”
If finalized, the updates to the Recommendations would give federal purchasers and other buyers new guidance and options for purchasing sustainable products and services in four categories, which EPA proposes to divide into nine sub-categories, including by expanding the existing sub-category for food service ware. The Recommendations currently include only one recommended ecolabel in the food service ware sub-category, which covers compostable products. If finalized, the updated Recommendations would include three additional standards and ecolabels for food service ware, covering products that are reusable, certified compostable, and certified recyclable. EPA is also providing a new resource that outlines current best practices for the procurement of food service ware sub-categories, which is available on EPA’s website.
EPA assessed the environmental sustainability of the third-party standards and ecolabels under the Framework for the Assessment of Environmental Performance Standards and Ecolabels, and also assessed for a third-party certification program to verify product conformance.
In April 2022, EPA announced stronger eligibility criteria for including standards and ecolabels in the Recommendations, which require each standard and ecolabel to have a competent third-party verification program and a current directory of qualifying products and services. EPA is proposing to remove seven standards or ecolabels because they do not meet these new requirements, are discontinued, or are no longer required by regulation.
EPA will accept public comments on the proposed updates to the Recommendations for 30 days after publication via docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2022-0835 at Regulations.gov. EPA will use feedback it receives from public comments to inform the final updates to the Recommendations.