The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published updates to the agency’s Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing (Recommendations), which help federal government purchasers and other buyers select products that are more sustainable and more climate-friendly and contain safer chemical ingredients. This is the first time in nearly 10 years that EPA has comprehensively evaluated private-sector standards and ecolabels and expanded its Recommendations.
With more than 460 ecolabels and standards in the marketplace, the Recommendations help buyers cut through the clutter to identify thousands of products and services that conserve energy or water, include more recycled content, reduce PFAS exposure and contamination, and lower the consumption of single-use plastics. With this update, EPA is expanding the Recommendations by adding 14 standards and ecolabels in the new categories of healthcare, laboratories, and clothing and uniforms, and expanding the options for buyers of food service ware.
President Biden’s Executive Order 14057 directs federal agencies to maximize the procurement of sustainable products and services and to prioritize those that meet EPA’s Recommendations. Federal purchasers spend more than $730 billion every year. By guiding them to environmentally preferable products, EPA’s Recommendations can help save taxpayers money, reduce climate impacts, and prevent pollution.
EPA has added six ecolabels and standards for clothing and uniforms, offering purchasers a robust number of options in this new category. In the expanded food service ware category, buyers can now find ecolabels and standards covering products that are reusable, certified commercially compostable, and certified recyclable. This update also adds specifications for federal purchasers to use to prioritize more sustainable options for food service ware and to ensure proper end-of-life management. These specifications are aligned with EPA's recently published resourcethat outlines these best practices.
EPA invites organizations to voluntarily submit their standards and ecolabels for evaluation. With these updates, EPA has implemented stronger eligibility criteria that standards and ecolabels must meet to be included in the Recommendations, including the existence of a third-party verification program and an up-to-date directory of qualifying products and services. EPA has removed seven ecolabels from the Recommendations because they do not meet these stronger requirements, they are discontinued, or the original basis for inclusion no longer exists.
This update follows EPA’s August 2023 announcement that it would expand the Recommendations with new product and service categories and begin assessments against the Framework for the Assessment of Environmental Performance Standards and Ecolabels. In September 2024, EPA invited the public to comment on EPA’s proposed updates before finalizing them in today’s announcement.
A list of the additions to the Recommendations is below. Buyers can also visit the EPA website for a tool to browse ecolabels by product or service category and to view a full history of the updates.
2024 Additions to EPA Recommendations, by Category
Healthcare - Medical Devices [Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Class I and II]:
—Greenscreen Certified® Standard for Medical Supplies and Devices
—Greenhealth Approved for Medical Equipment
Healthcare - Medical Supplies:
—Greenscreen Certified® Standard for Medical Supplies and Devices
—Greenhealth Approved for Medical Equipment
—Nordic Ecolabelling for Sanitary Products
Laboratories - Laboratory Operations (excludes compliance testing laboratories):
—My Green Lab Certification
Laboratories - Equipment & Supplies:
— ACT Ecolabel from My Green Lab
Clothing and Uniforms - Finished Clothing:
— Nordic Ecolabelling for Textiles, Hides/Skins, and Leather
— Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard
— Global Organic Textile Standard
— OEKO-TEX Made in Green
— OEKO-TEX Standard 100
Clothing and Uniforms - Clothing Textiles/Fabrics:
—Nordic Ecolabelling for Textiles, Hides/Skins, and Leather
—Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard
—OEKO-TEX Made in Green
—OEKO-TEX Standard 100
—Global Organic Textile Standard
—GreenScreen Certified® Standard for Furniture and Fabrics
Cafeteria and Food Service - Reusable Food Service Ware:
—GreenScreen Certified® Standard for Reusable Food Packaging, Food Service Ware, & Cookware
—Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard
Cafeteria and Food Service - Certified Commercially Compostable Food Service Ware:
—GreenScreen Certified® Standard for Single-Use Food Service Ware & Thermal Paper
—Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard (Platinum Level in Product Circularity)
—BPI Commercial Compostability Certification Scheme
Cafeteria and Food Service - Certified Recyclable Food Service Ware:
—GreenScreen Certified® Standard for Single-Use Food Service Ware & Thermal Paper
—Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard (Platinum Level in Product Circularity).