Hot on the heels of the recent Clinton administration mandate to federal
agencies that all copier paper bought by the government include at least 30% recycled fiber (up from 20%), a report shows that Uncle Sam isn’t the only one who’s having a hard time buying recycled.
Despite purchasing preference laws in 47 states, “Only a handful of dedicated states (with paid staffs) are making progress in buying products with recycled content,” according to Purchasing Preferences for Recycled Products. Overall state government and private sector purchases of recycled paper and plastic products have declined since the early 1990s. Moreover, “despite enthusiasm from many of the Fortune 500 for money-saving waste-reduction programs,” the author found that “manufacturers are not making much of an effort to use the more challenging materials” — namely, recycled plastics.
Cooking the Numbers?
In many cases, companies and governments take credit for buying recycled packaging and products they would have bought anyway because the goods had long contained recycled material. Recycled asphalt, aluminum cans, and steel, for example, are often touted when promoting buy-recycled efforts. While technically correct, such products do nothing to shore up shaky markets for products made from recycled paper or plastics, among other materials.
The buy-recycled laws do not take into account the nature of purchasing. Purchasing agents have plenty to do without experimenting with new (and untried) product specs, or with tracking recycled purchases. If a state does not budget for staff specifically assigned to seek out and track those products, purchasing preference policies are difficult to implement.
Retailers “are nearly out of the loop,” despite being in a strong position to
influence manufacturers’ feedstocks. When Sears required all suppliers to source-reduce or use recycled packaging, the vast majority were willing to comply. The manager who pushed and innovated in this area was rewarded by being downsized when
the issue simmered down.”
Spreading the Blame
Papermakers have billions invested in manufacturing processes that use virgin stock. Governments are reluctant to “risk” buying products from entrepreneurial
makers of recycled-plastic products. The plastics industry’s $20 million
annual ad budget tacitly promotes greater use of virgin plastics.
So, are company and government mandates to “buy recycled” a waste of time? Not exactly, says the report: “Purchasing-preference laws have made a difference, for copier papers and some other products.” Buying recycled has paid off for companies, such as McDonald’s, which saves money “in the long run when they use recycled products.”
And manufacturers still listen when big customers specify recycled. For example, “when Ford Motor Co. committed to using 25% post-consumer material in its cars, Huntsman Chemical, a private resin producer, jumped on the recycled polypropylene bandwagon just when all other resin producers jumped off.”
Purchasing Preference for Recycled Product: A Primer & Guide to Laws
Raymond Communications: http://www.raymond.com
FROM The Green Business Letter
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