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WasteWise TIP SHEET
BUYING OR MANUFACTURING RECYCLED PRODUCTS

* WasteWise Program Elements *

* Waste Prevention
* Recycling Collection
* Buying or Manufacturing Recycled Products

WHAT IS "BUYING RECYCLED"?

"Buying recycled" means purchasing recycled products
(products made with recovered materials). A necessary
precedent to "buying recycled" is that manufacturers
purchaserecovered materials and use them in lieu of virgin
materials in the manufacture of new products.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BUYING OR MANUFACTURING GOODS WITH
RECYCLED CONTENT?

Purchasing recycled products or recovered materials for
manufacturing conserves valuable landfill space by using
goods made from materials that otherwise would have been
discarded. Using recycled products and packagingalso
conserves natural resources and energy. In addition,
purchasing recycled products promotes the continued
manufacture of these products and helps strengthen markets
for collected materials.

HOW DOES PURCHASING RECYCLED PRODUCTS AND RECOVERED RAW
MATERIALS FIT INTO THE WasteWise PROGRAM?

This component of the WasteWise program helps to "close the
recycling loop" by encouraging themanufacture and purchase
of products containing recovered materials, thus providing
more customers for the recyclable materials that companies
and communities are collecting.

Companies in the WasteWise program commit to purchase
products containing either preconsumer or postconsumer
recycled content in lieu of products manufactured from
virgin materials, and/or purchase products with anincreased
percentage of preconsumer or postconsumer recycled content
in goods already being purchased. Participants are asked to
monitor their progress over the calendar year and report
annually on the amount of money spent on the purchase of
recycled products.

Manufacturers also have the option of increasing the
percentage of postconsumer content in a product or product
line theymanufacture. Manufacturers who choose this option
will monitor their progress over the calendar year and
report annually on the increase of postconsumer content in
each product or product line selected.

Other elements of the WasteWise program include a commitment
to implement significant waste prevention activities and to
expand or improve programs to collect recyclable materials.

WHAT DORECYCLED CONTENT TERMS MEAN?

The terminology used to refer to recycling, recycled
products, and recovered raw materials can seem confusing.
The following definitions are provided to help clarify some
of these terms.

* Recycled content. The portion of a product, by weight or
volume, that is composed of preconsumer and/or postconsumer
recovered materials.

* Preconsumer materials.Materials recovered for recycling
prior to use by the consumer, excluding materials and
by-products generated from and commonly reused within an
original manufacturing process. Examples of preconsumer
recovered materials are envelope cuttings and scrap from
plastic manufacturing.

* Postconsumer materials. Materials that have served their
intended use as consumer items and have been recoveredor
diverted from solid waste for recycling. Examples of
postconsumer recovered materials include used beverage
containers and old computer printouts.

The percentage of recovered materials used in a product or
within product categories can vary significantly. For
example, corrugated boxes can be made from 0 to 40 percent
postconsumer materials. Generally, higher levels of
recycledcontent are desirable, but other factors, such as
performance requirements, will likely need to be considered
in your purchase decision.

Although WasteWise does not require that you seek out
products with postconsumer content, EPA encourages
businesses to do so in order to create markets for materials
that have been collected by businesses and communities.
Manufacturers that choose to...