Buy Recycled

Product Category-Specific Resources

Many resources are available to help you learn more about recycled-content products (RCP) and other environmentally preferable products. The following resources are organized by product category.

See also: Audience-Specific Resources | Purchasing and Tracking Tools | General

Cleaning Products

• Links to federal, state, and local environmentally preferable cleaning product procurement programs are available on the King County, Washington website.

Compost and Co-Compost

• CIWMB's Purchasing Compost and Mulch website.

Electronics

• CIWMB's Electronic Product Management
• Computer and Telecommunications Recyclers

Glass Products

• Clean Washington Center. This website provides information on the glass industry and listings of recycled glass products and suppliers are available.

Lubricating Oils

• Used Oil Facts provided on the CIWMB website.
• Management Memo 01-22. (Adobe PDF, 47 KB) DGS's Office of Fleet Administration encourages State drivers to utilize State garages and authorized vendors offering re-refined oil for oil change services. Information on re-refined oil and a list of State garages and authorized vendors offering re-refined oil for oil change services are available on the Office of Fleet Administration website.
• Oil Does Not Wear Out...It Just Gets Dirty! The Facts About Re-Refined Oil (CIWMB Publication #611-01-002).

Paint

• Recycled Latex Paint Fact Sheet (CIWMB Publication #431-97-034).
• U.S. EPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines for Reprocessed and Consolidated Latex Paints

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Paper Products/Printing and Writing Paper

• Blue Ribbon Task Force Print Buyer Guidelines. A step-by-step guide from the Minnesota Environmental Initiative on how to minimize the environmental impacts of your printed materials while accounting for cost, quality, and design.
• Celery Design Collaborative. This site offers environmentally preferable paper purchasing options for graphics professionals.
• Chlorine Free Products Association (CPFA). This site identifies printing and writing paper and other paper products that meet the CFPA's chlorine-free designations.
• CIWMB's Recycled Paper website.
• Conservatree. A comprehensive website that provides technical assistance with selecting environmentally preferable papers. It includes an extensive listing of environmentally preferable papers that is sorted by specific paper grade.
• Co-op America's WoodWise^TM Program and Magazine PAPER Project. Educational information for individuals and magazine publishers about the environmental impacts of wood and paper production.
• Greener Cartons: A Buyer's Guide to Recycled-Content Paperboard (Adobe PDF, 151 KB) by the Alliance for Environmental Innovation.
• No More Excuses (Adobe PDF, 99 KB), a United States Conference of Mayors document, details an evaluation of multipurpose recycled-content paper containing higher levels of postconsumer fiber than ever before.
• Paper Calculator. This tool from Environmental Defense compares the environmental impacts of specific types of recycled and virgin papers.
• Paper Handling Tips by the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance.
• Paper Task Force Recommendations for Purchasing and Using Environmentally Preferable Paper. This comprehensive report includes lifecycle environmental charts for several types of paper products.
• Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center
• Recycled Products Purchasing Cooperative. The Recycled Products Purchasing Cooperative is a non-profit program that provides recycled copy paper and products at prices that meet or beat what many businesses and public entities pay for non-recycled copy paper and products.
• ReThink Paper. This site contains information regarding environmental papers, cooperative purchasing, and paper use reduction.
• U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). Visit the GPO's website to access government paper specification standards and contact information for the Paper Procurement Section.

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Plastic Products

• CIWMB's Recycled Plastic Products website.
• Recycled Plastic Products Directory is maintained by the American Plastics Council and the Environment and Plastics Industry Council of Canada.
• Toner and Ink Jet Cartridge Remanufacturers and Recyclers. This list is maintained on the Recycler's World website.

Solvents

• Considerations in Selecting a Commercial (Off-Site) Solvent Recycling Service (Adobe PDF of unknown size). A fact sheet produced by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
• Solvent Alternatives Guide (SAGE) is a comprehensive guide designed to provide pollution prevention information on solvent and process alternatives for parts cleaning and degreasing.

Steel Products

• Steel Recycling Institute

Tires and Tire-Derived Products

• Tire Industry Association. This association was formed by combining the Tire Association of North America and the International Tire & Rubber Association.
• Scrap Tire Group. This website provides tire maintenance tips and explains several methods that are used to convert scrap tires into tire-derived products.
• Tire Retread Information Bureau is a nonprofit, member-supported industry association. The goal is to provide the motoring public with the most up-to-date information about the economic and environmental benefits of tire retreading and repairing. The website includes a buyers' guide and educational materials.

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