§103D-1005 Recycled products. (a) To encourage the use of recycled products, contracts shall be awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidders, with preference being given to the products containing recycled material. The policy board shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 91 governing preference for recycled products. The rules shall establish percentages of preference and the method of determining the contents of recycled material to qualify various products for preference.

(b) The state procurement office, with the assistance of the office of solid waste management in the department of health as provided in section 342G-42, shall develop a recycled product procurement program that shall require state purchasing agencies and urge county purchasing agencies to:

(1) Apply preference to the purchase of products with recycled content before purchasing products without any recycled content;

(2) Be consistent with applicable federal specification standards incorporated in Executive Order No. 12873, signed by the President of the United States on October 20, 1993, and any subsequent amendments to that order; and

(3) Ensure, to the maximum extent economically feasible, the purchase of materials that may be recycled or reused when discarded, and to avoid the purchase of products deemed environmentally harmful.

(c) In addition to the requirements for the purchase of office paper and printed material under subsection (e), and when appropriate, purchase specifications shall include, but not be limited to, paper, paper products, glass and glass by-products, plastic products, mulch and soil amendments, tires, batteries, oil, paving materials and base, subbase, and pervious backfill materials. Paving materials to be considered shall include, but are not limited to, asphalt, tires, crushed concrete for base, subbase, and paving materials. The standards and specifications shall provide for the use of recycled materials and shall not reduce the quality standards for highway and road construction.

(d) The chief procurement officers shall periodically review their specifications to determine whether discrimination against procured goods with recycled contents exists and shall revise these specifications to eliminate any such discrimination.

(e) When purchasing office paper and printed material, state purchasing agencies shall, and county purchasing agencies are urged to, purchase only office paper and printed material with recycled content, except when statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirements preclude the purchase of office paper or printed material with recycled contents of the same type and quantity as the office paper or printed material without recycled content. [L 1994, c 186, pt of §1; am L 1997, c 352, §23]