1. When purchasing paper products, the department shall, when the price is reasonably competitive and the quality as intended, purchase the recycled product. The department shall also purchase, when the price is reasonably competitive and the quality as intended, and in keeping with the schedule established in this subsection, soybean-based inks and plastic products with recycled content including but not limited to plastic garbage can liners.
a. By July 1, 1991, one hundred percent of the purchases of inks which are used for newsprint printing services performed internally or contracted for by the department shall be soybean-based.
b. By July 1, 1993, one hundred percent of the purchases of inks, other than inks which are used for newsprint printing services, and which are used internally or contracted for by the department, shall be soybean-based to the extent formulations for such inks are available.
c. By July 1, 1995, a minimum of ten percent of the purchases of garbage can liners made by the department shall be plastic garbage can liners with recycled content. The percentage shall increase by ten percent annually until fifty percent of the purchases of garbage can liners are plastic garbage can liners with recycled content.
d. The department shall report to the general assembly on February 1 of each year the following:
(1) A listing of plastic products which are regularly purchased by the department and other state agencies for which recycled content product alternatives are available, including the cost of the plastic products purchased and the cost of the recycled content product alternatives.
(2) Information relating to soybean-based inks and plastic garbage can liners with recycled content regularly purchased by the department and other state agencies, including the cost of purchasing soybean-based inks and plastic garbage can liners with recycled content and the percentages of soybean-based inks and plastic garbage can liners with recycled content that have been purchased.
e. For purposes of this section "recycled content" means that the content of the product contains a minimum of thirty percent postconsumer material.
2. a. As used in this subsection, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Postconsumer material" means only those products generated by a business or consumer which have served their intended end uses, and which have been separated or diverted from solid waste for the purposes of collection, recycling, and disposition. Postconsumer material does not include manufacturing wastes.
(2) "Recycled paper" means a paper product with not less than fifty percent of its total weight consisting of secondary and postconsumer material. At least ten percent of the total weight of recycled paper shall be postconsumer materials.
(3) "Secondary material" means fragments of finished products or finished products of a manufacturing process which has converted a resource into a commodity of real economic value, and includes postconsumer material but does not include excess virgin resources of the manufacturing process.
b. The department, in conjunction with recommendations made by the department of natural resources, shall purchase and use recycled printing and writing paper so that fifty percent by January 1, 1992, seventy-five percent by January 1, 1996, and ninety percent by January 1, 2000, of the volume of printing and writing paper purchased is recycled paper.
c. The department shall adopt standards for the allowable content of postconsumer and secondary material of recycled paper which shall conform with but may be more stringent than the American society for testing and materials standards.
d. The department shall establish a prioritization procedure for the purchase of recycled paper which provides for a five percent differential in the cost of the purchase of paper which has been recycled through the use of a nonchlorinated process.
e. If a provision under this subsection results in the limitation of sources for the purchase of printing and writing paper to three or fewer sources, the department may waive the requirement in order to purchase necessary amounts of printing and writing paper.
f. The department of general services, in conjunction with the department of natural resources, shall review the availability of a higher percentage content of postconsumer content printing and writing paper and shall, by rule, adjust the percentage requirement accordingly.
g. Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection regarding the purchase of recycled paper, the department shall purchase acid-free permanent paper in the amount necessary for the production or reproduction of documents, papers, or similar materials produced or reproduced for permanent preservation pursuant to law.
3. The department of general services, in conjunction with the department of natural resources, shall review the procurement specifications currently used by the state to eliminate, wherever possible, discrimination against the procurement of products manufactured with recovered materials and soybean-based inks.
4. The department of natural resources shall assist the department of general services in locating suppliers of recycled products and soybean-based inks and collecting data on recycled content and soybean-based ink purchases.
5. Information on recycled content shall be requested on all bids for paper products issued by the state and on other bids for products which could have recycled content such as oil, plastic products, including but not limited to starch- based plastic products, compost materials, aggregate, solvents, soybean-based inks, and rubber products.
6. The department of general services, in conjunction with the department of natural resources, shall adopt rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.
7. All state agencies shall fully cooperate with the departments of general services and natural resources in all phases of implementing this section.
8. The department, by January 1, 1993, shall seek an agreement with the agencies of the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin authorized to purchase general use items for state agencies, to provide for the cooperative purchase of recycled products.
9. The department, whenever technically feasible, shall purchase and use degradable loose foam packing material manufactured from grain starches or other renewable resources, unless the cost of the packing material is more than ten percent greater than the cost of packing material made from nonrenewable resources. For the purposes of this subsection, "packing material" means material, other than an exterior packing shell, that is used to stabilize, protect, cushion, or brace the contents of a package.
87 Acts, ch 225, § 421; 88 Acts, ch 1185, § 1; 89 Acts, ch 272, § 20; 90 Acts, ch 1237, §1; 91 Acts, ch 97, § 4; 92 Acts, ch 1074, § 1--;5; 93 Acts, ch 176, §26; 95 Acts, ch 62, § 1
Referred to in § 18.3, 216B.3, 262.9, 307.21
Iowa General Assembly
Search: Iowa Code 1997
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