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The lack of commonly agreed definitions for environmental terms can lead to problems in environmental procurement. For example, your request for recycled
content in the paper that you purchase can mean many things to a supplier; this is especially true if the supplier is not well versed in the terminology.
Without further clarification as to the amount of recycled content and the type of recycled content (i.e. post-consumer), you may end up with a product that
only appears to be a sound environmental choice. - Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)
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Best Practice
In the Eco-Eval tool, best practices are examples of how other organizations are implementing environmental purchasing. Use these examples to guide your own work and feel free to add best practices as you complete your Eco-Eval.
Environmentally Preferable Products
- Executive Order 13101, Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition, September 16, 1998
Environmentally preferable products are "products and services [that] have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared to
other products and services that serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging,
distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, or disposal of the product or service."
Environmentally Preferable - (EO 13101, Section 201) - EPA
Products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve
the same purpose. The product or service comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse,
operation, maintenance, or disposal.
Environmental Procurement - DFAIT
Environmental procurement is making your purchases with the goal of reducing your impact on the environment. In this program, environmental procurement will
also be referred to as Green procurement or buying Green. Environmental procurement can include purchasing products and services that reduce their use
of all materials, energy, and/or water. Examples of Green purchases include buying recycled paper with 20% post-consumer recycled content over standard
types of paper, or buying compact fluorescent light bulbs because they save energy and last longer.
Environmental Purchasing - City of Richmond
Refers to selecting those goods and services, which promote a healthier community and environment.
Life Cycle Assessment - EPA
Comprehensive examination of a product’s environmental and economic aspects and potential impacts throughout its lifetime, including raw material extraction,
transportation, manufacturing, use, and disposal. (EO 13101, Section 201) The International Standards Organisation, through ISO 14040, has defined life cycle
assessment slightly differently as follows: Compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs, and the potential environmental impacts of a product system
throughout its life cycle.
Life Cycle Cost - EPA
Amortised annual cost of a product, including capital costs, installation costs, operating costs, maintenance costs and disposal costs discounted over
the lifetime of the product, according to OMB Circular A-94 and Executive Order 13101, Section 201. However, this definition does not include external costs
(i.e., those not borne directly by the entity that owns and operates a product/service, such as environmental costs to society at large). For the
purposes of this guidance, EPA encourages agencies to consider all internal and external costs associated with a product, process, or activity throughout its
entire life cycle—from raw materials acquisition to manufacture, recycling and final disposal.
Pollution Prevention - EPA
"Source reduction,"
as defined under the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. § 13102), and other practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants through:
increased efficiency in the use of raw materials, energy, water, or other resources; or protection of natural resources by conservation.
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