The City of Sunnyvale finds that the preservation of natural resources, reduction of energy use and pollution, reduction of solid waste, and minimization of impact on the environment from City activities benefits all occupants of the City. It is the purpose of this policy to:

1. Help the City meet its current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.
2. Identify a simple, concise, environmentally sound, and cost-effective approach to environmental purchasing that all departments and divisions can easily implement.
3. Provide for the achievement of Action Statements 3.2B.2d and 3.2B.4a of the Solid Waste Sub-element which state, "Increase demand for recycled materials by advocating local state and federal legislation that will increase use of recycled content products."
4. Promote individual employee responsibility, provide Environmentally Preferable products and produce an operationally oriented, clearly written policy.

It is the policy of the City of Sunnyvale, its employees and contractors, that

when developing plans, drawings, work statements, and specifications, and in the evaluation of bids or proposals for the award of all contracts, for informal, formal, central, and decentralized purchases (including credit card, field purchase order, and petty cash purchases) Environmentally Preferable products and services shall be purchased, as defined by this section.

Factors that will be considered when determining the Environmentally Preferable good or service include, but are not limited to:

1. Minimization of virgin material use in product or service life cycle
2. Maximization of recycled products used in product or service life cycle
3. Environmental cost of entire product or service life cycle
4. Reuse of existing products or materials in product or service life cycle
5. Recyclability of product
6. Toxicity reduction or elimination
7. Elimination of uncertified hardwoods in product or service life cycle
8. Ultimate disposal of product

All paper products purchased, including but not limited to, janitorial products, copier paper, offset paper, forms bond, computer printout paper, carbonless paper, file folders, envelopes, uncoated printing and writing paper, and specialized printing papers shall contain no less than 30% postconsumer materials, by weight, beginning July 1, 1999.

The purchase of products that meet the standards above shall be allowed only if:

1. The fitness and quality is equal to that of comparable non-environmentally preferable products.
2. The product or service will do the job as well or better than the comparable non-environmentally preferable product or service and is compatible with City equipment.
3. The cost of the Environmentally Preferable Product is not cost prohibitive in the judgement of the Purchasing Officer.
4. Delivery or availability of the environmentally preferable product or service is comparable to that of the non-environmentally preferable alternative.

The Purchasing Officer shall, in cooperation with the Solid Waste Program Manager, develop administrative guidelines to implement this policy. The Purchasing Officer shall also:

1. Ensure that purchasing documents, specifications, and contracting procedures do not discriminate against environmentally preferable goods and services.
2. Establish standards for the purchase of environmentally preferable goods and services and raise or lower these standards to meet the objectives of this policy.
3. Maintain a reference list of commonly purchased environmentally preferable products or services.
4. Provide staff training in the purchase of environmentally preferable products and services.

Definitions:

1. Environmentally preferable means 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. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, and disposal of the product or service."
2. Life cycle cost means the amortized annual cost of a product, including capital costs, installation costs, operating costs, maintenance costs, and disposal costs discounted over the lifetime of the product.
3. Life cycle assessment means the 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.
4. Certified Hardwoods means hardwoods that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as responsibly harvested. This certification process ensures the protection of endangered tropical hardwoods from over harvesting.
5. Postconsumer material means a material or finished product that has served its intended use and has been discarded for disposal or recovery, having completed its life as a consumer item. "Postconsumer material" is a part of the broader category of "recovered material."
6. Recovered Materials means waste materials and by-products which have been recovered or diverted from solid waste, but this term does not include those materials and by-products generated from, and commonly reused within, an original manufacturing process.
7. Recyclability means the ability of a product or material to be recovered from, or otherwise diverted from, the solid waste stream for the purpose of recycling.
8. Recycled Product means all materials, goods, and supplies, no less than 50 percent of the total weight of which consists of secondary and postconsumer waste with not less than 10 percent of its total weight consisting of postconsumer waste. These minimum percentages of secondary and postconsumer waste may change as industry availability changes.
9. Recycling means the series of activities, including collection, separation, and processing, by which products or other materials are recovered from the solid waste stream for use in the form of raw materials in the manufacture of new products, and includes the use of separated wood waste as fuel for producing heat or electrical power by combustion.
10. Virgin Material means any material occurring in its raw form. Virgin Material is used in the form of raw material in the manufacture of new products.
11. Waste prevention means any change in the design, manufacturing, purchase or use of materials or products (including packaging) to reduce their volume or toxicity before they become municipal solid waste. Waste prevention also refers to the reuse of products or materials.
12. Waste reduction means preventing or decreasing the amount of waste being generated through waste prevention, recycling, or purchasing recycled and environmentally preferable products.