home
> News
> EPA issues draft guidelines for greener buying
EPA issues draft guidelines for greener buying
November 21, 2013
EPA issues draft guidelines for greener buying
The EPA has issued a set of draft criteria to help federal government identify and buy greener and safer products. The draft guidelines, which will be subject to a 90-day comment period once they’re published in the Federal Register, propose a process to make it easier for federal purchasers to determine which products are sustainable and which ones are not. Federal agencies are mandated to ensure that 95 percent of their purchases are sustainable.
The guidelines for standards and ecolabels would not be applied to products directly. And they are not designed to discontinue or diminish the purchase of products that conform to government standards and ecolabels, the EPA says. The guidelines are not a one-size-fits-all-approach. To address difference among sectors, the EPA has proposed a more flexible approach that would, for example, institute a baseline and leadership guideline.
The guidelines, developed by the EPA, General Services Administration and other agencies, could also indirectly impact the consumer by spurring the private sector to use and demand safer and greener products.
Read more at Environmental Leader.
category : Topics
