§103D-1005  Recycled products.  (a)  Toencourage the use of recycled products, contracts shall be awarded to thelowest responsible and responsive bidders, with preference being given to theproducts containing recycled material.  The policy board shall adopt rules inaccordance with chapter 91 governing preference for recycled products.  Therules shall establish percentages of preference and the method of determiningthe contents of recycled material to qualify various products for preference.

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

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

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

(3)  Ensure, to the maximum extent economicallyfeasible, the purchase of materials that may be recycled or reused whendiscarded, and to avoid the purchase of products deemed environmentallyharmful.

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

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

(e)  When purchasing office paper and printedmaterial, state purchasing agencies shall, and county purchasing agencies areurged to, purchase only office paper and printed material with recycledcontent, except when statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirementspreclude the purchase of office paper or printed material with recycledcontents of the same type and quantity as the office paper or printed materialwithout recycled content. [L 1994, c 186, pt of §1; am L 1997, c 352, §23]