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EBOM-2009 IEQc3.3:Green Cleaning—Purchase of Sustainable Cleaning Products and Materials

100% Recycled Fiber

Our building purchases generic toilet tissue and paper towels that state "100% recycled paper product" and "100% recycled fiber" on the box. Will this meet the EPA CPG criteria or do we need to determine the % pre-consumer content and % post-consumer content in both products? Thank you!

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Profile picture for user tlittle
Trista Brown
Project Director
WSP USA
LEEDuser Basic Member
381 thumbs up

Tue, 07/30/2013 - 14:49

Hi Elizabeth, The EPA CPG lays out minimum requirements for recycled content in terms of post-consumer recycled content. It's extremely likely that your products meet the CPG minimum requirements, but I think to be sure you'd need to try to track down the % post-consumer information.
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Garrett Gerst
Senior Marketing Manager
Veritiv
LEEDuser Basic Member
3 thumbs up

Tue, 07/30/2013 - 15:03

You will need to determine the post-consumer content. Towel and tissue manufacturers consider industrial waste (not post consumer) as recycled. It needs to say something like 100% recycled fiber including 40% post-consumer waste (for bath tissue) in order to meet the requirement.

Wed, 07/31/2013 - 00:40

Thank you very much for the feedback! I will try and determine the amount of post-consumer content. Would a statement from the manufacturer or vendor on the percent post-consumer be sufficient as documentation to prove it meets EPA CPG?

Wed, 07/31/2013 - 14:20

At least for things like toner cartridges where the amount of pre- and post-consumer recycled content is not explicitly stated (just something like "20% recycled content"), we've had success just assuming that the content is pre-consumer and thus having to meet the higher 20% recycled content threshold for credit rather than the 10% required for post-consumer content. Might be worth a shot if you still can't find the breakdown.
Profile picture for user tlittle
Trista Brown
Project Director
WSP USA
LEEDuser Basic Member
381 thumbs up

Wed, 07/31/2013 - 15:19

Elizabeth, a statement will work as documentation (and it can just be an email - it doesn't need to be on letterhead or anything fancy).

Thu, 08/01/2013 - 00:24

A few sources online do state "meets or exceeds EPA CPG guidelines," but I've learned to take those statements with a grain of salt until officially confirmed. Unfortunately, I have contacted the vendor and further breakdown of % post-consumer has not been available. I have contacted other procurement companies and the information just doesn't seem to be readily available. Do you think the "100% recycled fibers" will be questioned?
Profile picture for user Garrett.Gerst
Garrett Gerst
Senior Marketing Manager
Veritiv
LEEDuser Basic Member
3 thumbs up

Thu, 08/01/2013 - 00:53

Yes, that will be questioned, because it does not meet the requirements. Major manufacturers certify, label, and market their items that meet LEED requirements to make it easy to determine what is and is not acceptable. I will be glad to help you find a source that meets the requirements, you can contact me at gggerst@yahoo.com.

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