University of Wisconsin-River Falls
OP-12: Office Paper Purchasing

• System and State follow EPA Paper Products Recovered Materials Guidelines: http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/recycle/rman.asp • System and State follow the Recycling Procurement Program Regulations: http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/recycle/pim3.asp “Exceptions to the “buy recycled only” policy must be documented by each agency and are to be retained in agency files for 3 years. Contract vendors will report exceptions to Bureau contract administrators for all statewide contract purchasing; and agencies will record exceptions encountered in non-contract purchasing. Due to the much greater availability of high quality recycled paper meeting the federal standards, exceptions are expected to be rare for most agencies. (Remember that current law does not recognize higher cost as an acceptable rationale for not buying recycled paper.) Exceptions should be documented and filed as they happen, unless other arrangements need to be made for vendors and high-volume purchasers.”

All paper purchased is a minimum of 30% post-consumer recycled content per state guidelines. Approximately 1850 cases are purchased annually between central stores and Fast Copy. Costs vary over time and from central stores to Fast Copy. However, an average of $3.50 per case yields results with confidence, especially considering 100% of the paper purchases are 30% recycled content.