This month, the Biden administration announced it would create a sustainable purchase plan, to modernize existing sustainable purchasing standards, while prioritizing American-made sustainable products and services.
The Sustainable Products and Services procurement rule will not only help the federal government achieve Biden’s net-zero emissions from federal procurement by 2050 goal, but also create good-paying union jobs, advance American innovation, and build sustainable Federal supply chains, the White House said.
“President Biden believes that when we spend American taxpayers’ dollars, we should be investing in America, reducing costs, and building a more sustainable future,” said Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “Through today’s action, we are doing just that. Combined with President Biden’s Buy American directive, our proposed rule will boost Federal agency purchases of EPA-recommended green products and services while creating well-paying jobs and investing in American manufacturing.”
Proposed through the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council the Sustainable Products and Services procurement rule would direct federal buyers to purchase sustainable products and services, to the maximum extent possible, and would direct agencies to follow the EPA’s Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for federal purchasing. That recommendation provides guidance across 34 purchase categories for the use of 40 standards and labels, including the EPA’s Energy Star, Safer Choice and WaterSense programs. These programs include thousands of American-made products and services that address energy or water efficiency, PFAS reduction or elimination, bio-based content, recycled content, ozone-safe substances and more. The White House said that in 2021, the federal government purchased more than 43 million electronics products certified by the EPA that save taxpayers nearly $2 billion in energy costs while avoiding carbon emissions equal to those produced to power over four million households annually, when compared to the purchase of non-registered electronics.
“For over 50 years, the Federal government has played a leading role in promoting innovation, creating jobs, reducing emissions, and shaping markets through its sustainable purchasing requirements,” said Christine Harada, Office of Federal Procurement Policy Senior Advisor. “We are proud to continue to be a global leader in sustainability purchasing. The United Nations Environment Programme recently categorized the U.S. Government’s implementation of sustainable public procurement policies and practices as ‘the highest possible status to achieve’ — noting that the United States is the only country ever to achieve this status. We look forward to continuing to building on this progress.”