PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY

The purpose of this policy is to support campus sustainability at Colorado State University and to provide guidelines, information, and resources in procuring products that will minimize negative impacts on society and the environment to the greatest extent practicable. This policy will guide CSU employees who wish to purchase goods and services for CSU to identify more environmentally sound products and may require the use of environmentally preferable products and services in many instances, as well as consider ethical and socially responsible business practices. Sustainable procurement incorporates awareness of the economic, environmental, and social equity within an entity’s spend.

APPLICATION OF THIS POLICY

This policy will apply to purchases of goods and services by CSU departments except as stated below. This policy must be applied in conformance with all other procurement rules and requirements. If a CSU Procurement Rule, or any applicable state or federal law or regulation, conflicts with the application of this rule, then the governing Procurement Rule, law or regulation shall control.

DEFINITIONS USED IN THIS POLICY

Customer: The person placing the order for acquisition of goods, or the person on whose behalf the order is placed and who is responsible for the selection and use of the goods.

Eco-label: A label used to identify products that conform to recognized environmental standards.

Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT): The EPEAT ecolabel is the leading global Type-1 ecolabel for the technology products. It assesses various lifecycle environmental aspects of a device and ranks products as Gold, Silver or Bronze based on a set of environmental performance criteria.

Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP): Colorado Revised Statutes §24-103-207.5 defines “Environmentally Preferable Products” as products or services that have a lesser or reduced adverse effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, or disposal of the product.

Environmentally and Socially Responsible Purchasing (ESRP): The purchase of products and services that minimize negative impacts on society and the environment when compared to other products and services that serve the same purpose.

Fair Trade: Trading designation and movement whose goal is to help producers in developing countries get a fair price for their products to reduce poverty, provide for the ethical treatment of workers and farmers, and promote environmentally sustainable practices.

Hazardous Waste: A waste with properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment.

Life Cycle Cost / Assessment: Life Cycle Cost (LCC) is an approach that assesses the financial cost of an asset over its life cycle including initial capital costs, maintenance costs, operating costs and the asset's residual value at the end of its life. Thus, the Life Cycle Cost is the cost to the University of a program or owning a facility or asset. A Life Cycle Cost Assessment (LCCA) is the methodology for analyzing products or assets. An LCCA answers the question ‘what is the total cost of ownership?’ Similarly, the phrase Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is the estimation of the expenses associated with purchasing, deploying, using, and retiring an asset. Whereas a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is the methodology to assess and quantify environmental impacts associated with all of the stages of the life-cycle of a program, facility, or asset. An LCA really answers the question ‘what is the environmental impact?’ 

Locally Sourced: Those products or services sourced from local community-based producers (directly or through distributors) within a radius of 150 miles from the final delivery destination. Local sourcing is included within the ESRP standards.

Preference: Customers may allow for an additional 5% cost allowance to be applied to goods or services that meet EPP standards when competing directly against goods or services which do not meet EPP standards.

Post-consumer waste (PCW): Material that has served its intended end-use and been discarded by a final consumer.

Recyclable: The ability of a material to be reused in manufacturing.

Recycle: To reprocess and reuse used material to create new products.

Recycled Content: Products manufactured with waste material that has been recovered or diverted from solid waste. Recycled material may be derived from Post-consumer Waste, industrial scrap, manufacturing waste, or other materials that would otherwise have been wasted.

Reduce: Using less of products and utilizing other means of doing business when available to reduce the amount of toxicity and/or waste generated.

Remanufactured: The rebuilding of a product to specifications of the original manufactured product using a combination of reused, repaired and new parts.

Supply Chain: A network of individuals, companies, resources, activities, and technologies used to make and sell a product or service. A supply chain starts with the delivery of raw materials from a supplier to a manufacturer and ends with the delivery of the finished product or service to the end consumer.

Sustainability: Meeting today’s needs without comprising the ability of future generations to satisfy their needs.

Universal Waste: The federal universal waste regulations are found in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in part 273 and apply to five types of universal waste: Batteries, Pesticides, Mercury-Containing Equipment, Lamps, or Aerosol Cans. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment also includes E-waste as a Universal Waste.  https://cdphe.colorado.gov/all-regulations/hazardous-waste-regulations

POLICY STATEMENT

Colorado State University is committed to reducing its impact on the environment and enhancing public health. Products and services that meet ESRP standards help achieve these goals should be purchased whenever practicable, so long as they meet quality and value standards.

University personnel who make purchasing decisions are expected to support and follow this policy. The university will emphasize the importance of sustainability by educating the campus community about ESRP programs and policies; training campus purchasers to apply an ESRP framework in purchasing requests and decisions; and incorporating sustainable options into the procurement process for as many areas of university operations as feasible.

POLICY PROVISIONS

1. Purchasing Preference

All purchases of goods over $10,000 in total order value will be reviewed by a CSU Purchasing Agent to determine whether products exist that are Environmentally Preferable to competing products of substantially the same quality, specifications, and cost. The Purchasing Agent may consider the Life Cycle Cost as well as the direct cost of acquisition. If the order is within the range of Purchasing Agent discretion, and the Purchasing Agent determines that an ESRP product is available to meet the requirements of the order and is competitively priced, that product shall be selected over a competing product that does not meet ESRP standards unless the ordering department establishes good cause for not selecting that product (as determined by the Purchasing Agent). If the ordering department and the Purchasing Agent do not agree on this determination, the matter may be referred to the Customer’s Department Head and the Director of Procurement Services for resolution. Purchases of Fair-Trade certified, local, certified B-Corp, worker-owned cooperatives products and services are encouraged but are not subject to the Preference.

2. Small Dollar Purchases

All University Customers should try to make small dollar purchases that are environmentally and socially responsible. Seek out products and services that meet this policy’s purchasing best practices guidelines when buying with a PCard or an Automatic Purchase Order, and partner with a Purchasing Agent to help locate and assess these products and services.

3. Writing ESRP Specifications

Procurement Services will work with University staff and students to incorporate environmentally and socially preferred specifications in competitive solicitations by conducting competitive procurements that include ESRP requirements. Colorado law (C.R.S. §24-103-904) allows a five percent Preference for the purchase of environmentally and socially preferable products. In some cases, the allowed Preference may exceed five percent if a Life Cycle Cost analysis establishes that long term savings will result.

4. Procurement Standards

The university has adopted ESRP standards for several product categories. For ESRP considerations for other goods and services, see the CSU Best Practices for ESRP document. 

General Office Electronics. As a general rule, all desktop computers, notebooks, laptops, monitors, displays, slates, tablets, and imaging equipment purchased shall meet all Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool environmental criteria for certification at the gold level, as contained in the IEEE 1680 Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products. All televisions and phones purchased shall meet the highest EPEAT rating available at the time of purchase. Mobile phones must be ECOLOGO, EPEAT certified. 2) All electrical products purchased shall have US EPA ENERGY STAR certification if the ENERGY STAR label is available for the product category. When ENERGY STAR labels are not available for the product category, products purchased shall meet or exceed the upper 25% of energy efficiency for their product category, as designated by the Federal Energy Management Program.

Paper. All multi-use office paper purchased by the University shall exclusively contain 90-100% post-consumer waste content, and/or agricultural residue content or is FSC Recycled or FSC 100% labeled. Office paper must be certified to meet one or more of the following standards: post-consumer recycled content, agricultural residue, or Forest Stewardship Council certified content. All paper and forest products must not originate in tropical rainforests.

For uncut paper uses, including but not limited to disposable housekeeping products, the University will procure papers with 100% PCW (post-consumer waste) recycled content. All custodial paper products shall be made from 100% post-consumer recycled unbleached paper and meet Green Seal standards. And/or: Cradle to Cradle Certified, ECOLOGO certified, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, Green Seal certified, or other multi-criteria sustainability standards with ISO Type 1 ecolabels.

The University will print all University communications and publications on at least 30% PCW and meet sustainability standards of one or more of the following: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Chlorine Free Products Association.

Product End of Life/Recycling Programs.  The University will incorporate effective end of life recycling / reuse programs into each commodity for which it is feasible through existing University programs or with the assistance of its suppliers where appropriate. The supplier will provide the University guidance for established recycling / reuse programs in their area for commodities purchased and packaging materials provided. The University, through the guidance of established recycling / reuse departments, will determine the best end of life processes for these commodities and materials in compliance with current environmental standards, regulations, and policies.

5. Supply Chain Responsibility 

The University will encourage suppliers to demonstrate responsible sourcing in the areas of ethics, human rights, health and safety, sustainable production, and environmental practices.

COMPLIANCE WITH THIS POLICY

An authorized CSU Purchasing agent may require vendor selection in accordance with this policy. Unauthorized purchases are subject to the CSU System Fiscal Rules, CSU Financial Policies, and applicable procedures.

REFERENCES

CSU Best Practices for Environmentally and Socially Responsible Procurement

CSU Policy: Green Cleaning

CSU Policy: Supplier Inclusion Program

FORMS AND TOOLS

The Office of Procurement Services will provide further information, procedures, forms and tools in the Colorado State University Procurement Rules and the Purchasing Manual.

APPROVALS

Approved by Anthony A. Frank, President, on December 13, 2012

Revision approved by Amy L. Parsons, Vice President for University Operations, on June 22, 2015

Revision approved by Brendan Hanlon, Vice President for University Operations, on April 5, 2024