Product Stewardship and Lifecycle Analysis in Purchasing

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Product Stewardship and Lifecycle Analysis in
Purchasing
Jonathan CohenDirector, Workplace Programs and
the Responsible Purchasing NetworkCenter for a
New American Dream COG Recycling CommitteeMarch
18, 2010
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Agenda

• Introduction
• The Problem
• Solutions
• Criteria for Decision Making
• QA

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Introduction
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My Background

1. Corporate Social Responsibility
2. Standards
3. Business Partnerships
4. United Nations
5. International/National/Local Programs

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(No Transcript)
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UN Conference on Environment and DevelopmentThe Earth Summit Redefining the American Dream ConferenceAirlie, Virginia
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Two Organizational Goals

• REDUCE unnecessary consumption, and
• SHIFT consumption patterns toward more
  sustainable alternatives

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RPN Origins
Purpose Harness the power of institutional
purchasers from government agencies, businesses,
universities, and nonprofits to advance social
responsibility and environmental sustainability

• Founded at the White House in 2005
• gt100B in annual spend
• Membership network

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RPN Members

• 250 RPN members
• Members Employ over 750,000
• 2/3 have responsible purchasing policies
• Eco-labels are widely recognized and used
• 94 plan to do more responsible purchasing next
  year

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The Problem
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Energy Global Warming

• Temps up 2-8 by 2100
• Electronics consume 26 of electricity in
  offices
• Lighting gt7 of U.S. electricity consumption
• gt50 of electricity is from coal
• 95 of vehicle fuel is from petroleum

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Hazardous Substances

• 1 in 3 commercial cleaners contain harmful
  ingredients
• Hazardous e-waste is dumped abroad
• Chemicals like those in flame retardants are in
  everyday products cause brain, thyroid,
  reproductive problems

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Air Quality

• Outdoor VOCs cause ground-level ozone smog,
  causing lung disease and asthma
• Indoor VOC levels 10X higher than outdoors

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Water

• Toxins in consumer goods kill aquatic ecosystems
• Pollution climate change are killing coral
  reefs habitats
• Carpet production uses 10g water/sq yd
• It takes 3 gallons of water to bottle 1 gallon

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Waste

• 70 of heavy metals in landfill from electronics
• 70 of mercury-lamps are not recycled
• 16-35m gal leftover consumer paint/year, lt1/2
  properly managed
• California buys enough carpet to cover 47 mi of
  4-lane highway/year
• 80 of water bottles are landfilled

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Bottled Water

• Quick Facts
• The U.S. leads the world in bottled water
  consumption
• Making bottles to meet U.S. demand requires gt1.5M
  barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some
  100,000 cars/year
• 25-40 of bottled water is tap water

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Water Weight

• 1.5 to 2.7 million tons of plastic are used each
  year to make bottles for bottled water.
• For every one million bottles of water that are
  manufactured and shipped to consumers, 18.2 tons
  of carbon dioxide emissions are pumped into the
  air.

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• Seattle residents use the equivalent of
  354,000 pint bottles of water each day. That
  equals about 41,000 barrels of oil, creating
  5,400 tons of greenhouse gases.

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Doom Gloom

• Down economy
• Collapsing ecosystems
• Crumbling infrastructure
• Are people really doing
• green purchasing in
• these bleak times?

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Yes, They Are
According to the 2009 Responsible Purchasing
Trends Report

• Green purchasing is growing
• Its getting easier
• And it can save money

Responsible Purchasing Trends Report (coming May
2010)
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Solutions
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Responsible Purchasing Guides

• Product Categories
• Bottled Water
• Cleaners
• Computers
• Copy Paper
• Fleets Vehicles
• Fluorescent Lights
• Graffiti Remover
• Green Power
• Office Machines
• Paint
• Remanufactured Toner
• Tires, Wheel Weights

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Calculate the Benefits

• Calculators available to use with
• ENERGY STAR for electronics appliances
• EPEAT for computers
• RPN for remanufactured toner cartridges, drinking
  water, fleet vehicles

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Case Study Reman TonerWashington D.C. Current
Savings
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The Future of Green Purchasing
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Building a Green Purchasing Program
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Importance of Soc/Env Issues in Purchasing
Decisions

• Top 3 Social/Environmental Issues
• Recycled Content
• Recyclability
• Energy Conservation

Most of you usually or occasionally consider
environmental factors in purchasing decisions
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Criteria for Decision Making
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The Best Green Claims

• Life cycle-based criteria
• Balanced stakeholder development process
• Transparent administration
• Independent product verification
• Tiered (e.g. bronze, silver, gold)
• Continuously improved
• Standards and verification are independent

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Do You Know What These Mean?
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Most Used Recognized Ecolabels
Usage Rank 1 2 3 4
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Green Cleaners

• Case Study
• Santa Monica, CA saved 5 by implementing green
  cleaning
• Reduce sick days. Improve worker health and
  performance.
• Green Cleaning Mandates
• Chicago Public Schools,
• Massachusetts, New Jersey,
• Alameda Co., Montgomery Co.
• EcoLabels
• Green Seal, EcoLogo

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CFL LED Lighting

• Case study
• Washington D.C. saved 1.5m over 5 yrs.
• First Christian Church used CFLs and T-8 lamps
  with electronic ballasts, sensors, LED exit
  signs, and timers saving 6,000 annually.
• Typical CFL saves 30
• Lasts up to 10x longer
• Look for rebates
• Spec Energy Star

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Copiers, Printers, Fax Machines

• Duplexers reduce paper by 40
• Energy Star reduces energy up to 60
• Spec Energy Star or EcoLogo for LEED credit

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Copy Paper

• Case Study
• City of Portland, OR
• Reduce usage by 15
• Meet or exceed EPA
• Aim for 30-100 PCW
• Prefer chlorine-free
• Saved gt10,000 1st year

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Make Duplexing Mandatory

• Save up to 40 on paper costs - use the extra
  money to buy 100 recycled paper
• Set up the equipment
• First, work with IT dept. to set all printers to
  double-sided
• Then, do the same with copiers. Two-sided to
  Two-sided is an effective default mode
• Train Staff
• Explain that single-sided is still available
• Pre-printed letterhead needs to be fed

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Remanufactured Toner Cartridges

• Case Study
• King County, WA saved 275,000 in 2007 by using
  remans instead of OEMs
• Remans cost 30-60 less than OEMs
• No up-front costs save immediately.
• Cut 5-9 lbs of waste per cartridge

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RPN Member Benefits

• Advice and Communication
• Events and Webinars
• Publications
• Press
• Advocacy
• Speakers
• Job Postings
• Member Directory
• Consulting

Member Pledge "I pledge that my organization
will strive to use its purchasing power to
maximize environmental stewardship, protect human
health, and support local and global
sustainability."
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Responsible Purchasing Network Jonathan
Cohen Director, Workplace Programs and the
Responsible Purchasing Network www.ResponsiblePur
chasing.org 301-891-3683 jonathan_at_newdream.org
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Thank You
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