Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy Definitions

Means the amount of Organic Waste in the form of a Recovered Organic Waste Product that the County is required to procure annually under 14 CCR Section 18993.1. This target shall be calculated by multiplying the per capita procurement target, which shall be 0.08 tons of Organic Waste per California resident per year, times the County’s unincorporated residential population using the most recent annual data reported by the California Department of Finance. Annually, CalRecycle will provide notice to the County of its Annual Recovered Organic Waste Product Procurement Target by posting such information on CalRecycle’s website and providing written notice directly to the County.  

Means a person, company, agency, district, or other entity that provides a service or services to the County pursuant to a contract or other written agreement or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(17). Direct Service Provider includes Vendors, Contractors, and/or Consultants as may otherwise be defined in County contract documents.

Means labels that are placed on product packaging or catalogs that can help purchasers quickly and easily identify those products that meet specific environmental performance criteria and are therefore deemed “environmentally preferable.” Ecolabels can be owned or managed by government agencies, nonprofit environmental advocacy organizations, or private sector entities. The County recognizes eco labels as approved by the State of California Third Party Environmental Certifications by Category and/or the Environmental Protection Agency Recommendations of Specifications, Standards, and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing.   

Means the procurement or acquisition of goods and services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing goods or services that serve the same purpose. This comparison takes into consideration, to the extent feasible, raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, disposal, energy efficiency, product performance, durability, safety, the needs of the purchaser, and cost. 

Means products that have a lesser impact on human health and the environment when compared with competing products. This comparison may take into consideration, to the extent feasible, raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, disposal, energy efficiency, product performance, durability, safety, the needs of the purchaser and cost.

Means services that have a lesser impact on human health and the environment when compared with competing services. This comparison may take into consideration, to the extent feasible, raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation maintenance, disposal, energy efficiency, product performance, durability, safety, the needs of the purchaser, and cost. This comparison also includes service providers that account for, or commit to addressing, environmental, health, and sustainability impacts in their own supply chain, and in the delivery of their services.

Means factoring a product or service’s environmental impacts throughout its life-cycle into purchasing decisions. A product or service has environmental impacts, both long before and long after it is purchased and used. A product's life-cycle includes activities associated with raw material acquisition, product manufacturing, packaging and transportation, product use, and ultimate disposal. This includes an assessment of available recycling markets for products and how easily the item may be recycled. 

Means solid wastes containing material originated from living organisms and their metabolic waste products including, but not limited to, food, yard trimmings, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, Paper Products, Printing And Writing Paper, manure, biosolids, digestate, and sludges, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(46). Biosolids and digestate are as defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(4) and 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(16.5), respectively. 

Include, but are not limited to, paper janitorial supplies, cartons, wrapping, packaging, file folders, hanging files, corrugated boxes, tissue, and toweling; or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(51).

Means where a product or service is satisfactory in performance and reasonably available in the marketplace at a reasonably competitive cost. 

Include, but are not limited to, copy, xerographic, watermark, cotton fiber, offset, forms, computer printout paper, white wove envelopes, manila envelopes, book paper, note pads, writing tablets, newsprint, and other uncoated writing papers, posters, index cards, calendars, brochures, reports, magazines, and publications; or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(54). 

Shall mean the purchase or acquisition (e.g., free delivery or free distribution from a hauler or other entity via a written agreement or contract), and end use by the County or others. The County’s Annual Recovered Organic Waste Product Procurement Target can be fulfilled directly by the County or by Direct Service Providers through written contracts or agreements for Procurement of Recovered Organic Waste Products at the County’s behest.   

Means products made from California, landfill-diverted recovered Organic Waste processed at a permitted or otherwise authorized operation or facility, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(60). Products that can be used to meet the Annual Recovered Organic Waste Product Procurement Target shall include Compost, SB 1383 Eligible Mulch, SB 1383 Renewable Gas from an in-vessel digestion facility, and Electricity Procured from Biomass Conversion as described herein and provided that such products meet requirements of 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12, Article 12. 

Means the public employee appointed by the County or their designee to track procurement and maintain records of Recovered Organic Waste Product procurement efforts both by the County and others, if applicable, as required by 14 CCR, Division 7, Chapter 12, Articles 12 and 13. 

Means that the Paper Products and Printing and Writing Paper offered or sold to the County are eligible to be labeled with an unqualified recyclable label as defined in 16 Code of Federal Regulations Section 260.12 (2013). 

Means such products that consist of at least thirty percent (30%), by fiber weight, postconsumer fiber,  consistent with the requirements of Sections 22150 to 22154 and Sections 12200 and 12209 of the Public Contract Code, and as amended. 

Means products manufactured with waste material that has been recovered or diverted from the waste stream. Recycled material may be derived from post-consumer waste (material that has served its intended end-use and been discarded by a final consumer), industrial scrap, manufacturing waste and/or other waste that otherwise would not have been utilized.

Means the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating, and reconstituting materials that would otherwise become solid waste, and returning them to the economic mainstream in the form of raw material for new, reused, or reconstituted products, which meet the quality standards necessary to be used in the marketplace. 

Means methane gas derived from a biogas source (eg. landfill, wastewater digester, or dairy) that has been purified for use as an energy source. 

Means Senate Bill 1383 of 2016 approved by the Governor on September 19, 2016, which added Sections 39730.5, 39730.6, 39730.7, and 39730.8 to the Health and Safety Code, and added Chapter 13.1 (commencing with Section 42652) to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, establishing methane emissions reduction targets in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, as amended, supplemented, superseded, and replaced from time to time. 

Means or refers to, for the purposes of this policy, the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP): Organic Waste Reductions regulations developed by CalRecycle and adopted in 2020 that created Chapter 12 of 14 CCR, Division 7 and amended portions of regulations of 14 CCR and 27 CCR. 

Means the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic solid wastes that are source separated from the municipal solid waste stream or which are separated at a centralized facility or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 17896.2(a)(4). Compost eligible for meeting the Annual Recovered Organic Waste Product Procurement Target must be produced at a compostable material handling operation or facility permitted or authorized under 14 CCR Chapter 3.1 of Division 7 or produced at a large volume in-vessel digestion facility that composts on-site as defined and permitted under 14 CCR Chapter 3.2 of Division 7. Compost shall meet the State’s composting operations regulatory requirements. 

Means electricity generated from biomass facilities that convert recovered Organic Waste, such as wood and prunings from the municipal stream, into electricity. Electricity procured from a biomass conversion facility may only count toward the County’s Annual Recovered Organic Waste Product Procurement Target if the facility receives feedstock directly from certain permitted or authorized compostable material handling operations or facilities, transfer/processing operations or facilities, or landfills, as described in 14 CCR Section 18993.1(i).  

Means mulch eligible to meet the Annual Recovered Organic Waste Product Procurement Target, pursuant to 14 CCR Chapter 12 of Division 7. SB 1383 Eligible Mulch excludes mulch from chipping and grinding operations. SB 1383 Eligible Mulch shall meet the following conditions for the duration of the applicable procurement compliance year, as specified by 14 CCR Section 18993.1(f)(4):

1. Produced at one of the following facilities:

a. A compostable material handling operation or facility as defined in 14 CCR Section 17852(a)(12), that is permitted or authorized under 14 CCR Division 7, other than a chipping and grinding operation or facility as defined in 14 CCR Section 17852(a)(10);
b. A transfer/processing facility or transfer/processing operation as defined in 14 CCR Sections 17402(a)(30) and (31), respectively, that is permitted or authorized under 14 CCR Division 7; or,
c. A solid waste landfill as defined in Public Resources Code Section 40195.1 that is permitted under 27 CCR Division 2.

2. Meet or exceed the physical contamination, maximum metal concentration, and pathogen density standards for land application specified in 14 CCR Sections 17852(a)(24.5)(A)1 through 3, as enforced by County contract terms.

Means gas derived from Organic Waste that has been diverted from a landfill and processed at an in vessel digestion facility that is permitted or otherwise authorized by 14 CCR to recover Organic Waste, or as otherwise defined in 14 CCR Section 18982(a)(62).

Means products that can only be used once and then enter the waste stream. 

Means products that result in a net reduction in the generation of waste compared to their previous or alternate version. This may include, but is not limited to, reducing the use of non recyclable materials; replacing disposable materials and products with reusable materials and products; using durable, reusable, and remanufactured products; products with no, or reduced, toxicity, and products with no, or reduced, packaging.

Means a method of using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged. It is the long-term maintenance of well-being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of stewardship, the responsible management of resource use. 

Means any action undertaken by an individual or organization to eliminate or reduce the amount or toxicity of materials before they enter the municipal solid waste stream. This action is intended to conserve resources, promote efficiency, and reduce pollution.