Recycling Needs Wider Institution

Over a year ago, President Clinton issued his recycling executive order. The president recognized that one of the biggest obstacles to successful recycling is the lack of end market for products made of materials that have already been collected and recycled; in other words, products with "postconsumer" recycled content. The President's executive order was designed to use the purchasing power of the federal government to create markets for this type of product and, in turn, for collected recyclables. The government has made some significant progress in this area in the first year of the order, but much remains to be done.

While some government agencies are enthusiastically implementing the order, others are lagging behind. The Department of Defense--the single largest government purchaser of products--has not submitted a plan to ensure that items purchased are made of recycled material, as they are required to do by the order.

The order directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to "streamline" the process for identifying new items with recycled content to be procured by the federal government. While the EPA met the deadline for proposing 21 new items last April, ranging from paper to carpet, six months later the recycled content standards for these items are still not finalized. Further delay only gives industry opponents of recycled content standards more time to lobby for weakening of the standards.

The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, set up by the order, should be made a permanent part of government. Fran McPoland, the first Environmental Executive, is a committed advocate of recycling, but permanent resources need to be devoted to this issue in order to ensure the success of the program in future years.

President Clinton's executive order pushed the federal government towards a good, long-overdue start to help promote recycling in the United States. Because more remains to be done, there must be a continuing, serious and loudly articulated commitment on the part of the Administration. Amy Perry   Solid Waste Program Director MASSPIRG