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Senate passes bill encouraging purchase of recycled products; bill requires state to publish a recycled-products list
Summary
SB 62 directs the state procurement officer to compile and publish a list of recycled products and asks municipal procurement agents to consider recycled items; senators debated procurement-exemption language and implementation costs before passing the bill 23—0 (6 absent).
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate on Jan. 30 approved legislation (SB 62) intended to spur demand for recycled products by having the state compile and distribute a list of recycled items for use by state and local procurement officers.
Senator McMullen, sponsor of the bill, said SB 62 "instructs the state procurement officer to make available a list of those items that are available for purchase that have been recycled products" and would ask cities and counties to identify a procurement official to receive the list. He emphasized the measure is designed to create market demand and contains no mandatory purchase quotas.
Senator Steele pressed how the bill would interact with municipal competitive-bid rules that require awarding to the lowest responsive bid. "If a lowest bid is a recycled item that is of inferior quality," Steele asked, "how an entity may be exempted?" McMullen answered that existing procurement standards would control and that recycled products must meet specifications to be accepted.
The bill also includes a modest reporting mechanism to the interim committee to assess effectiveness. Senators discussed administrative costs for compiling and disseminating the list; McMullen said the state would prepare the list and distribute it so local governments would not bear the research burden.
A roll-call vote showed SB 62 passed with 23 ayes and 6 absent; it will be transmitted to the House for further action.
Next steps: bill implementation details to be managed by the procurement office; the interim committee will receive progress reports.
