Materials Management & Purchasing
Through the purchasing power of federal, state and local government agencies we can help drive down the cost of environmentally preferable products and create markets for our collected recyclables. While there are guidelines for how federal agencies should spend money related to environmentally-preferable procurement, they do not apply to state level agencies. North Carolina state agencies are governed by Executive Order 156 encouraging purchasing of environmentally preferable products as well as environmental sustainability and solid waste reduction. NC General Statute 143-58 specifies that state agencies shall use or require use of products with recycled content and eliminate procedures that inhibit such purchases.
NC State University conducts over $400,000,000 worth of purchasing annually. Purchasing across campus is decentralized by design with purchase below $5,000 being handled by individual buyers, making tracking of and education about environmentally preferable products challenging. The Purchasing Department handles all purchases over $5,000 which are required to go out for competitive bid. Purchasers have to purchase from state contract unless they find the same item at a lower price elsewhere. The buying power of state agencies is enhanced by the state contract system, which is managed by NC Division of Purchase and Contract. The university can buy from the state contract vendors at a reduced rate from the retail price. Purchasers can learn about environmentally-preferable goods from DPPEA’s Environmentally Preferable Procurement, the NC Division of Purchase and Contract, NC E-procurement and NC Project Green. Obsolete or unneeded equipment, furniture and supplies got to NC State Surplus Property for use by other departments agencies or to be sold.
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