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DEFINITIONS
Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics (PBTs) - Toxic chemicals
that persist in the environment and increase in concentration
through food chains as larger animals consume PBT-laden smaller
animals. They transfer rather easily among air, water, and
land, and span boundaries of programs, geography, and generations.
As a result, PBTs pose risks to human health and ecosystems.
They are associated with a range of adverse human health effects,
including effects on the nervous system, reproductive and
developmental problems, cancer, and genetic impacts. They
include heavy metals and chemicals such as mercury, dioxins,
and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).
Postconsumer Recycled Content - Percentage of a product
made from materials and byproducts recovered or diverted from
the solid waste stream after having completed their usefulness
as consumer items and used in place of raw or virgin material.
Postconsumer recycled content includes materials (such as
paper, bottles, and cans) collected for recycling.
Practicable - Sufficient in performance and available
at a reasonable price.
Preconsumer Materials - Recovered materials that were
production finished materials, products or by-products that
did not reach the consumer for whose use they were intended,
and have been diverted from the solid waste stream for the
purposes of collection, recycling, and disposition.
Preferred Procurement - Within the U.S. Department
of Energy, the purchase of products with attributes specified
for purchase by the U.S. Congress.
Preferred Procurement Partnership - Informal team
of staff responsible for purchasing preferred products. Within
DOE, the responsibility for preferred procurement is spread
among multiple offices and within those offices multiple organizations,
each with the same need to promote purchase of a preferred
product via strategic plans, identifying purchasers and users
(green teams), technology transfer via teleconferences, outreach
activities, reporting, awards, and technical support for problem
solving. The offices comprising the Preferred Procurement
Partnership are:
Office of Environment, Safety, and Health (EH)
- Environmentally Preferable and Recycled Content Purchasing
Program (Office of Pollution Prevention and Resource Conservation)
- Don Lentzen
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- Buy Bio Project (Office of the Biomass Program) - Mark
Decot
- Energy/Water Efficient Products (Office of the Federal
Energy Management Program) - Joan Glickman
- Alternative Fuels/Vehicles (Office of the FreedomCar
and Vehicle Technology) - Shab Fardanesh
Office of Procurement and Assistance Management (ME)
- Procurement (Office of Procurement and Assistance Management
Policy) - Richard Langston
Price Preference - A percentage by which offered prices
for recycled products are reduced for purposes of bid evaluation.
For example, under a 10 percent price preference, if a bid
of $1.00 per unit is received for an environmentally preferable
product meeting specifications, the bid price will be reduced
by $0.10 (10 percent) and evaluated as though it had been
$0.90. If this bid results in a contact award, the price actually
contracted will be the bid price of $1.00 per unit.
Product Lifecycle - The attributes that affect a product
over its life span, including raw material acquisition, manufacturing,
distribution, use, maintenance, and ultimate disposal of the
product. (Compare with Lifecycle Cost.)
Recovered Materials - Waste materials and by-products
that have been recovered or diverted from the solid waste
stream.
Recyclable Product - A product that after its intended
end use can be diverted from the solid waste stream for use
as a raw material in the manufacture of another product.
Recycled Material - Material and byproducts that have
been recovered or diverted from solid waste and have been
utilized in place of raw or virgin material in manufacturing
a product. It is derived from postconsumer recycled materials,
manufacturing waste, industrial scrap, agricultural waste,
and other waste material, but does not include material or
byproducts generated from, and commonly reused within, an
original manufacturing process.
Refurbished Product - A product that has been completely
disassembled and restored to its original working order while
maximizing the reuse of its original materials.
Renewable Materials - Materials made from plant-based
feedstock capable of regenerating in less than 200 years such
as trees and agricultural products. Rapidly renewable resources,
such as grain-based feedstocks, regenerate in fewer than 2
years.
Sustainable - Creating and maintaining conditions
under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony,
that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements
of present and future generations.
Sustainable Product/Material - product or material
that a life cycle analysis determines is ecological, economical,
and equitable.
Teratogen - A substance that adversely affects fetal
development.
Upgradeable Product - The ability to increase a product's
performance or features without replacing the product.
Virgin Material - Any material occurring in its natural
form. Virgin Material is used in the form of raw material
in the manufacture of new products.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) - Chemicals that
readily evaporate and contribute to the formation of air pollution
when released into the atmosphere. Many VOCs are classified
as toxic and carcinogenic.
Water Efficient - A product that is in the upper 25
percent of water efficiency for all similar products, or that
is at least 10 percent more efficient than the minimum level
meeting U.S. Federal government standards.
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