The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of a proposed update to its Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing, aimed at helping government purchasers and other buyers to identify environmentally sustainable products.

The EPA’s Recommendations are used to help buyers identify thousands of products and services that are more sustainable, climate friendly or contain safer chemical ingredients, across 35 product and service categories, and covering environmental attributes such as conservation of energy or water, inclusion of more recycled content, or reduction in the use of PFAS and single-use plastics.

The new proposals follow the release by the Biden administration last year of a new Sustainable Products and Services procurement rule, with requirements for federal government buyers to prioritize sustainable products and services, with agencies directed to follow EPA’s Recommendations of Specifications, Standards, and Ecolabels, and expanding the categories of EPA Ecolabel standards for federal purchasing to a series of new sectors. The rules were finalized in April 2024.

The U.S. government is the world’s largest buyer of goods and services, with purchases reaching over $700 billion last year.

The update proposes expanding the Recommendations to the healthcare, laboratories, and clothing and uniforms sectors with 14 new standards and ecolabels, and expands the existing food service ware sub-category to cover products that are reusable, certified compostable, and certified recyclable.

The update also proposes removing seven standards or ecolabels that don’t meet the EPA’s recently strengthened eligibility criteria for inclusion, or have been discontinued or are no longer required by regulation.

Jennie Romer, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said:

“With hundreds of ecolabels in the marketplace, EPA’s Recommendations cut through the clutter and give federal purchasers and other sustainability-conscious consumers confidence when making purchasing decisions. The ecolabels and standards that EPA includes in the Recommendations have demonstrated that they can truly help us achieve sustainability at scale.”