[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 71 (Monday, April 14, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 18072-18074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-9517]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 247

[SWH-FRL-5810-8]
RIN 2050-AE23


Comprehensive Guideline for Procurement of Products Containing 
Recovered Materials; Proposal To Designate Ink Jet Cartridges

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Data Availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice summarizes information submitted in response to 
the Environmental Protection Agency's November 7, 1996 proposal to 
designate ink jet cartridges as a procurement item under section 6002 
of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Based on this new 
information, the Agency believes that there is insufficient evidence to 
support a designation at this time. As a result, the Agency has 
tentatively decided it will not include ink jet cartridges as a 
designated item in the final Comprehensive Procurement Guideline when 
it is promulgated. This notice summarizes the information available to 
the Agency and requests additional information from interested parties.

DATES: EPA will accept public comments on the information in this 
notice until May 14, 1997.

ADDRESSES: To comment on this notice, send an original and two copies 
of comments to: RCRA Information Center (5305W), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. Reference 
docket number F-96-CP2P-FFFFF on the comments.
    If any information is confidential, it should be identified as 
such. An original and two copies of Confidential Business Information 
(CBI) must be submitted under separate cover to: Document Control 
Officer (5305W), Office of Solid Waste, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460.
    Documents related to the proposal to designate ink jet cartridges 
are available for viewing at the RCRA Information Center (RIC), which 
is located at: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1235 Jefferson 
Davis Highway, Ground Floor, Crystal Gateway One, Arlington, VA 22202. 
The RIC is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except for Federal holidays. The public must make an appointment to 
review docket materials by calling (703) 603-9230. Copies cost $.15 per 
page.

[[Page 18073]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

    General procurement guidelines information: RCRA Hotline at (800) 
424-9346, TDD (800) 553-7672 (hearing impaired) or, in the Washington, 
DC area at (703) 412-9810.
    Proposed ink jet cartridge designation: Dana Arnold, (703) 308-
7279.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 7, 1996, EPA proposed to 
designate ink jet cartridges as a procurement item under section 6002 
of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). (See 61 FR 
57747.) Based on a preliminary evaluation of public comments and 
additional information submitted in response to the proposal, the 
Agency has tentatively concluded that the record does not support a 
designation of ink jet cartridges at this time.

I. Authority

    42 U.S.C. 6912(a) and 6962; E.O. 12873, 58 FR 54911.

II. Background

    Section 6002(e) of RCRA requires EPA to designate items that are or 
can be made with recovered materials and to recommend practices to 
assist procuring agencies in meeting their obligations with respect to 
designated items under RCRA section 6002. After EPA designates an item, 
RCRA requires that each procuring agency, when purchasing a designated 
item, must purchase that item composed of the highest percentage of 
recovered materials practicable.
    Executive Order 12873 (the Executive Order) establishes the 
procedure for EPA to follow in implementing RCRA section 6002(e). 
Section 502 of the Executive Order directs EPA to issue a Comprehensive 
Procurement Guideline (CPG) that designates items that are or can be 
made with recovered materials. Concurrent with the CPG, EPA must 
publish its recommended procurement practices for purchasing designated 
items, including recovered materials content levels, in a related 
Recovered Materials Advisory Notice (RMAN). The Executive Order also 
directs EPA to update the CPG annually and to issue RMANs periodically 
to reflect changing market conditions. The first CPG was published on 
May 1, 1995 (60 FR 21370). It established eight product categories, 
including Non-Paper Office Products, and designated items within those 
categories.
    On November 7, 1996 (61 FR 57747), EPA proposed to designate 13 
additional items in the CPG (CPG II). The CPG II proposal included ink 
jet cartridges in the Non-Paper Office Products category. Ink jet 
cartridges are used in office equipment such as printers, facsimile 
machines, and plotters. They consist of plastic cases containing ink, a 
pump, filters, internal circuitry, and print heads (nozzles).
    In the background documents for the proposed CPG II and the 
companion draft RMAN, EPA discussed why it had initially concluded that 
ink jet cartridges were items that are or may be produced with 
recovered materials content. EPA explained that spent ink jet 
cartridges could be refilled or remanufactured. Consequently, in 
Section G-7 of the companion draft RMAN (61 FR 57760), EPA's tentative 
recommendations suggested that, in order to procure ink jet cartridges, 
agencies adopt one or both of the following approaches. An agency 
could: (1) procure ink jet cartridge refilling services or (2) procure 
refilled ink jet cartridges. EPA further recommended that procuring 
agencies establish policies giving priority to refilling their spent 
ink jet cartridges and, if refilling services are unavailable or 
impractical, to purchase refilled ink jet cartridges.

III. Issues Raised by Commenters

    Commenters raised a number of concerns in response to EPA's 
proposal to designate ink jet cartridges. These included the impact of 
the proposed ink jet cartridge designation on the solid waste stream, 
the performance of refilled ink jet cartridges, and product 
availability.
    Subsequent to the close of the public comment period, EPA met with 
one of the commenters (a major manufacturer of ink jet equipment and 
ink jet cartridges) to discuss the proposed ink jet cartridge 
designation. Minutes of this meeting have been added to RCRA Docket F-
96-CP2P-FFFFF to make the information received at the meeting available 
for public review. In addition, EPA contacted the U.S. General Services 
Administration's (GSA) Federal Supply Service to discuss GSA's public 
comments on the proposed ink jet cartridge designation and issues 
raised by the ink jet equipment manufacturers. A summary of information 
obtained during these conversations has also been added to RCRA Docket 
F-96-CP2P-FFFFF.

A. Impact on the Solid Waste Stream

    One of the underlying purposes of the procurement guidelines 
program is to harness Federal purchasing power to develop markets for 
materials recovered from solid waste. As explained above, once EPA 
designates an item, RCRA section 6002 requires a procuring agency to 
purchase a designated item containing the highest percentage of 
recovered materials practical. This means that EPA's designations can 
help to create markets for recovered materials by creating markets for 
products made from those materials. Given this potential, an important 
element that EPA considers in its designation decision is whether 
designation of a particular item will significantly reduce discarded 
materials in the solid waste stream through the promotion of the 
recovery of materials, including post-consumer materials. Thus, when 
considering whether to designate an item, EPA examines the likely 
impact of the designation on the volume of solid waste generated and 
discarded annually.
    In the background document for the proposed CPG II, ``Comprehensive 
Procurement Guideline (CPG) II--Supporting Analyses,'' EPA stated that 
ink jet cartridges are composed primarily of plastic, and plastics 
constituted 10 percent of municipal solid waste in 1994. Approximately 
80 to 90 million ink jet cartridges are discarded annually. EPA was not 
able to quantify the amount of ink jet cartridges discarded by Federal 
agencies, however.
    Commenters noted that ink jet cartridges weigh approximately 1.40 
ounces, which would equate to 3,400-3,900 tons of plastic discards 
annually. The plastics comprising the largest fraction of the municipal 
solid waste stream are polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density 
polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl 
chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS). Items 
designated in the original CPG contain one or more of these plastics, 
thus helping to create markets for these larger constituents of the 
plastics waste stream. By contrast, commenters stated that ink jet 
cartridges contain a specialty plastic and currently cannot be made 
with recovered materials. Therefore, designating ink jet cartridges 
would not create end-use markets for plastics recovered from municipal 
solid waste and would not have a significant impact on the solid waste 
stream.
    In addition, it has been brought to EPA's attention that ink jet 
cartridge refill kits generate a larger volume of solid waste than 
discarded ink jet cartridges, including the packaging. The kits include 
plastic containers for the replacement ink, tools for puncturing the 
cartridges in order to add the ink, and plastic and paper packaging. 
According to the information provided to EPA through public comments, 
refill kits have a three to four times larger

[[Page 18074]]

share of the refill market than do vendors that refill and return ink 
jet cartridges to the user. Thus, the initial result of an ink jet 
cartridge designation could well be a net increase in solid waste, 
albeit a small increase when compared to the total amount of solid 
waste generated annually.

B. Performance

    EPA's initial research indicated inconsistent quality among the ink 
jet cartridge refill kits and between the products of the ink jet 
cartridge refillers. EPA's research also indicated a lack of quality 
control standards for refillers and refill kits. Thus, while some 
refillers are able to produce refilled ink jet cartridges with 
acceptable performance characteristics, others have not been able to do 
so consistently. Because there are no testing or other quality control 
standards for procuring agencies to reference in their solicitations, 
the quality of refilled ink jet cartridges may be of concern.
    Further, EPA's initial research indicated that users of refilled 
ink jet cartridges had sometimes experienced clogged nozzles and other 
performance problems. EPA has received additional information in the 
public comments that indicates performance problems have occurred. 
According to one commenter, refilled ink jet cartridges can create a 
number of problems, ranging from diminished ink quality to interference 
with the proper operation of the ink jet nozzle. Commenters also 
provided anecdotal information that faulty refilled ink jet cartridges 
can and have caused damage to the office equipment in which they were 
used. EPA discussed these performance concerns with GSA and found that, 
because GSA has offered refilled ink jet cartridges only recently, no 
record of customer satisfaction has been established. EPA seeks 
additional information about the performance of refilled ink jet 
cartridges, in particular the potential for damage to office equipment 
caused by the use of this item.
    EPA also has received conflicting information about whether ink jet 
cartridges are designed to be refilled. Some original equipment 
manufacturers stated, in their public comments, that the components in 
ink jet cartridges are designed to last only for the supply of original 
ink. In other words, ink jet cartridges are designed to be disposable. 
However, there is evidence that ink jet cartridges can and are being 
refilled and can perform adequately, even if they are not performing 
identically to a new replacement ink jet cartridge.

C. Product Availability

    EPA's initial research identified 24 companies that refill ink jet 
cartridges for customers nationwide. In its comments, a major 
manufacturer of new replacement ink jet cartridges questioned whether 
refillers offer national coverage, particularly to rural areas, 
although this manufacturer did not provide any hard evidence to the 
contrary. This manufacturer also commented that its products are 
available immediately, while refilled ink jet cartridges may not be 
available immediately. Again, the manufacturer did not substantiate 
this statement.
    EPA has never limited its designations only to items that are 
available immediately in every part of the United States. Because the 
purpose of the federal buy-recycled program is to develop markets for 
products containing recovered materials, it has always been understood 
that these items might not be available to all procuring agencies in 
all instances. Rather, it is expected that, as procuring agencies seek 
to purchase products containing recovered materials, these items will 
become more widely and universally available. For this reason, RCRA 
section 6002 provides that procuring agencies are not required to buy 
an EPA-designated item containing recovered materials if that item is 
not available within a reasonable time. Nevertheless, the availability 
of refilling services and refilled ink jet cartridges is a 
consideration for EPA when designating ink jet cartridges. Therefore, 
EPA seeks additional information about the availability of refilled ink 
jet cartridges and refilling services.

IV. Conclusion

    Usage of ink jet printers, facsimile machines, and plotters is 
increasing rapidly. The ink jet cartridge supplier industry also is 
evolving rapidly, as is the technology to refill ink jet cartridges. 
EPA believes that, consistent with the Agency's waste management 
hierarchy, which promotes waste prevention and recycling, ink jet 
cartridges should be designed to be refillable and/or recyclable, 
rather than disposable. However, these products must serve their 
intended purpose and perform in an acceptable manner. While the Agency 
acknowledges that some refilled ink jet cartridges may be of high 
quality, the questions about the performance of refilled cartridges 
discussed by commenters raise legitimate concerns that warrant further 
consideration before the Agency designates ink jet cartridges in the 
CPG. Moreover, designation of ink jet cartridges would not have a 
significant impact on the solid waste stream because the specialty 
plastic used in these cartridges cannot currently be made with 
recovered materials. There is, in addition, some concern that 
designation could actually result, in the near term, in a small 
increase in the generation of solid waste associated with ink jet 
cartridges. At this time, ink jet cartridge refill kits are generating 
more waste than discarded cartridges. Based on these factors, EPA has 
tentatively concluded that it is premature to designate ink jet 
cartridges at this time. EPA solicits comment on the information 
discussed in this notice and on the other newly docketed information 
referenced in this notice.

    Dated: April 8, 1997.
David A. Bussard,
Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. 97-9517 Filed 4-11-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P