- Operational Services Division
The Operational Services Division (OSD) recently released the FY24 Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP) Procurement Program Annual Report, summarizing OSD’s efforts to advance environmental and climate-preferable purchasing while reducing the environmental impacts of state government.
Since the inception of the EPP Procurement Program in 1994, thousands of EPPs have been incorporated into our Statewide Contracts (SWCs) and contract spending on environmental and climate-preferable products and services has grown substantially – from $5 million in FY94 to $409 million in FY24. Currently, 67 of our contracts include climate and environmental specifications, enabling EPP purchases to account for 17% of all SWC sales in FY24. The FY24 EPP Annual Report highlights several key achievements related to cost savings, revenue generation, and environmental impact:
- $9.1M in Annual Cost Savings, primarily from purchases of Energy-Efficient Products
- $11.5M in Lifetime Cost Savings, primarily from purchases of Energy-Efficient Products
- 63,996 Tons of Waste Diverted from Disposal to Recycling
- 48,491 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Reduced
- $5.8M in Annual Revenue from Demand Response Services, Sales of Renewable Energy Credits, and Surplus Property Sales
Additionally, the FY24 report outlines ongoing efforts to advance sustainable purchasing through stakeholder collaboration and buyer education. It also highlights efforts by the OSD Climate and Sustainability Unit (CSU) to collect data to evaluate SWC Vendor sustainability practices and to develop an EPP dashboard to streamline the tracking of EPP sales.
The EPP Program directly supports Executive Order (EO) 515, establishing an Environmental Purchasing Policy for all Commonwealth Executive Departments. Together, the EPP Program and the CSU play an important role in helping the Commonwealth fulfill the aspirations outlined in EO594, which focuses on decarbonizing and minimizing environmental impacts of state government. Link to the FY24 EPP Procurement Program Annual Report.
