King County wins first-ever environmental purchasing award

King County has won the National Association of Counties' first-ever Environmental Purchasing Award for its leadership and dedication in promoting research, market development and procurement of products and services that are environmentally friendly.

"I think it's great that NACo has created this new award, and I'm extremely happy that King County is the first winner," says King County Executive Ron Sims. "It's important for public agencies like King County to set an example for the rest of the community. We are committed to helping manufacturers of environmentally friendly products succeed in the marketplace, and we're putting our money where our mouth is. If a 'green' product maintains high performance standards and is in a similar cost range, we buy it. Recycling only works when the loop is completed and products made from recycled materials are purchased."

King County was singled out by NACo for taking a proactive approach to environmental purchasing. The county's Procurement Services Division searches out information on environmental products and then distributes the information to pertinent King County agencies to use in purchasing decisions.

Between July 1997 and June 1998, 94 percent of the paper products purchased by King County were recycled. Eric Nelson, coordinator of the county's Environmental Purchasing Program, said that number is up from just 8 percent in 1989 when the program was started. King County purchased a total of $1.6 million in recycled paper products in the 1997-1998 reporting year. The county also purchased nearly $750,000 worth of non-paper recycled products during that time. These products include recycled concrete, recycled oil, and recycled toner cartridges.

A good example of King County's green approach can be seen in the Department of Parks and Recreation, where aquatics program managers have begun using recycled glass sand instead of conventional sand in the pool filters at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way. About 18 tons of the recycled glass was recently delivered to King County Parks.

Aquatics Supervisor Duncan Eader said the cost for the recycled glass sand was about the same, but he believes it will actually outlast the conventional sand that it replaced, saving the county money over time. Eader also said the recycled glass will perform better, filtering more efficiently, producing clearer water, and requiring less water to do the job. These performance improvements will also save the county money in energy costs, water costs, and sewer costs.

King County will document how well the recycled glass sand works, and produce a case study that will be available for other public and private agencies to base purchasing decisions on. This case study should be completed within the next nine months. If the results are positive, King County Parks plans on using the recycled glass sand in other pools (the department operates 17 pools).

The recycled glass sand was purchased from a Seattle firm called TriVitro. The glass TriVitro uses to make its sand product comes from Seattle and King County recycling collection programs, in addition to window and door manufacturers. Producing sand from recycled glass saves hills from being mined for conventional sand.

"It's really exciting that the stuff we recycle every week is made into high-quality products by local industries. We all need to do what we can to help these companies build markets for their products. It's more than just saving natural resources, it's about making smart choices for our community, economy and the environment," said Dan Klusman, Executive Director of the King County Commission for Marketing Recyclable Materials.