Energy, environment and natural resources

Executive Order 12873: Federal Acquisition, Recycling, and Waste Prevention

President: Bill Clinton

Directed federal waste prevention, recycling and procurement of recovered-material products; EO 13101 replaced the program and expressly revoked the order.

Status: Revoked.

Is Executive Order 12873 still in effect? No. Revoked and replaced by EO 13101 in 1998.

What does Executive Order 12873 do?

EO 12873 directed executive agencies to prevent waste, recycle and buy recovered-material and environmentally preferable products, with agency plans and federal coordination. EPA implemented its procurement role through product guidelines and purchasing recommendations. In 1997, EPA announced 12 additional recycled-content product designations under the guidelines, providing a documented implementation step rather than a measure of environmental results. EO 13101 replaced the framework and revoked EO 12873 in 1998.

Administration position: The order said federal purchasing could conserve resources and help create markets for recycled products. Those were policy expectations, not a finding that every procurement produced a net environmental benefit.
SignedOctober 20, 1993
Government-wide leadsFederal Environmental Executive, EPA and OFPP
Primary toolsWaste prevention, recycling and affirmative procurement

Before and after

Before the order

RCRA procurement duties and earlier executive policies applied without EO 12873’s full management structure.

After the order

Agencies adopted plans, designated officials and purchasing practices until EO 13101 replaced the program.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Executive agenciesOperate recycling and waste-prevention programsUnder agency plans
Procurement officialsImplement preferences for designated recovered-material productsConsistent with RCRA and EPA guidance
Federal Environmental Executive, EPA and OFPPCoordinate guidance, standards, reporting and acquisition policyAcross the order’s deadlines

What happened next

EO 12873 established the program.

EPA announced 12 additional recycled-content product designations under the procurement guidelines.

EO 13101 replaced the framework and expressly revoked EO 12873.