Government operations and workforce

Executive Order 12995: Amendment to Executive Order No. 12873

President: Bill Clinton

Revised federal recycled-paper purchasing standards to support paper mills’ use of recovered material.

Status: Revoked. Is Executive Order 12995 still in effect? No. Executive Order 12995 was revoked. See Federal Register record.

What does Executive Order 12995 do?

EO 12995 amended EO 12873 by setting a 20 percent postconsumer-content minimum for specified uncoated printing and writing papers, rising to 30 percent at the end of 1998. It also allowed an alternative 50 percent recovered-material standard for qualifying non-paper waste byproducts and required consultation with the Council on Environmental Quality. EO 13101 replaced the parent procurement order in 1998, ending this amendment’s direct operation.

Administration position: The order changed federal purchasing specifications; it did not impose a general recycled-content mandate on private paper buyers.
SignedMarch 25, 1996
Initial minimum20% postconsumer material
Scheduled minimum30% from December 31, 1998

Before and after

Before the order

EO 12873 used a more complex set of paper-content standards.

After the order

Federal buyers used the revised thresholds until successor environmental procurement policy took over.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Federal procurement officialsApply revised paper-content standardsUntil replacement
Federal Environmental ExecutiveConsult the CEQ ChairDuring implementation

What happened next

EO 12995 revised the standards.

EO 13101 revoked and replaced EO 12873.

The scheduled 30 percent date arrived under the successor framework.