Executive Order 13101: Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition
President: Bill Clinton
Directed federal agencies to reduce waste and favor recycled and environmentally preferable purchasing.
Status: Revoked — by EO 13423 in 2007.
Is Executive Order 13101 still in effect? No. EO 13423 revoked it in 2007.
What does Executive Order 13101 do?
EO 13101 told federal agencies to build waste prevention and recycling into daily operations and purchasing. It set up federal and agency environmental executives, procurement programs, tracking and reports, and revoked an earlier 1993 purchasing order. Its instructions were for executive-branch management and did not create a private right to force a purchase. EO 13423 revoked it in 2007; current federal purchasing requirements must be found in later law, rules and policy.
Before and after
Before the order
EO 12873 supplied prior federal recycled-product purchasing directions.
After the order
Agencies had planning, affirmative procurement, training and reporting duties under EO 13101.
EO 13423 later revoked the 1998 order.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| Executive agencies | Reduce waste and use lawful environmentally preferable procurement | Historical 1998 policy |
| Federal Environmental Executive and agency counterparts | Coordinate implementation and reporting | During the order’s life |
| Procurement staff | Consider recovered materials and justify certain departures | During the order’s life |
What happened next
EO 13101 signed and revoked EO 12873.
EO 13423 revoked EO 13101.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The order invoked the Solid Waste Disposal Act and RCRA purchasing provisions and expressly limited itself to internal executive-branch management. Revocation ended this order’s prospective directions; it did not repeal the underlying statute.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
- GovInfo — EO 13101 (opens in a new tab) Order text
- National Archives — 1998 disposition (opens in a new tab) Official record
- EPA — federal purchasing history (opens in a new tab) Official record
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 23, 2026. How we research →