N.Y. General Municipal Law § 104-a: Purchasing of products for public use

§ 104-a. Purchasing of products for public use. Notwithstanding the

provisions of section one hundred three of this chapter, when purchasing

products the officer, board or agency of any political subdivision or of

any district therein charged with the awarding of public contracts may,

wherever recycled products meet contract specifications and the price of

such products is reasonably competitive, purchase such products. For the

purpose of this section and until July first, nineteen hundred

ninety-six, "recycled product" shall mean any product which has been

manufactured from secondary materials, as defined in subdivision one of

section two hundred sixty-one of the economic development law, and meets

secondary material content requirements adopted by the office of general

services under subdivision one of section one hundred seventy-seven of

the state finance law for products available to the political

subdivision or district under state contract or, if no such contract for

such product is available, any product which meets the secondary

material content requirements adopted by the political subdivision or

district thereof with respect to a specific commodity procurement by

such entity. On and after July first, nineteen hundred ninety-six,

"recycled product" shall mean, for the purposes of this section, any

product which is manufactured from secondary materials, as defined in

subdivision one of section two hundred sixty-one of the economic

development law, and which meets the requirements of subdivision two of

section 27-0717 of the environmental conservation law and regulations

promulgated pursuant thereto. For the purpose of this section,

"reasonably competitive" shall mean that the cost of the recycled

product does not exceed a cost premium of ten percent above the cost of

a comparable product that is not a recycled product or, if at least

fifty percent of the secondary materials utilized in the manufacture of

that product are generated from the waste stream in New York state, the

cost of the recycled product does not exceed a cost premium of fifteen

percent above the cost of a comparable product that is not a recycled

product.

Whenever such officer, board or agency shall purchase or cause the

purchase of printing on recycled paper pursuant to this section, he or

she shall require the printed material to contain the official state

recycling emblem established pursuant to subdivision two of section

27-0717 of the environmental conservation law and regulations

promulgated pursuant thereto if such paper has been approved by the

department of environmental conservation as satisfying the requirements

of such statute and regulations, or, if such paper has not been so

approved, require the printed material to include a printed statement

which indicates the percentages of pre-consumer and post-consumer

recycled material content of such paper.