Portable Toilets and Wash Stations

Green purchasing guidance for portable toilets and wash stations, including: Portable toilets (transportation, servicing/pumping, unit washing/cleaning), toilet paper, deodorizers, and portable hand washing stations (hand soap and paper towels).

Required specifications

The following have been identified as green specifications relevant to the good/services as minimum mandatory requirements. These would not be part of a scored exhibit. If you are using the Washington state procurement manual templates, the following should be inserted in the relevant document that describes the product or performance requirements.

  • All portable toilets and wash stations must be equipped with janitorial paper products (e.g., toilet tissue and paper towels) that contain that meet or exceed the US EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPGs) for Janitorial Paper Products. At a minimum, toilet tissue products must contain at least 20% post-consumer recycled content (PCRC) and paper towels must contain at least 40% PCRC.
  • All hand sanitizers must contain at least 60% ethyl alcohol. See CDC Hand Sanitizer Facts.
  • Portable toilets must be ADA compliant. See ADA requirements for portable toilets for more information.
  • Contracts that are awarded service agreements to rent or lease portable restrooms must demonstrate that they have a permit to properly discharge the contents of their equipment consistent with the Clean Water Act.
  • Portable toilets may not include deodorizers that contain para-dichlorobenzene, a PBT chemical and deodorizers may not include materials that are not biodegradable such as plastic or rubber.
  • All portable hand washing stations and toilets that include hand soap may not offer hand soaps with antibacterial ingredients such as Triclosan.
  • Washington State regulations for portable restrooms.
  • Portable toilets deodorizers that are certified by Safer Choice, Green Seal or UL ECOLOGO, or to avoid the use of deodorizers altogether.
  • Portable hand washing stations that include hand soaps that have earned one of the following third-party certifications: Green Seal, Safer Choice or UL ECOLOGO.

Preferred specifications

The following have been identified as green specifications relevant to the goods/services as preferred specifications to be scored. These would be part of your evaluation. If you are using the Washington state procurement manual templates, the following should be inserted in the relevant document that is used for evaluation.

  • State purchasing of recycled-content product. Recycled Content Purchasing Preference Policy (POL-DES-255-00) states, "In establishing environmental requirements and preferences for products that contain recycled materials, agencies shall reference the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (EPA CPGs) as the minimum standards for the state of Washington."
    Statutory Preference for Recycled Content Purchasing. Pursuant to RCW 39.26.255, Enterprise Services is providing a bid preference in the amount of ten percent (10%) per product line item tested to any bidder that provides products that have exceeded one of the recommended content level percentages or the minimum product specification, as designated by the current EPA's CPG standard. Bidders who seek to obtain the 10 percent (10%) bid preference in Exhibit C-Bid Price must identify the recycled content level of the product or indicate the product meets product specifications in Exhibit C – Bid Price.
  • Contractors that commit to use electric or other low-emissions vehicles to deliver their portable restroom and/or hand washing systems.
  • Desirable environmental and health certifications of hand sanitizers include:
    • UL ECOLOGO, Green Seal, USDA Biobased, or Cradle to Cradle (Silver or higher)
    • No fragrances or dyes.

Laws, rules, and executive orders

These laws, rules, and executive orders are the basis for these specifications: