FAR 11.3—Subpart 11.3

Policy.

FAR 11.301 sets the policy framework for how agencies may specify and verify the use of virgin, recycled, remanufactured, reconditioned, surplus, recovered-material, and biobased content in acquisitions. It limits when agencies can insist on virgin material, generally favoring recovered or alternative materials unless a law, regulation, safety need, or performance requirement justifies virgin material. It also addresses how agencies must handle identification and possible use of used, reconditioned, remanufactured, or unused former Government surplus property in noncommercial acquisitions, and how they may seek similar information in commercial-product buys while respecting normal commercial practices. In addition, it allows contracting officers to request extra information when needed to determine whether products meet minimum recovered-material or biobased standards, but requires that such requests be included in the solicitation and kept as commercially reasonable as possible. For biobased products, the rule further restricts agencies from demanding more data than other sellers would normally provide, except for confirmation of biobased content. In practice, this section is about balancing environmental and sustainability goals with market reality, competition, and the need to avoid unnecessary burdens on offerors.

Contract clause.

FAR 11.302 is a very short but important implementation rule that tells contracting officers when to include the Material Requirements clause at FAR 52.211-5. It covers one topic only: the mandatory insertion of that clause in solicitations and contracts for supplies that are not commercial products. In practice, this means the government uses the clause to control or direct the source of materials for noncommercial supply acquisitions, rather than leaving material sourcing entirely to the contractor’s discretion. The section matters because it ties the clause requirement to the type of supply being acquired, helping ensure the government can enforce material-related requirements where commercial-item flexibilities do not apply. For contracting officers, it is a checklist item during solicitation and contract preparation; for contractors, it signals that material sourcing obligations may be contractually imposed when the acquisition is outside the commercial-products framework.