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First Contracts Issued for
Environmentally Responsible Computer Disposal Throughout Federal
Government
(Note: Talk about 'knowledge sharing' through the files stored on
such equipment! Language Deception holds full sway here!)
December 29, 2004
EPA News for release: Washington, D.C.
Contact: Dave Ryan 202-564-7827 or ryan.dave@epa.gov
News Brief - EPA's latest developments
Following are some Agency developments which may interest you. If
you need more information on this subject, call the contact person
listed.
EPA has awarded its first contracts to help all federal agencies in
the environmentally responsible disposal of computers and other
used electronic equipment.
Called Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) for Recycling
Electronics and Asset Disposition (READ) services, they provide
federal agencies with a dependable method of properly recycling and
disposing of excess or obsolete electronic equipment.
The U.S. Government buys seven percent of the world's computers.
In fiscal year 2005 alone, the EPA expects federal agencies to spend
almost $60 billion on Information Technology equipment, software,
infrastructure and services.
The Government disposes of approximately 10,000 computers
every week, a significant number of which are ending up in
storage closets, warehouses and landfills, or overseas
where generally the environmental standards are lower.
Electronic equipment contains toxic materials such as lead, mercury,
chromium, cadmium, and beryllium, which, if mishandled, could
be released into the environment. This complex waste stream
poses challenging management issues and potential
liability concerns for federal facilities.
The GWAC is composed of eight contracts (three nationwide, three in
the eastern U.S. and two in western U.S.) [NOTE:
Which three are considered "western"???]
awarded to small businesses.
The contractors are Molam International, Marietta,
Georgia; Supply Chain Services, Lombard, Illinois;
UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries), Washington,
D.C.; Asset Recovery Corp., St.
Paul, Minnesota; Hesstech LLC, Edison, New Jersey;
Liquidity Services Inc., Washington, D.C.; Global
Investment Recovery, Tampa, Florida; and
Hobi International, Batavia, Illinois.
The basic contracts approved December 16, 2004, run for one
year with up to four possible one-year extensions, with a combined
potential value of up to $9 million.
Contractors must maintain an audit trail to the equipment's final
destination to ensure that reclamation and recycling efforts are
documented.
The contracts will also maximize revenues from usable electronic
equipment currently in storage through a share-in-savings (SiS)
program.
Under SiS, the contractor will attempt to identify opportunities to
save costs associated with recycling efforts and share those savings
with federal agencies to offset the latter's recycling costs.
For more information on the READ program, go to:
In a related issue encompassing all parts of American
society, not just the federal government, EPA is also working to
increase the number of consumer electronic devices collected
and safely recycled in the United States under a program called
"Plug-In To eCycling." Plug-In is one component of EPA's Resource
Conservation Challenge, a national effort to find flexible,
yet more protective ways to conserve our valuable resources.
More information on "Plug-In To eCycling" is available at:
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/plugin/index.htm.
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