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Home > Electronics Reuse and Recycling Campaign > Assistance

Assistance

• Internal Reuse
• Donation Assistance (Civilian Facilities)
• Recycling Assistance (Civilian Facilities)
• Donation and Recycling Assistance for Defense Facilities
• Estimating Electronics Weight

Internal Reuse

Internal reuse is the first option for disposition of used electronics. Some federal agencies and facilities have processes in place to track, redistribute and reuse used electronics within a facility or agency. Look for opportunities to give your electronics a second (or third or fourth) life within your facility or agency.

If your used electronics cannot be reused inside your agency, they are considered excess personal property. Generally, excess property must be reported to the General Services Administration (GSA) or Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for possible transfer and utilization by other federal agencies or authorized recipients.

Donation Assistance (Civilian Facilities)

Civilian agencies and facilities should report excess electronics through GSAXcess®. GSAXcess® is a web-enabled platform that provides authorized users a means of electronically recording, tracking and controlling the worldwide inventory of federal excess and surplus property. Other options for reporting excess equipment, and exceptions to reporting requirements, are detailed in GSA's Personal Property Disposal Guide (PDF, 8 MB).

Computers for Learning

The GSA is proud to announce the newly re-engineered Computers for Learning (CFL). CFL is a federal program that enables schools and educational nonprofit organizations to acquire excess computers and related equipment from the government.

The CFL program was implemented under Executive Order 12999, Educational Technology: Ensuring Opportunity for All Children in
the Next Century, to authorize the direct transfer of excess federal property to schools and educational nonprofit organizations to help ensure technology education opportunities for all children. The order streamlined the transfer of excess educationally useful federal property to eligible recipients by allowing a bypass of the normal federal excess and surplus screening timeframes.

Federal agencies determine what useful computer equipment is no longer needed by their agency and report it to GSA in the same way that any other excess property is reported to GSA for screening. Whether reported electronically or via hardcopy forms, property reported to GSA is entered into GSAXcess®. GSAXcess® is GSA's personal property management system. It is a web-based tool that allows authorized customers to report, search, select, and acquire excess, surplus, and exchange/sale property in real-time.

The Post Transaction Module in the GSAXcess® CFL Module provides property managers with a way to account for computers after they have been transferred to a school or eligible educational non-profit organization. While not directly participating in the CFL process, the Post Transaction Module allows an agency to have their FSC Class 70 equipment accounted for in the annual non federal recipients report.

If a federal agency transferred computers to a school that is not registered on the CFL Web site, the federal agency can simply register the school by filling in basic information, such as school name, street address, city, state, zip code and phone number. The next time the agency makes a donation to this school, the information about the school will be available and obtainable by simply putting in the zip code. Also, at the end of the fiscal year, the information is added to the agencies annual non federal recipients report.

Federal agencies and facilities must coordinate with their property management personnel prior to donating electronics through CFL. For more information on CFL, contact: computers.learning@gsa.gov; call 1-866-472-9161; or visit the CFL Web site.

Transfer of Federal Excess/Surplus Property

Excess electronics entered into GSAXcess® that are not transferred under the CFL program are offered to eligible federal entities for reuse. Federal agencies, to the maximum extent practicable, must fill requirements for personal property by using existing agency property or by obtaining excess property from other federal agencies in lieu of new procurements. Federal entities may also opt to directly transfer excess personal property to eligible federal entities in lieu of using GSAXcess®. Certain restrictions and reporting requirements apply to direct transfers.

If your used electronics are not transferred under the CFL program and can not be reused by another federal entity, they are considered surplus personal property. Generally, surplus personal property is offered through the State Agencies for Surplus Property (SASPs) for further distribution. Surplus electronics may be donated to state and local governments and eligible nonprofit organizations through the SASPs. The SASPs determine eligibility for participation in the donation program and assist eligible donees in locating, screening, and acquiring needed equipment.

To learn more about a federal agencies disposal options, go to GSA's Property Disposal Web site.

Recycling Assistance (Civilian Facilities)

Abandonment or destruction of property is generally considered only when reuse, transfer, donation, or sale has been found to be impractical or not cost effective. Obsolete and broken electronics may also be labeled for abandonment/destruction prior to going through the GSA disposition process. Used electronics that have been labeled for abandonment/destruction should be recycled, following environmentally sound practices.

Recycling of Electronics and Asset Disposition (READ) Services Contract

Federal agencies and facilities may use the Recycling of Electronics and Asset Disposition (READ) services contract to ensure environmentally sound recycling of their electronics. The READ program is administered by EPA under the Office of Management and Budget's government-wide acquisition contract (GWAC) authority. The READ Services GWAC is the first coordinated effort in the Federal Government to address the growing problem of obsolete, excess electronics stored in federal facilities. READ contractors provide all Federal agencies with a useful procurement tool to manage electronic inventories, recycle, and/or properly dispose of excess or obsolete electronics in an environmentally sound manner. The major benefits of using the READ GWAC include:

• Assurance of appropriate levels of security for sensitive electronic data contained in obsolete equipment.
• Creation of an audit trail of the equipment's final destination to ensure that reclamation and recycling efforts are reportable, thus eliminating pollution liability concerns.
• Assist Federal agencies in meeting the requirements associated with Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management.
• Ensuring that items are properly recycled in an environmentally sound manner.

For more information on the READ GWAC, please visit the READ Web site or contact David Fuller (202-564-4767, fuller.david@epa.gov), Sini Jacob (202-564-3054, jacob.sini@epa.gov) or Kami Nolte (202-564-6652, nolte.kami@epa.gov).

UNICOR

Federal agencies and facilities may also use UNICOR to recycle their electronics in an environmentally sound manner.

UNICOR is a wholly owned government corporation whose mission is to train and employ inmates housed in Federal prisons. UNICOR receives no Congressional appropriations, but instead sustains its operations through the sale of goods and services to primarily Federal agencies.

UNICOR started its first electronics recycling facility at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) located in Marianna, Florida in 1994. Since that time, UNICOR has become one of the premier electronics recyclers in the country. UNICOR has been a leader in the protection of data and environmentally compliant recycling methods. UNICOR meets all federal, state and local health, safety and environmental requirements while deriving the highest and best use for the items donated for recycling. Additionally, all asset and property tags are removed from all items and all hard drives are either destroyed completely of wiped in accordance with the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (DoD 5220.22-M). UNICOR recycling operations are both ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and IAER (International Association of Electronics Recyclers) certified.

The efforts of the recycling group were acknowledged in 1999. The recycling centers at Elkton, Ohio, and Marianna, Florida, were the recipients of the prestigious "Closing the Circle Award" from the White House for their electronics recycling activities.

In order to defray the cost of transportation, UNICOR has eight processing operations and five collection centers across the nation.

Processing Centers:

• Atwater, California
• Elkton, Ohio
• Ft. Dix, New Jersey
• Leavenworth, Kansas
• Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
• Marianna, Florida
• Texarkana, Texas
• Tucson, Arizona

Collection Centers:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Englewood, Colorado
• Miami, Florida
• Landover, Maryland
• Sheridan, Ohio

More information can be found on UNICOR's Web site.

Other Recycling Assistance Information

Federal agencies and facilities that choose not to use READ or UNICOR can use a local recycler that meets their needs. Federal agencies and facilities must practice due diligence to ensure that the electronics recycler they select utilizes environmentally sound practices, in accordance with Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management. The following FEC tools can help facilities perform due diligence:

• Checklist for Selection of Electronics Reuse and Recycling Services (PDF, 68 KB) | (Word, 272 KB)
• Guidelines for On-Site Reviews of Electronics Recyclers (PDF, 159 KB) | (Word, 772 KB)

Donation and Recycling Assistance for Defense Facilities

If you work at a Department of Defense organization, your participation will follow a slightly different path from the GSA model, as you will participate through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS). Your government-owned electronic equipment, when excess to your needs, must be reported as excess to DRMS. This process may involve physically delivering equipment to a DRMO or simply transferring accountability while temporarily retaining possession, by use of a Memorandum of Agreement established with your servicing DRMO. You may first pursue reuse or redistribution within your own organization; such reuse is both appropriate and encouraged to extend the working life of electronic equipment. Once excess to your needs, however, your equipment should be reported to DRMS. DRMS will then take responsibility for the further redistribution or recycling of the equipment, by one of the processes described below.

Once on the DRMS account, DRMS will place equipment in its inventory for worldwide screening visibility, to any DOD facility as well as for any schools registered for the DRMS application of the Computers for Learning (CFL) Program. DRMS currently has more than 3,000 schools registered for the program. See the DRMS CFL Web site for more information.

Once registered, schools can view and select computers at the same time as DOD facilities and special programs. Although DOD facilities and special programs have priority during the first 14 days of screening, the school may request property within that period, and receive it if unclaimed by DOD or special programs. Following this initial 14-day reutilization period, the property becomes eligible for Federal civil agencies first, then available for issue to state agencies for surplus property. These are the transfer and donation phases, respectively. This period lasts for 28 days, during which the property remains available to DOD special programs and other Federal and state agencies.

Next, remaining DEMIL code "A" electronic property becomes available for sale through our government sales partners. Electronic property unsuitable for redistribution or sale, as determined by DRMS, due to poor condition, severe obsolescence, or DEMIL requirements may be referred at anytime during the property management cycles to the demanufacturing processes.

Demanufacturing is the process of separating electronic equipment into metallic and non-metallic components that can be recycled and at the same time compliantly disposing of any hazardous components. Approximately 95 percent of the property that goes through the demanufacturing process will be recycled.

The demanufacturing contractor selection process included detailed document reviews and site visits to confirm the contractor's ability to properly identify and separate material. In addition, DRMS reviewed personnel training in safety and health issues and information contained in the contractor's business management, organization, operational, environmental, safety and health and security plans. The stringent technical review was accomplished to ensure environmental compliance, and accomplishment of demilitarization. DRMS maintains representatives at the contractor's DEMIL required property processing location on an on going basis to evaluate contractor performance and compliance. See the demanufacturing FAQ for more information.

Estimating Electronics Weight

The ERRC is providing the following weight estimates to assist participants in estimating the weight of the electronics they are reusing and recycling. Whenever possible, please record the actual weight of shipments sent for reuse or recycling.

If you have questions or need more information on ERRC, please contact:

Katie Miller
Office of the Federal Environmental Executive
Phone: 202-343-9841
Email: katie.miller@ofee.gov

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