TSA Nitrile Gloves Recycling and Disposal

PURPOSE The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to identify what innovative and cost-effective approaches exist to recycle nitrile gloves, or enable another method of environmentally-preferable disposition of nitrile gloves, and identify parties capable of supporting a such a program for the TSA Office of Occupational Safety, Health and Environment (OSHE). THERE IS NOT A SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for information does not constitute a request for proposals or a promise to contract; submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. Further, TSA is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluation will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. For further information regarding a potential solicitation, please monitor the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Acquisition Planning Forecast System (APFS) at https://apfs.dhs.gov/. BACKGROUND The TSA currently uses approximately 130 million nitrile gloves annually to support screening activities at 450 Federalized airports. The physical and chemical properties of the nitrile gloves to be recycled are as follows: Composition: Nitrile Latex (NBR) Anionic Stabilizer Potassium Hydroxide Zinc Oxide Sulphur Zinc Dithlocarbamate Group (ZDEC, ZDBC) Titanium Diozide C.I.: Blue 15 There may be occasional gloves in the waste stream made of an alternate material such as vinyl or cotton as a few TSA Transportation Security Officers may be allergic to the nitrile gloves. This amount, however, would be extremely low (trace amounts). TSA is interested in identifying innovative, cost-effective, and environmentally-preferable approaches to recycle or dispose of the nitrile gloves. ADMINISTRATIVE Responses to this request are solely for the purpose of market research. Neither do they constitute pre-competition nor will they be evaluated in any way. Likewise, this request does not commit the U.S. Government to any course of action in the future. This request is issued solely for planning and information purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contractual agreement; no basis for a claim against the Government shall arise as a result from a response to this notice or Government use of any information provided. Furthermore, the responses obtained will assist TSA with ensuring any final requirement is clearly defined to mitigate potential cost, schedule, and performance risk. The Government believes industry feedback is important and is receptive to comments and lessons learned from industry partners highlighting potential technical problem areas associated with this effort. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS If your organization has the potential capacity to recycle nitrile gloves as discussed herein, please provide the following information: 1) A cover letter that clearly identifies the following information: - Company Name - Company Address - DUNS Number - Point(s) of Contact (Name, email, and phone number) - Business Size and Socioeconomic Status - Years of Experience in Nitrile Rubber Recycling or Environmentally-Preferable Disposition - Company Overview (e.g., type of services/products offered) (Page Limit: 1 Page) 2) A white paper that clearly identifies your innovative, environmentally-preferable approach to recycle or dispose of nitrile gloves and demonstrated experience with recycling or disposing nitrile gloves and/or other nitrile products. Your white paper must also address the recycling or environmentally-preferable disposition process of the gloves and any transportation requirements involved. TSA is also interested in learning what incentives if any, you have implemented with other clients to help increase the usage and viability of an environmentally-preferable nitrile rubber program. Please note your approach should be compliant with all environmental laws, regulations, and executive orders. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and must be clearly marked. (Page Limit: 4 Pages) 3) Please submit any applicable GSA published price lists and/or line card pricing for recycling or disposing of similar products (if available). As reminder, there is no solicitation at this time and all information submitted in response to this RFI is for market research purposes only. (Page Limit: None) The information requested above must be submitted in writing and may be provided in a Microsoft Office 2010 or Acrobat Adobe PDF compatible document(s). Responses to this RFI must be submitted to TSA via electronic mail to katya.cruz@tsa.dhs.gov no later than 5:00 PM local Washington D.C. time on October 24, 2019. Responses not received by the closing date and time may not be considered or reviewed by TSA. Questions in support of this RFI will not be entertained. (End of RFI)