U.S. Agency Seeks Willing Recycler Partners to Do the Right Thing

U.S. Agency Seeks Willing Recycler Partners to Do the Right Thing

This week’s Industry Voices comes to us courtesy of Jason Shamberger, public affairs specialist at Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services (DLS), a unit of the Department of Defense (DOD).

Over the last 50 years, DLA Disposition Services has provided reverse logistics support to every major military action since the Vietnam War. The agency offers its DOD customers services like excess property disposal through reutilization, transfer and donation, equipment demilitarization, and environmentally conscious hazardous material disposal and reuse.

One of the ways DLA Disposition Services continues to modernize and become more efficient is by pursuing new business opportunities and creating new partnerships. One such partnership is with ISRI, whose annual conference and exhibition serves as a chance for increased DLA exposure to a new audience and the potential for valuable networking with different companies.

“There are people at this conference who will have the opportunity to come by our booth and ask, ’Who are you and what can we do for you?’” Division Chief Nate Barnes says. “The purpose is to share who we are, what we’re capable of, what we have available, and to just bring people into the fold so they can understand DLA’s mission and capabilities better.”

The goal is to expand the number of sales referral contacts through these types of interactions. Once we make contacts, the agency can better explain what services it contracts out as part of its support for warfighters.

DLA is not only concerned with ensuring efficient disposal of property but also that it is done in an environmentally friendly way. In certain cases, companies can dispose of materials using more environmentally responsible methods of recycling. “We’re trying to get recyclable materials into the hands of those who are capable of properly disposing of materials,” Barnes says.

There are multiple companies DLA identified ahead of ISRI2022 as potential business partners. As a result, a mutually beneficial relationship between DLA and potential customers is being explored.

“[ISRI2022] was a tremendous opportunity for DLA Disposition Services to participate in the recycling industry’s largest in-person event,” says Mike Rose, DLA scrap sales chief. “We gained valued knowledge in several key areas specific to the direction scrap organizations are shifting to address current and future industry challenges. This information will allow senior leaders to appropriately make decisions on how we can best align our processes to continue to be a viable disposal solution for DOD’s largest combat support agency.”

One of the ways DLA is looking to further establish relations is by establishing an “industry day” for customers to witness property disposal operations firsthand. The potential outreach event will likely take place at a yet-to-be determined field site.

Images courtesy of DLA Disposition Services. Body image 1 caption: Nate Barnes, division chief of DLA Disposition Services. Body image 2 and featured image caption: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and DLA Disposition Services leaders visit a barge loaded with large industrial plant equipment bound for recycler in Washington state.