DEA's Western Laboratory wins Federal Green Challenge Award for recycling efforts

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Western Laboratory was awarded the Federal Green Challenge Award for electronics recycling in 2014 on Tuesday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the DEA's Western Laboratory in San Francisco recycled and donated over 8,200 pounds of electronics, which was an increase of 10 percent from 2013 and the highest increase at a federal facility last year.

“We applaud DEA’s waste reduction achievements and hope they inspire more organizations to keep electronics from ending up in landfills,” EPA Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest Jared Blumenfeld said in presenting the award at the DEA’s National Lab Directors Conference. “Through their hard work, the staff at the Western Lab achieved amazing results – recycling and donating thousands of pounds of electronics in just one year.”

Electronics recycling is important due to its environmental benefits – reducing energy and water use as well as the amount of materials mined – and its ability to provide equipment to those in need. Much of the DEA’s Western Laboratory’s equipment went to colleges and universities and was donated through a certified electronics recycler.

“Our environmental management team quickly recognized the challenges that the relocation of our laboratory would bring to our traditional recycling activities,” DEA Western Laboratory Director Bryan Henderson said. “This challenge was utilized as an opportunity to make significant contributions to the recycling program as the team identified and streamlined the equipment necessary to complete our mission.”