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Request for Information (RFI) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES REGIONALIZE DeCA Cardboard, PLASTIC, and OFFICE PAPER Sales Agreements THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. THIS REQUEST IS FOR PLANNING ... Request for Information (RFI) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES REGIONALIZE DeCA Cardboard, PLASTIC, and OFFICE PAPER Sales Agreements THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. THIS REQUEST IS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN INVITATION FOR BIDS, A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, A SOLICITATION, A REQUEST FOR QUOTES, OR AN INDICATION THE GOVERNMENT WILL CONTRACT FOR THE ITEMS CONTAINED IN THIS NOTICE. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT REIMBURSE RESPONDENTS FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH SUBMISSION OF THE INFORMATION BEING REQUESTED OR REIMBURSE EXPENSES INCURRED TO INTERESTED PARTIES FOR RESPONSES. BACKGROUND The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), with headquarters at Fort Lee, Virginia, operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and veterans. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America's military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country. DeCA continually seeks opportunities to enhance the benefits and services provided to the customers. DeCA is exploring the feasibility of one sales agreement or regional area sales agreements for recycling services (cardboard, plastic, and office paper). The required services shall provide all labor, transportation, equipment, materials, supervision to manage, and perform all operations incidental to the collection, transportation, and recycling of cardboard, plastic, and office paper for 158 commissaries located throughout the United States. After the results from the RFI are submitted and analyzed, DeCA will solicit sales agreement - requesting bidders to provide a percent of published OBM rates (cardboard) for each location to include secondary material pricing for plastic. Tentative agreement solicitation date NLT Feb 5, 2021. PURPOSE The focus of this RFI is to seek feedback from the recycling industry and companies who currently provide recycling services for DeCA. DeCA has developed 2 potential plans for the recycling services: One sales agreement for commissaries located in the United States - or five regional area sales agreements (Regional Areas 1-5). DeCA is also seeking additional comments for consideration of alternate groupings. See Table One tab of the attached spreadsheet for breakdown of areas and see the Store Locations tab for commissary addresses (addresses can also be found at the following link: https://www.commissaries.com/shopping/store-locations/find-a-store). The areas can also be viewed through the attached PowerPoint slide. Estimated tonnage for each location: cardboard, plastic, and paper is located within the attached Table One. In addition to the proposed plans above, DeCA is interested in seeking companies that will provide an interactive web portal, granting DeCA employees access to a company web-based portal. The portal will be used by DeCA employees to review and download recycled data in MS excel form, i.e., number of bales, type of recycled material, date of pick up, weight of recycled material, commissary location and revenue payments made to DeCA. All payments made to DeCA will require electronic payments for cardboard, plastic, and office paper. Will your company provide this type of service? All inquiries (technical, contractual, administrative), questions, or clarifications of any kind must be submitted via email to the technical POCs, telephone inquiries will be accepted. Responses must be delivered to the POCs no later than 4:00 PM, Local Time, Fort Lee Virginia, on Jan 8, 2021 See technical POCs item 6 below. PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR RESPONSE TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: One sales agreement for 158 commissaries listed in Table One. Under this sales agreement arrangement, the bidder will be required to place one bid for the 158 commissaries. The award would go to the highest bidder and the bidder will accept all the stores listed in Table One (158). Please provide your comments about the one sales agreement proposed plan for the 158 commissaries, will your company provide a bid for the upcoming solicitation (tentative date Feb 2021)? Please indicate yes or no on Scenario 1 (see attached excel spreadsheet). Again, this is one sales agreement - for all 158 commissaries. Five regional area sales agreements (Regional Area 1, Regional Area 2, Regional Area 3, Regional Area 4, and Regional Area 5) for the 158 commissaries. Under this sales agreement arrangement, the bidder would be required to bid on one or more regional areas. The bidder will accept all stores within the regional area selected; see five regional areas listed in Table One (Scenario 2). The award would go to the highest bidder per area. Please provide your comments about the five regional area sales agreement proposed plan for the 158 commissaries, will your company provide a bid for one or more regional areas for the upcoming solicitation? Please indicate yes or no on Scenario 2 (see attached excel spreadsheet). DeCA is also seeking your alternate grouping ideas and why this grouping would be more reflective of industry practices, or why this grouping would be more advantageous to the Government. Does your company have alternative groupings? DeCA is seeking companies that incorporate quality controls within their business processes. We are seeking companies that will provide timely pickup service, focused on reducing recycling contamination and creating efficiencies. Please provide comments to the questions below: DeCA is a military grocery store, timely pickup of recycled commodities is important to prevent rodents and insects. Will your company be able to meet the frequency pickup plan for cardboard, plastic and office paper (see Table One recommended pick up plan)? Does your company recommend an alternative pickup plan? Please input alternative pickup plans within the attached spreadsheet under the green highlighted columns. Proper identification and documentation to gain access to the military installation is the vendor’s responsibility. To ensure there are no disruptions in service communication between the primary vendor, haulers and the commissary is important. Will your company provide this level of service? DeCA is seeking input on the current recycling market, future profitability. Will cardboard, plastic (shrink-wrap), and office paper continue to be revenue-generating commodities? Does your company have any recommendation that will maximize revenue for DeCA and your company? Contractors will have the option of utilizing the DeCA furnished forklifts or their own. Is the use of the government forklift helpful? Please indicate within Table One the locations that potentially will require the use of a government forklift. Recommended Logistical Pickup Plan: Our intent is to receive input from industry as to what is the best pick up plan (optimal). The goal is to maximize revenue for DeCA and their business partner. We are seeking your recommendations. Please provide comments about DeCA’s recommended pickup plan and provide alternatives that will maximize revenue. Several DeCA locations place the cardboard and plastic bales outside. Is this common industry practice for grocery stores to cover cardboard and plastic bales to keep the material dry? Recycling plastic (shopping bags and shrink-wrap) is a challenge for several DeCA commissaries. When the sales agreement is released for bids, vendors will be requested to provide a percent of plastic index rates. Please indicate within Table One that if there is a market for the sale of DeCA’s plastic your company will provide pickup services. If there is no market, DeCA will place the plastic in the trash; however, if market prices increase the contracting officer will negotiate reasonable pricing and your company will be required to recycle plastic. See Example tab. If DeCA was to implement a recycling policy that only included Grade A (see below); will the plastic be more marketable. A Grade Plastic Film • Bales must contain at least 97% clean, dry, clear stretch/shrink film/clear polyethylene bags • Less than 3% colored, print, labels, HDPE, LDPE bags. NO BLACK film or bags. • No PVC or PVDC (Saran) films (meat wrap is PVC). • No moisture – dry bales only. • No trash, food trash, bottles, loose paper or corrugated materials inside bales (attached paper labels ok as long as they are not excessive). • No strapping twine or tape (within the bale). • No wood, broken pallet pieces or pallets. • No Polystyrene, Polyurethane foams, Polypropylene or PET. • No oil or grease. • No hazardous materials, medical wastes, nor containers used to package these products. • No aluminum cans or metal. B Grade Plastic Film • Bales must contain at least 90% clean, dry, clear stretch/shrink film/clear polyethylene bags • Less than 10% colored film, print, labels, HDPE, LDPE bags. • No moisture – dry bales only. • No trash, food products, bottles, loose paper or corrugated materials inside bales. • No PVC (meat wrap is PVC) or PVDC (Saran) films. • No strapping twine or tape (within the bale). • No wood, broken pallet pieces or pallets. • No Polystyrene, Polyurethane foams, Polypropylene or PET. • No oil or grease. • No hazardous materials, medical wastes, nor containers used to package these products. • No aluminum cans or metal. C Grade Plastic Film • Bales must contain at least 85% clean, dry, clear stretch/shrink film/clear polyethylene bags • Less than 15% colored film, print, labels, HDPE, LDPE bags. • No moisture – dry bales only. • No trash, food products, bottles, loose paper, or corrugated materials inside bales. • No PVC (meat wrap is PVC) or PVDC (Saran) films. • No wood, broken pallet pieces or pallets. • No Polystyrene, Polyurethane foams, Polypropylene or PET. • No oil or grease. • No hazardous materials, medical wastes, nor containers used to package these products. • No aluminum cans or metal. Mixed Color Plastic Film • Bales contain a Polyethylene content of less than 50% clear stretch/shrink film and/or clear polyethylene grocery bags; and more than 50% clean colored film and/or LDPE bags. • Bales may include plastic strapping. • Bales may include paper labels or stickers. • No trash, food products, bottles, loose paper or corrugated materials inside bales. • No PVC (meat wrap is PVC) or PVDC (Saran) films. • No strapping twine or tape (within the bale). • No wood, broken pallet pieces or pallets. • No moisture – dry bales only • No oil or grease. • No hazardous materials, medical wastes, nor containers used to package these products. • No aluminum cans or metal. Are you registered and active in the System for Award Management (SAM)? If so, please provide your Cage Code and DUNS number. Note: You must be registered with an Active status in SAM to bid on any Government solicitations. It is strongly encouraged that you start this process early; it can take several months to update/complete your registration. 4. RESPONSES This section contains all information required to submit a response. No additional forms or other materials are needed. DeCA appreciates responses from all capable and qualified sources that meet the following format: A one-page cover sheet with title, organization(s), responder's technical and administrative points of contact including names, titles, postal address, phone numbers, and email addresses. Please number the pages; comments are not limited in format or length. Address the objectives above. The Government is not seeking lengthy detailed responses. To the extent possible, all responses should be unclassified and for general access by the Government, other evaluators, and other respondents. Any material provided may be used in development of future solicitations. Any proprietary information submitted must be clearly and separately identified and marked and will be appropriately protected. The Government will NOT be responsible for any proprietary information not clearly marked. 5. DISCLAIMERS AND NOTES This is a Request for Information (RFI) only, does not constitute a program or contractual solicitation. DeCA is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of submissions or of the information received or to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. 6. TECHNICAL POINTS OF CONTACT: For technical questions please email both POCs below, this will ensure we provide timely answers to your questions or concerns. Mark Charpentier Management and Program Analyst Defense Commissary Agency, 804-734-8000 ext. 48415 Mark.Charpentier@deca.mil Kim Short Recycling Program Analyst Defense Commissary Agency, 804-734-8000 ext. 48042 Kim.Short@deca.mil