1. Overview - The University of Florida has embarked on an initiative to serve as a laboratory for sustainability, to form partnerships with local and regional stakeholders in its sustainability efforts, and to provide international leadership for sustainability. Surplus Property staff working with the campus community plays an important role in this mission by ensuring that electronic equipment is reduced, re-used and/or recycled.

2. Purpose - The purpose of this directive it to minimize the effects of the University of Florida's electronic waste on the environment by reducing, re-using and/or recycling electronic equipment and materials while meeting all local, state and federal regulations.

   By working together, we can all contribute to the University's sustainability goals.
    

3. Examples of Electronic Equipment and Materials

   Cables Calculators Cameras Cell Phones Circuit Boards Computer Racks Connectors Converters Copiers/UPS CPUs Computers CRT Monitors DVD Players Fax Machines Hard Drives Keyboards Mice Laptops Mainframes Medical Equipment

   Memory Devices Microfiche Readers Modems Moving Vehicles Optical Drives PDAs POS Equipment Power backup Printers Projectors Repeater Research and Testing Equipment Tracking Devices Surge protectors Splitter & Cluster Boxes Tape Drives Telecom Equipment Televisions Transceivers VCR Players

   Because electronic equipment contains a high level of lead and other hazardous materials, it has been deemed to be harmful to the environment. As such, the University of Florida has taken measures to minimize such environmental damage.

4. Management and Disposal of Electronic Equipment

   1. Management of Electronic Equipment by Departments

      1. Departments are encouraged to review the list of surplus equipment available on Surplus Property’s website before purchasing new equipment.
      2. Departments are encouraged to not stockpile and/or store equipment for extended periods of time and to send such equipment to the Surplus Warehouse so that the equipment can be made available for other departments to actively use.
      3. Departments are encouraged to perform preventative maintenance on equipment to sustain its useful life.
          

      Through this effort, the University reduces the unnecessary purchase of electronic equipment that is already available from the Surplus Warehouse, as well as encouraging the re-use of available equipment suitable for other purposes.

   2. Completing a Report of Survey Form

   1. Departments are encouraged to initiate a request to pickup surplus equipment in myAssets whenever they discover they have equipment that is no longer needed in their department.
   2. When departments send electronic equipment to the Surplus Warehouse, the Units will indicate on the survey form whether the equipment is working or non-working.
   3. It is the responsibilities of all departments sending equipment to the Surplus Warehouse to ensure that all sensitive data has been permanently removed from all electronic devices. This includes, but is not limited to, data that is confidential, for internal use only, protected health information, or any other sensitive information that is not to be made publicly available.
   4. The departments must indicate on the survey form that all sensitive data has been permanently removed from all electronic devices. Guidance on removing such data can be found at http://fa.ufl.edu/am/destroy-data.asp.
   
   

5. Obtaining Electronic Equipment from the Surplus Warehouse

   1. All electronic equipment identified as working is first advertised for 14 days on the Surplus Property website to allow other departments the opportunity to re-use the equipment.

      Note:
      Departments may be limited on the number of electronic equipment items each Unit can obtain from the Surplus Warehouse during a specified time period. This is intended to provide equal opportunity for all departments to choose the most valued electronic equipment available from the Surplus Warehouse.

   2. Auction of Electronic Equipment to Students, Staff and Private Individuals - If working electronic equipment has not been obtained by a department and is less than five (5) years old and/or contains new technology, the equipment becomes available by the Surplus Warehouse to students, staff and private individuals to purchase through online auction or sale. In such circumstance, the following conditions apply:

      • The equipment is sold individually and not in bulk.
      • A minimum fair market value will be stipulated for the beginning bid price.
      • The purchaser will be contractually required to return the electronic equipment to the Surplus Warehouse in the unlikely event that any sensitive information still exists on the electronic device.
      • The purchaser must agree in contract to use the equipment appropriately according to all local, state and federal regulations.
      • The purchaser must agree in contract to dispose of such equipment as required by local, state and federal regulations.
      • The purchaser is restricted to the number of items that can be bid upon during a specified time period.
         

   3. Donations of Equipment to Other Governmental Entities and Non-Profit Organizations - State, Government, and Non-Profit Organizations are allowed to obtain working electronic equipment from the Surplus Warehouse that has not been obtained by departments, is less than five (5) years old and/or contains new technology. The following conditions apply:

      • The equipment is not needed by another UF department or under bid.
      • The non-profit organization has proper certification.
      • The equipment is taken individually and not in bulk.
      • The organization will be contractually required to return the electronic equipment to the Surplus Warehouse in the unlikely event that any sensitive information still exists on the electronic device.
      • The organization agrees in contract to use the equipment appropriately according to all local, state and federal regulations.
      • The organization agrees in contract to dispose of such equipment as required by local, state and federal regulations.
      • A limitation may be set to control the number of items an organization can receive during a specified time period.
         

   4. Recycling Unsold and Non-Working Electronic Equipment - If working electronic equipment is not sold or donated within a reasonable time frame, the equipment will be sent to an approved recycling vendor along with non-working electronic equipment.

      Surplus Property will not sell or donate electronic equipment (working or non-working) in bulk unless the buyer has been approved as a recycler by Environmental Health and Safety and vendor pricing has been approved by Asset Management.