Materials Management: Traditional Approaches
Traditional approaches to the purchase, use, and disposal of goods in local governments have put short-term budgetary concerns and technical specifications ahead of environmental impacts and long-term costs. These approaches include the following:
PROCUREMENT
The process through which governments purchase goods and professional services. The process is regulated by federal, state, and local laws that can be very complex. Although a detailed analysis of local government procurement processes is beyond the scope of this overview, some of the essential elements are described below.
Most local governments have a central procurement office responsible for ensuring that all contracts comply with federal, state, and local regulations. These laws can be very complex and address areas as varied as forms of public advertisements and methods of payment. Professional procurement officers provide necessary technical expertise in this complex field. However, other personnel and offices can be empowered with limited purchasing authority, particularly for contracts with smaller dollar values, in an effort to provide flexibility and efficiency in service delivery.
A standards-based approach aims to ensure competition through the proper identification and description of standards and technical specifications for the items or services being purchased. This description is provided in documents known as Requests for Proposals (RFPs).
Vendors compete for the opportunity to supply their goods and services through a bidding process in which they submit written proposals that detail how they will meet the advertised specifications and their asking price.
A variety of evaluation and selection methods are used to choose vendors to whom contracts will be awarded. A vendor’s proposal must typically meet all of the required specifications in order to be eligible for consideration. Primary emphasis has traditionally been placed on awarding to lowest bidders, i.e. those able to provide the needed goods or services at the lowest price.
Legislative approval is typically required for all municipal contracts. However, some cities have laws that allow smaller purchases without legislative approval if they fall under a specific threshold, typically defined as a dollar amount.
ROUTINE OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE (O&M)
A collective term used to describe:
- The procedures and activities involved in the actual delivery of services to the public (operations), and
- The activities that keep infrastructure, vehicles, buildings, plant, and equipment in serviceable condition (maintenance). In practice, there is often no clear distinction between operations and maintenance activities.
Budgetary pressures have led many local governments to underfund their O&M programs in an effort to achieve short-term savings. This practice, known as deferred maintenance, can significantly shorten materials’ life cycles leading to an increased need to acquire replacement products, which further pressures natural resources. This is particularly the case when such products are not made from recycled materials.
TRADITIONAL DISPOSAL METHODS
Traditional disposal methods were largely focused on town dumps and landfills. Local governments were not motivated to seek alternative disposal methods as long as land was relatively cheap and widely available. Growing population pressures led to the rise of incinerators, but the number of these waste-to-energy incinerators has plummeted in reaction to concerns about air pollution. Landfills continue to be the primary method of solid waste disposal in most cities. It is estimated that almost 90 percent of municipal solid waste is recyclable with current technology but approximately 68 percent ends up in landfills.
TRADITIONAL RECYCLING
Traditional Recycling in the form of municipal curbside pickup program began in the 1970s. In 1976, the United States Congress passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which established stricter regulations on landfills and catalyzed municipal recycling efforts. Despite federal goals, most communities were slow to implement effective programs resulting in relatively low levels of diversion from landfills.
Waste disposal sites for solid waste from human activities.The collection, reprocessing, marketing, and use of materials that were diverted or recovered from the solid waste stream.The ability or potential of a physical body to do work. The most common forms of energy are heat, light, mechanical (moving parts), and electrical.
