Solicitation
Silver Reutilization and Account Maintenance Service
Department of Defense · Department of the Navy
AI summaryThe Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport (Department of the Navy), for its Hawthorne, Nevada Detachment, plans one indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, with orders placed as needed over a five-year ordering period, to refine silver from used batteries and hold the refined silver in credit accounts. This is a presolicitation: no offers are accepted now. The Request for Quote (RFQ) is expected on or about October 30, 2026 (an amendment moved it to Nov 30, 2026, 1:00 PM PST · 4:00 PM Eastern), with quotes due 30 days after release, and awards go to the lowest price among technically acceptable bidders. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 20, 2026. The notice was amended Nov 5, 2026. The due date moved from Oct 30, 2026 to Nov 30, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov.
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport (Department of the Navy), for its Hawthorne, Nevada Detachment, plans one indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, with orders placed as needed over a five-year ordering period, to refine silver from used batteries and hold the refined silver in credit accounts. This is a presolicitation: no offers are accepted now. The Request for Quote (RFQ) is expected on or about October 30, 2026 (passed), with quotes due 30 days after release, and awards go to the lowest price among technically acceptable bidders.
Who can bid
- Current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) with completed representations and certifications
- A PIEE account with Proposal Manager role to submit quotes electronically
- All federal, state and local permits, certifications and licenses to accept, transport, store, process and refine silver-bearing materials and handle the resulting hazardous waste, kept current through the contract
How to submit: Through the Solicitation Module in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE), once the RFQ is released. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
- Serious: Permits and licenses for hazardous materials. The battery material includes cadmium oxide and other hazardous items, and you must hold every permit to receive, refine and dispose of it before you can perform.
- Serious: Price tied to silver market with a cap. The final price can rise only to 150% of your base price, the Navy answered no to extra relief for extreme silver swings, and the $75.00 per troy ounce base stays fixed.
- Worth checking: Date passed (Oct 30, 2026): Presolicitation: RFQ not yet released. No quotes are accepted yet; the Navy's answer says the RFQ comes out on or about October 30, 2026, with the quote deadline 30 days after release.
Show all 7Show fewer
- Worth checking: Required silver return rate of 75% to 90%. The draft sets the required return of refined silver at 75% to 90% of received net weight, so a weak yield can cost you money.
- Worth checking: 60-day processing deadline per shipment. Silver must be ready to transfer within 60 days of each shipment, and the performance table expects this 100% of the time.
- Worth checking: Large silver volumes and secure storage. You hold the Navy's silver credit, with 439,108 troy ounces a year of account maintenance, and must keep high purity material in a safe or locked cabinet in a locked room.
- Minor: Neutral third-party weighing. Each weighing needs a designated employee plus a neutral third party, and both names go on the weight bill.
Read from the notice and 4 attachments. Show which files.
- Synopsis-Questions-Answers-N0025327Q0001.pdf (read)
- Draft Statement of Work.pdf (read)
- Draft EPA Clause.pdf (read)
- Synopsis Questions and Answers N0025327Q0001 15 Oct 2026.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Refine silver-bearing material from used Silver/Zinc and Silver/Chloride batteries into 99.9% pure silver bullion
- Annual quantities: Silver Reutilization High Silver Content 328,060 troy ounces, Low Silver Content 582,421 troy ounces, Silver Account Maintenance 439,108 troy ounces, Transaction Fee 9 each
- Receive 4 to 6 Government shipments a year of 13,000 to 95,000 pounds each, and report receipt within 3 days of arrival
- Finish processing so the silver is available within 60 days after a shipment is received
- Keep up to eight electronic silver accounts and transfer credit to Government-chosen battery makers, with all transfer fees included in the price
- Weigh every receipt with a neutral third-party observer, and dispose of battery waste under local, state and federal environmental laws
- Send three reports in PDF: materials received and processed, account balance reports within 3 days of each transfer, and quarterly progress reports
- Contract type
- One IDIQ contract, fixed-price with economic price adjustment (the price moves with a silver market index), under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.203-4(d); lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) selection
- Period of performance
- 5-year ordering period with no option contract line item numbers (CLINs, the priced lines of the order)
- Place of performance
- Keyport, WA, USA per SAM.gov; the draft statement of work has the contractor process the material at its own facility
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- How they'll choose
- Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA): the lowest price among bids that meet the technical standards
- How to submit
- Through the Solicitation Module in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE), once the RFQ is released
What they'll judge offers on
- Price, including the offeror's proposed Adjustment Increment and Service Price Floor
What to include when you submit
- Set up a PIEE account and get Proposal Manager role activation through the PIEE Contractor Administrator before the RFQ is released
- Have a Digital PIN, a One-time Password and a CAGE code (Commercial and Government Entity code) to save and submit quotes in PIEE
- Keep your SAM registration current with completed representations and certifications
- In the economic price adjustment text, fill in your Adjustment Increment (dollars per troy ounce for each $1.00 change in the silver price) and your Service Price Floor
- Enter your Base Service Price per troy ounce with no contingency for market swings
Not in the notice text
- The RFQ itself (quote due date, price schedule, final clauses) is not yet released; the Navy's answer gives release on or about October 30, 2026 and quotes due 30 days later
- The notice text said the RFQ would issue on or about October 20, 2026; the later Navy answer gives October 30, 2026
- The dollar value of the contract is not stated
- The final price adjustment clause and the contract line item numbers it covers will come with the RFQ; the draft leaves them to be identified
- Whether the contractor must show financial strength or insurance to hold the Navy's silver credit is not stated
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Through the Solicitation Module in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE), once the RFQ is released. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Nov 5, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Keyport, WA
- Product/service code
- P999 · Salvage – Other
- Business type
- Manufactured parts & equipment (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 331492)
- Versions
11 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Nov 5, 2026 · Amendment 0004 (this version)Due Nov 30, 2026
- Nov 5, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Nov 30, 2026
- Nov 3, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Nov 30, 2026
- Oct 29, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Nov 30, 2026
- Oct 29, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 30, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 20, 2026 · Amendment 0005Date Oct 30, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 15, 2026 · Amendment 0004Date Oct 20, 2026
- Oct 15, 2026 · Amendment 0003Date Oct 20, 2026
- Oct 8, 2026 · Amendment 0002Date Oct 20, 2026 (changed)
- Aug 18, 2026 · Amendment 0001Date Oct 1, 2026
- Aug 6, 2026 · PresolicitationDate Oct 1, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport is issuing this Request for Quote for Silver Reutilization and Account Maintenance Services. The requirement involves the refinement of silver-bearing material recovered from batteries, for which the refined silver will be used to manufacture new batteries that require silver of 99.9% purity. AnnuaI requirements: Silver Reutilization High Silver Content 380,000 troy ounces | Silver Reutilization Low Silver Content 725,000 troy ounces | Silver Account Maintenance 500,000 troy ounces | Transaction Fee 10 each | Contract Data Requirements List 1 Lot (Not Separately Priced). This Request for Quote is for commercial services and is posted in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.201. The Government intends to award one (1) Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a five-year ordering period, using Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection procedures. The contract type will be Firm-Fixed-Price and Fixed-Price with Economic Price Adjustment-Cost Index in accordance with FAR 16.203-4(d). The applicable Product Service Code (PSC) for the requirement is P999 (Salvage - other) and the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 331492 (Secondary Smelting, Refining, and Alloying of nonferrous Metal (except Copper and Aluminum)), with a small business size standard of 850 employees. The Request for Quote is competed using full and open competition simplified procedures under FAR Subpart 12.201. The Request for Quote is available through the Solicitation Module in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) at https://piee.eb.mil/. Interested vendors must establish a PIEE account and obtain Proposal Manager role activation through the PIEE Contractor Administrator to submit offers electronically. Vendors will need a Digital PIN, One-Time Password, and CAGE Code to successfully save and submit offers through the system. For information and instructions regarding the Solicitation Module in PIEE, please visit https://dodprocurementtoolbox.com/site-pages/solicitation-module.Offerors must have a current registration and completed representations and certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://sam.gov/, a Federal Government owned website. For questions regarding this procurement, contact Christina Schmitt at christina.m.schmitt.civ@us.navy.mil and Robert Fisher at robert.v.fisher.civ@us.navy.mil.