DHS S&T Seeks Blast Resistant Trash Receptacles for Market Survey Analysis

WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) issued a request for information (RFI) on commercially available Blast Resistant Trash Receptacles (BRTRs) to be included in a market survey conducted by S&T’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) in New York. The target audience for this market survey is public safety organizations and their purchasing agents. Interested industry partners have until 5:00 p.m. EST, August 13, 2021, to submit their products.

“Trash receptacles appear in most public spaces as essential but ordinary objects,” said NUSTL chemist John Kada, who is leading the project. “These unremarkable containers, however, can and have been used by nefarious actors to conceal threats to public safety and homeland security.” BRTRs can be deployed in public spaces such as train stations, airports, and government buildings for the purpose of eliminating or significantly reducing the potential for fatalities, injuries, and structural damage resulting from an explosives device placed inside an ordinary trash receptacle. “BRTRs are designed to minimize the impact of an explosion inside the receptacle by directing the force of the blast upwards and to maintain their structural integrity so as to avoid creation of shrapnel that might harm passersby,” added Kada.

The market survey will be conducted through NUSTL’s System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) program as a follow-up to the existing Blast Resistant Trash Receptacles Market Survey published in 2013, which is one of the most requested documents available on the SAVER Documents Library. The updated market survey report will reflect changes in the commercial market for these products since the last report was published.

For inclusion in the market survey, the BRTRs must meet the following minimum requirements:

• Directs the blast effects, pressure and fragments upwards;
• Contains primary fragments;
• Does not produce secondary fragments from any metallic components of the trash receptacles; and
• Structurally withstands detonations.

The findings of the market survey will be posted to the SAVER Document Library on S&T’s website, where the final report can be accessed by federal, state, local, tribal and territorial response agencies making procurement decisions about this type of technology.

For more information on the RFI prior to the August 13, 2021, submission deadline, visit https://sam.gov/opp/1f6956027db444b787dcc364358f597a/view.

For more information on the SAVER program, visit https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/saver.