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Brookhaven, Pa. Resident Wins EPA Award for Getting Feds to Better Manage Electronics

Release Date: 09/04/2012
Contact Information: Donna Heron 215-814-5113/heron. [email protected]

PHILADELPHIA (Sept. 4, 2012) – Daniel Gallo, a resident of Brookhaven, Pa., is one of only 10 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees nationwide honored for helping federal agencies protect the environment by making smarter purchases and use of electronics products. Gallo’s efforts helped federal agencies save $7.8 million and cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions last year to the equivalency of taking 6,000 passenger cars off the road for one year, earning him the 2012 Federal Electronics Challenge Award.

The Federal Electronics Challenge Award is EPA’s prestigious national award which recognizes superior work in encouraging federal facilities and agencies to purchase greener electronics, use them in ways less harmful to the environment, and ensure old or used electronics are recycled or discarded in beneficial and environmentally-safe ways.

“In the last few years there’s been an explosion in the electronics field. Smart phones, tablets, printers, computers and other electronics are part of our everyday life,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “Dan is helping the federal government lead by example by making sure our own inventory of electronics is conscientiously managed from initial purchases, to daily use, and eventually properly recycling these products.”

Responsibly buying and managing electronics is important given that computers, mobile phones, printers and other electronic equipment contain toxic materials, consume significant amounts of energy during use, and present complex challenges when they are discarded.

“The federal government is one of the largest consumers of electronics. And far too many electronics end up in landfills,” said Gallo, an EPA electronics recycling specialist. “What gives me a great deal of satisfaction is helping people to use these devices wisely and to help dispose of them with the least impact on the environment.”

Gallo, who has been with EPA for 23 years, has worked on the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation Recovery Act's waste regulations and has also been the enforcement coordinator for the lead-based paint program. He has worked as the region's electronics recycling specialist since 2007.

Gallo graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, Pa. in 1975. After graduating from the University of Scranton in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Services, Gallo received a Masters degree of Public Administration (MPA) in 1982 from the University of Pittsburgh-Graduate School of Public & International Affairs. In 1994 he graduated from Widener University School of Law with a Juris Doctorate.