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NERC in the News

Online Reuse Marketplace Engages Multiple States in Network

Environmental Protection, the news service of 1105 Media Inc., February 4, 2010

E-Scrap News
E-Scrap News

The Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. (NERC) of Brattleboro, Vt., has launched the Reuse Marketplace , the nation’s first multi-state Materials Exchange network, which enables businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits that have unwanted materials to connect with markets beyond their local areas.

The Reuse Marketplace helps participants in seven states find alternatives to the disposal of valuable materials, and in the process, trim their waste removal costs, reduce the quantity of items they send to landfills, and lower carbon emissions. “The Reuse Marketplace is the first step in what could become a national effort to link Materials Exchanges in all 50 states," said Mary Ann Remolador, assistant director, NERC.

NERC serves as the administrator of the Reuse Marketplace, which has partnered with eight Materials Exchanges in seven states; Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Vermont. The Reuse Marketplace integrates the individual state reuse Exchanges into one to allow for easy access and increased listing of materials. The project was funded with a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “This project keeps valuable materials in the marketplace and keeps them out of the landfill,” said Christine Beling of EPA, Region I.

A Materials Exchange provides an around-the-clock venue for businesses, government, and nonprofits to advertise a wide range of items they no longer have a need for, from packing peanuts to office cubicles. Participants offer their unwanted items at below-retail cost or for free.

Entities wishing to list items with the Reuse Marketplace can post them on their state’s participating Materials Exchange. Visitors to the Reuse Marketplace will be able to browse all listings from the eight exchanges.

“Material Exchanges strengthen our local economies by promoting the use of recovered materials,” said Greg Cooper, MassDEP’s director of Consumer Programs for the Bureau of Waste Prevention. “And keeping these products out of the waste stream lengthens their life cycle and greatly reduces their environmental impact. By linking Exchanges into a national network, the Reuse Marketplace is helping to increase the potential environmental and economic benefits that local and regional Exchanges offer.” Ontario-based iWasteNot Systems has developed the technical platform for the site. The Reuse Marketplace includes the following Materials Exchanges:

  • Connecticut: CT Reuse Materials Network;
  • Florida: Southern Waste Information eXchange, Inc;
  • Massachusetts: Ecostar Exchange;
  • Massachusetts: Massachusetts Material Trader;
  • New York: New York C&D Material Trader;
  • North Carolina: North Carolina C&D Material Trader;
  • Rhode Island: ResourceXchange;
  • Vermont: Vermont Business Materials Exchange.