Wasteshed Programs for a 2% Recovery Rate Credit

Materials Exchanges and Swap Sites

(OAR 340-090-0045(2)(D)): Develop and promote use of waste exchange programs for the public and private sectors.

What is a "Material Exchange" and a "Swap Site"?

A Materials Exchange is a listing of unwanted or surplus materials based on the premise that one business’s discards can be another business’s feedstock. It can help businesses find a market or an end user for materials they no longer need. A Materials Exchange is a "reuse" program, it enables businesses to use existing materials rather than virgin feedstock, which conserves valuable resources and keeps existing products from being landfilled. A Materials Exchange typically lists businesses from a larger geographical area, such as one or several states. When larger amounts of materials are available, it may be economical to transport them further.

A Swap Site is like a Materials Exchange but local in scope. It serves residents and small businesses by making available items for the household, office, garage, and garden; usually for free. Examples of items that might be traded on a Swap Site include: furniture, appliances, and bicycles.

How do they operate?

Both the Materials Exchange and the Swap Site are actually information exchanges. Neither one is an actual place where people can drop off or pick up materials or goods. They do not handle the materials. For information on setting up a 2% program with a physical site, see the Fact sheet on "Reuse Promotion Campaign". Materials Exchanges and Swap Sites compile information about available or wanted materials, and list that information in a catalog, a newsletter, a newspaper or on an electronic bulletin board service. The businesses or residents contact one another directly to establish the actual exchange.

A Materials Exchange Example:

Located in White City, near Medford, Sattex Corporation has made extensive use of IMEX, a regional Materials Exchange that serves businesses in the Pacific Northwest. By listing materials they no longer needed on IMEX, Sattex was able to sell four mixing tanks weighing 2,000 pounds each to a company in Washington, earning $3,000 in the process. Through their listings Sattex also gave 20 unused abrasive belts to various businesses around Oregon (a total savings of $525 to the various businesses).

Sattex also uses IMEX to source used fiber drums from other businesses, saving Sattex approximately $16,000 to $17,000 per year. With a year-round need of about 100 barrels every month, Sattex manages to obtain all of its fiber drums, used for packing and storing materials, through the IMEX service. Purchased new, this would normally cost about $27,600 a year, but by using a materials exchange, Sattex obtains the drums at a used price determined by the vendor, or sometimes by just paying the shipping fee.

A Materials Exchange or a Swap Site?

A Swap Site tends to be local in scope, and starting one is an opportunity appropriate for a wasteshed to undertake. A Swap Site lists information either on paper or on web site. Under "Existing Programs" below are a few examples. BRING, in Eugene has a Swap Site in their quarterly newsletter and on their web site. Corvallis Disposal and reSource (formerly The Recycling Team) put their Swap Site on a website. Another option is to have an agreement with an existing local newspaper or publication to list weekly, or on another regular basis, available and wanted goods for free.

A Materials Exchange typically deals with industrial and chemical materials in large quantities that tend to travel longer distances from seller to buyer. They may require a large "audience" for sellers to locate appropriate buyers and vice versa. This makes it less likely that an individual wasteshed can set up an effective Materials Exchange.

IMEX (Industrial Materials Exchange) is a free service provided by King County, WA, designed to help businesses in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and part of Idaho find markets for their industrial by-products, surplus materials and wastes. At any given time 10-20% of the listings on IMEX are from Oregon or southwest Washington businesses. Information on IMEX can be found under "Existing Programs" below.

Advantages of a Swap Site

Swap Sites are both cost effective and environmentally beneficial. They provide savings:

• to the party generating the goods: avoid paying disposal cost.
• to the party receiving the goods: less expensive than buying the goods new.
• to the community: reduces the volume of municipal solid waste disposed.
• to the environment: decreases the use of raw materials and less energy used to process those materials.

How to Start a Swap Site

Before deciding to start a Swap Site, think through what is needed to set one up:

• Is staffing available to develop, manage and track the Site?
• Are resources available to develop and promote a Swap Site? A Website?
• Who is the target audience?
• What type of materials will be listed, not listed? For example, most Sites do not list safety items such as bike helmets or children’s car seats, and household hazardous waste such as pesticides or used automobiles. Decisions on these materials will determine the categories of items you list on your Site.

Once these questions have been answered:

1. Identify how the listings will be made available. Some options include local daily paper; weekly paper; newsletter, and the internet.
2. Develop a name for your program.
3. Identify who will be responsible for managing the listing of materials. Responsibilities include:
   • Taking calls from the public.
   • Updating the list (adding and removing listings).
   • Keeping track of the actual number of transactions.
   • Delivering the updated list to the paper or newsletter (if used).
   • Maintaining the website.
4. Develop the specifics for how the program will work, the format of the listings, etc.
5. To launch your site, identify at least a dozen initial items to be listed. Suggestions for the first listings:
   • Wanted Materials:
     • Polystyrene peanuts and bubble wrap - pack, ship & mail centers.
     • Appliances - used appliance dealers and large appliance repair businesses (these groups often seek appliances to refurbish and resell).
     • Art Supplies - bottle caps, wine corks, miscellaneous small plastic parts (schools, other art programs and children's museums often seek a variety of materials for creative programs).
   • Available Materials:
     • Pallets - any warehouse.
     • Industry Waste - examine the industries in your community, and seek materials that may be of use to someone else in the community (such as fabric scraps, sawdust, paint).
6. Facilitate an actual exchange between two parties that can be reported in the paper to introduce the program. Promote the event.
7. Continually advertise and provide feedback on how the program is working. Examples of ways to promote the program include: newspaper advertisements, signage on trash trucks, recycling hotline, brochures.
8. Link to other materials exchange sites. Businesses with industrial materials may find that they want to list materials on both your local swap site as well as a regional exchange such as IMEX. The more places they list, the more businesses will see their listing, improving the chances that an actual exchange will occur. Make it easy for users to find other exchange sites. NWmaterialsmart.org offers a portal to materials exchanges and swap sites throughout the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on exchange opportunities for businesses.

Referrals to Existing Sites and Exchanges

Swap Sites:

• BMEX, BRING Materials Exchange
• Central Oregon S.W.A.P. (Stop Waste Access Products)
• Corvallis Disposal Swap site

Materials Exchanges:

• IMEX - Industrial Materials Exchange, King County Dept. of Public Health, Seattle, WA.
  • Check out the IMEX web site at http://www.metrokc.gov/hazwaste/imex
• RBME - Reusable Building Materials Exchange, an Internet based service that offers listings for several counties in Washington.
  • Web site: http://www.rbme.com.
• Portland State Chemical Consortium provides laboratory chemical exchange for schools, hospitals and government agencies.
  • Web site: http://www-adm.pdx.edu/user/pcc/default1.htm.
• SoilTrader, a regional information sharing network for non-hazardous soil, fencing, woody debris, asphalt, concrete, etc., is operated by the City of Portland at:
  • http://www.cleanrivers-pdx.org/soiltrader/
• CalMAX is an industrial exchange program sponsored by the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
  • Web site: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CalMax/
• A fairly complete listing of most of the Materials Exchanges currently operating in the US and Canada:
  • http://www.recycle.net/exch/index.html.

State of Oregon Materials Exchange Promotion

In 2002 a consortium of public and private entities in Oregon launched a promotion campaign to raise awareness and use of materials exchanges and swap sites by Oregon businesses. The campaign was led by DEQ and supported by Metro, the City of Portland, Marion County, Clackamas County, the League of Oregon Cities, Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, the Association of Oregon Recyclers, the Oregon Refuse and Recycling Association, and others. The campaign established a web portal, NWmaterialsmart.org, that serves as an easy one-stop link to materials exchanges and swap sites that serve businesses in the Pacific Northwest. A series of advertisements, postcards, brochures, and media releases were also developed and distributed. Copies of NW Materialsmart print advertisements, postcards, and brochures are available from the DEQ for use in Oregon communities.

• Visit NWMaterialsmart.org

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