 |
Reuse:preserving value while minimizing environmental impacts |
|
Reuse:preserving value while minimizing environmental impacts |
Reuse is the bridge between waste prevention and recycling, and includes such diverse programs as materials exchanges, thrift stores, building deconstruction and food banks.
Reuse is one of the core components of waste prevention, and serves as an established element of the economy in many communities. Many of the products and materials with existing re-use infrastructure, such as clothing, furniture, and building materials, prevent discarded items from becoming waste, and have been in existence for many years. Other areas, such as the recovery and re-direction of food discards, although also not new, are important because they establish a new link between the field of waste reduction/materials recovery and existing organizations within the local economy that are indirectly part of the material recovery effort as a secondary result of their primary mission (in this case, helping to feed people).
Reuse is defined as using an item over again in its current form without significant processing that alters its material structure.
Reuse is the second step in the waste reduction hierarchy of reduce, reuse, recycle and plays an important role in programs to divert waste from California landfills, as required by state law.
There are many benefits to reusing materials. One of these benefits is the creation of new jobs. According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, there is great potential to create new jobs through reuse: If only half of the 25.5 million tons of durable goods (such as used appliances, furniture, clothing, and machinery) now discarded in the U.S. were reused, more than 110,000 new jobs could be created.
From the California Integrated Waste Management Board website.
Zero Waste
CRRA
Contact us
|
Examples of model reuse programsMore examples from INFORM’S Community Waste Prevention ToolKit: Materials for the ArtsNew York, New YorkFor 20 years, the city-run Materials for the Arts (MFA) program has served as a reuse and redistribution center for schools and arts organizations. The program takes donations of art and office supplies, furniture, and art equipment from businesses, individuals, and cultural and municipal sources, and stores them for reuse. Donors receive a tax deduction for the fair market value of the material. Materials for the Arts receives approximately $2.3 million worth of donations, and diverts about 450 tons of materials from disposal each year. Over 2000 organizations and schools are active recipients of materials made available through this award-winning program. For more information, go to www.nyc.gov/html/ and scroll down to Materials for the Arts. Wa$teMatchNew York, New YorkEstablished by the Long Island Business Development Corp. and the Industrial Technology Assistance Corp. in 1997 and funded by the City of New York, Wa$teMatch is a materials exchange service for city businesses. The program maintains a database of materials, both wanted and available, and acts as a middleman between businesses looking to find and donate items ranging from scrap metal to shipping containers to day-old bread. In addition to reducing their waste disposal costs, businesses donating unwanted materials can often claim tax deductions. Businesses able to locate free or low-cost materials save on raw materials. The program currently has an annual budget of $200,000 and works with an average 85 different businesses a year. The 255 transactions Wa$teMatch facilitates annually are responsible for the diversion of almost 1800 tons of materials from disposal and savings to participating businesses of over $100,000 a year in disposal and materials costs. For more information, go to www.wastematch.org. The ReUse Center sells salvaged, reusable building materials such as doors, windows, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, lumber, millwork, metals, flooring, every variety of hardware, and more. See tips for donations. This activity equates to hundreds of thousands of tons of reusable construction materials kept out of our alleys, off the streets, and ultimately out of landfills. By offering these materials at reasonable prices the ReUse Center contributes to the improvement of area neighborhood, regional, and statewide housing stock. A substantial portion of the materials are architecturally significant. For more information please visit: www.greeninstitute.org Last Chance Mercantile: A Model for Local Government Recycling and Waste Reduction - The Last Chance Mercantile (Last Chance) is the place where reusable materials get their last chance before ending up in the Monterey Regional Landfill. Constructed together with a major materials recovery facility (MRF) in 1996, the Last Chance has more than doubled the tonnage salvaged and increased revenues from sales of salvaged materials by almost 500 percent. The Last Chance is a deluxe model of the type of reuse and salvaging operations pioneered in the 1980s by Urban Ore of Berkeley, California. Materials salvaged and sold include: furniture; lumber; used building materials; houseswares; garden; hardware/electrical; clothes and textiles; sporting goods; reusable paints, cleaners, pesticides; and automotive parts. Increasingly, communities working to meet the goals of the Integrated Waste Management Act (AB 939, Sher, Chapter 1095, Statutes of 1989’s amended [IWMA]) are including such salvage operations as part of standard designs for transfer stations, MRF's, and landfills. More Case Studies:City of Redding Reuse AuctionOverview - The City sponsors an auction of useable household items, which is conducted on the first and third Friday of each month at 9:00 a.m. Items include lawn mowers, appliances, books, bicycles, barbecues, windows, doors, etc. Household products, such as automotive products, cleaners, paints, solvents, non-restricted pesticides, etc. are free to residents, and may be picked up between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Fridays. A City of Redding Liability Form must be completed prior to the release of any products. Materials Accepted - Non-restricted materials (determined to be reusable by the City's hazardous waste staff), are added to the household reuse inventory. Source of Materials - Local residents. All materials are donated Drop-Off Hours - HHW Drop-Off: Thursday-Saturday (9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.); Household Reuse: Friday (12:00 p.m. -2:00 p.m.); Hazardous Waste Reuse: Friday (12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.); Recycle: Monday-Saturday (8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) Days/Hours of Operation - Same as drop-off hours. Contact Information - Solid Waste Utility (Public Agency), 777 Cypress Avenue, Redding, CA 96001, County: Shasta Phone: (530) 224-6201 Fax: (530) 224-6212 Web site: ci.redding.ca.us ReSourceOverview - ReSource is a nonprofit building material reclamation and reuse, landfill diversion program. History - ReSource began on April 22 (Earth Day) in 1996. Operations - ReSource operates as a used building material sales yard, offer pick up and delivery of materials and provide deconstruction services. ReSource also has a value adding program in which it manufactures furniture and other wood products from reclaimed materials. Materials Accepted - Lumber, sheathing, flooring, doors, windows, cabinetry, landscaping, masonry, hardware, lighting, plumbing fixtures, structural steel, beams and timbers, tile, architectural artifacts. Source of Materials - Deconstruction and remodeling projects, new construction and business surplus, homeowner drop offs. Contact Information - Kurt Buss, Program Manager, 1702 Walnut, Boulder, CO 80302 County: Boulder Phone: (303) 419-5418 Fax: (303) 441-4367 E-mail: resource@conservationcenter.org Web site: www.resource2k.org Sales Yard: 63rd Street between Arapahoe and Valmont, Boulder, CO. See www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Reuse Some Tips for ReuseFor Consumers
For Businesses/Organizations
Reuse Resources:CIWMB: California Materials Exchange (CalMax) The Los Angeles County Materials Exchange Program |
As this tool kit and the website grow, links will be added to each of the different sections of this page. For example, "green building" will link to a page with more information about using recycled-content materials in construction, as well as reducing the amount of material wasted in the construction process.
For more information about cutting edge programs, go to the website for the Alameda Source Reduction and Recycling Board's website, at www.stopwaste.org.
