Recycle Exchange Website Launched

ReSource St. Louis recently launched its newly renovated materials exchange website – www.resourcestlouis.org – offering architects, engineers, general contractors, facility professionals and others with a means to exchange construction and demolition materials, such as carpet, lumber, fixtures, and tile.

ReSource St. Louis is the region’s only materials exchange website – a free, online tool focused primarily on commercial construction and demolition waste.  Its dynamic database platform features quick posting of materials, automatic notification when materials match a user's request, and tracking of the total tonnage of materials diverted over time. Diverting materials from local landfills addresses both economic and environmental concerns for the both providers and recipients of materials.

Since launching in 2006, everything from gently used carpet to office furniture and overstock lighting has found new homes through the online though the site. This winter, a grant from the St. Louis/Jefferson County Solid Waste District, the website has been revitalized to make it easier to navigate and use.

More than 6,000 items were posted on the ReSource St. Louis Materials Exchange in 2008, including used bleachers, kitchen cabinets and landscaping pavers.

Feedback from the site includes:

"As a new small business owner, it was a huge find!... I saved approximately $3,500 on flooring. I even put carpet in areas that I had planned to put laminate because there was so much available." ( fitness center owner)

"It keeps all that out of the landfill, $2,000 worth of furniture.... Whenever I see a good idea like that, I take every opportunity I can to promote it." (sustainability consultant)

“If we had to go out and buy all this furniture we have, it would have cost us so much money.... (The Materials Exchange) is a great opportunity for start-ups." (homebuilder)

According to Buildings.com:
• In the U.S., total building-related construction and demolition waste is estimated to be 135.5 million tons a year – that’s 30% of the total waste stream!
• The average new construction project yields 3.9 pounds of waste per square foot.
• The average building demolition yields 155 pounds of waste per square foot.
• Three of the largest waste compounds on most job sites – cardboard, wood and drywall together make up 75% of construction waste – are fully recyclable.

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