Page 68 - Solid Waste Analysis and Minimization a Systems Approach

46 BACKGROUND AND FUNDAMENTALS OF SOLID WASTE ANALYSIS AND MINIMIZATION

2.6.3 WASTE COMMODITY EXCHANGES IN NORTH AMERICA

Over 200 waste commodity exchanges are currently operating in North America. These
exchanges differ in terms of the service area, materials exchanged, exchange processes,
and fee structures. Many of these exchanges are coordinated by state and local govern-
ments, while others are for-profit businesses. The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (Washington) provides an excellent reference list of waste exchanges and con-
tact information at www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/recycle/jtr/comm/ exchange.htm.
More than 35 national and 150 state-specific waste exchanges exist in the United
States, and Canada has more than seven national waste exchanges. The majority of the
waste exchanges are specific to certain regions or states. The drawback to regional or
state-specific exchanges is that they expose the available materials to fewer potential
companies. The benefits of regional exchanges, though, are that they significantly
reduce transportation costs, especially for heavy or bulky items and large quantities.
Regional exchanges are appealing to companies that may continually exchange waste
items over an extended period of time due to longstanding process by-products. An exam-
ple of this is plastic scrap from a manufacturing process. Another company may be able
to grind the scrap, use it as a raw material, and establish dedicated routes to transport the
material. On the other hand, national exchanges expose materials to a much larger num-
bers of companies, but transportation fees may make some options infeasible.
The material and waste focus of the various exchanges differs significantly. Some
are very broad and deal with a wide variety of materials. For example, in terms of the
national exchanges, Recycler’s World (www.recycle.net) and the Reuse Development
Organization (www.redo.org) handle any waste that users post on the Web site.
On the other hand, some exchanges are very narrowly focused. Good national exam-
ples of this are the American Plastics Exchange (www.apexq.com), which deals solely
with plastics, and Planet Salvage (www.planetsalvage.com), which deals only with used
automobile parts. Overall, any material that is available from one business and wanted by
another can become an exchange item, and a waste exchange most likely exists for it.
Materials that are available for exchange are generated from a variety of sources,
which include

■ By-products
■ Damaged materials
■ Expired products
■ Obsolete and off-specification goods
■ Overstock virgin products
■ Surplus

Common materials that are available and wanted for exchange include categories
such as

■ Acids
■ Agricultural by-products