The Minnesota Materials Exchange program lists one company’s unwanted material and makes it available for use by another company. For more information, call MnTAP at 612.624.1300 or 800.247.0015.
What is Materials Exchange?
The Materials Exchange is a free service that links organizations that have reusable goods they no longer need to those who can use them. This business reuse network helps prevent usable materials from becoming waste and saves users money.
2008 Accomplishments
Materials exchange staff responded to 254 calls and helped facilitate 19,758 Web self-referrals to the online database. Web site and database support continued (with ongoing enhancements) for the eight local exchange sites: St. Louis County, WLSSD, West Central, North Central, Chisago County, Otter Tail County, Southwest, and Southeast.
Use of the materials exchange at all Alliance sites resulted in a total of 335 exchanges of 509,618 pounds (254 tons) of solid and hazardous material. Three new continuous exchanges were added in 2008 and saved the companies $347,926 in avoided purchase and disposal costs. MnTAP-covered areas of the state accounted for 88% of the total number of material exchanges, 32% of the total weight of materials exchanged, and 32% of the cost savings documented.
The top four material categories exchanged includes pallets, containers, furniture, and electronics. Materials exchange is utilized by various types of organizations with the greatest number in the commercial services sector including retail, offices, real estate, recyclers, dry cleaners, and others. During 2008, approximately 56% of users were located in the metro area and 44% of users were outside the metro area.
The twice monthly e-mail containing the newest listings continues to be a popular service. Currently, the e-mail is disseminated to 4,115 e-mail addresses and this number grows each year.
MnTAP continues to support the eight statewide local exchanges through the Minnesota Materials Exchange Alliance by maintaining the Web site and database, verifying listings, sending tracking reports to the Alliance sites regarding who looked at their listings, and compiling quarterly exchange reports. MnTAP and the local exchanges maximize personal contacts to facilitate exchanges.
Future Plans
- Continue to expand the use of the “new listings e-mail update”
- Improve the successful exchange reporting system
- Continue to support and grow Alliance sites
- Survey current materials exchange users to identify potential areas of improvement
- Increase the number of users in areas not currently served by the Alliance
- Increase the number of solid waste on-site assessments
Got an Exchange?
Please tell us about your success. We track successes to promote the Minnesota Materials Exchange program to others and to highlight the value of the program. Visit the Web site or call to report your success.
