“Material Trader” turns trash to treasure

PA’s Small Business Development Centers offer solution

By SANDY LONG

PENNSYLVANIA — What does an organic gardener located in Rockton, PA have in common with a laboratory business in Grampian, PA? Each had a need that was met by the other. And they connected through a unique program run by Pennsylvania’s Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) Environmental Management Assistance Program (EMAP).

The gardener needed an inexpensive compost material to enrich soil and prevent weed growth. She turned to EMAP’s PA Material Trader program ( www.materialtrader.org ), which provides businesses and organizations with an opportunity to save money on waste disposal and raw material costs. She posted a “wanted” listing on EMAP’s free online waste material exchange service, where it was seen by a business that had been sending their waste office paper to a landfill due to a lack of local recycling services.

Today, the business provides shredded paper to the organic gardener. The gardener receives weed-seed-free compost material at no cost and the business is now able to keep approximately 150 pounds of office paper per month out of the landfill.

An alternative to disposal

In a real-life example of the slightly modified adage, “One business’s trash is another business’s treasure,” the SBDC’s EMAP program brought the two together in a way that helps companies, organizations and individuals to help one another.

Although the program was initially set up to provide Pennsylvania businesses with the means to save on raw materials and waste disposal costs, Nancy Crickman, associate director of EMAP, said the program is available to any business or organization in any state to post and search for listings. “The more listings, the better!” said Crickman.

The Material Trader program began in 2004. Roughly 200 materials have been listed on the website and more than 1,000 pounds of materials diverted from landfills. Recent listings have offered retail store shelving and windows from a Victorian farmhouse, while others seek pallet racks and wood chips.

“We saw a need for this type of service in Pennsylvania,” said Crickman. “We were already performing this service on an informal basis with businesses, so setting up a user-friendly statewide system seemed like the next logical step.”

The SBDC is a non-profit economic development organization providing assistance to small businesses. In addition to the Material Trader program, EMAP provides consulting and assistance to clients on environmental regulatory requirements, permit applications, energy efficiency audits, finding sources of financing for environmental improvements, energy technology development, training seminars, a free and confidential environmental hotline (877/Ask-EMAP) and an information-based website ( www.askemap.org ).