About the Materials Marketplace
The US BCSD’s Materials Marketplace connects businesses to develop and scale new reuse and recycling market opportunities. Over 2,200 businesses and organizations are using the Materials Marketplace across North America, and have diverted over 5,300 tons of material to higher and better use as of June 2020. We do this by working hand-in-hand with:
Manufacturers
Manufacturers can use the Materials Marketplace to find new solutions for challenging waste and by-product materials, and to source recycled feedstocks to help reach recycled content and sustainability goals. Transactions facilitated by the Materials Marketplace are measurable and tracked - in addition to diverting waste from landfill, these activities often generate significant cost savings, energy savings, and create new jobs and business opportunities.
Recycling Companies
Recycling companies are using the Materials Marketplace to identify new customers and new buyers for collected/processed material. If you’re considering making a new infrastructure investment, opening up a service offering for a new material, or need to do additional research before accepting a customer material - use the Materials Marketplace to identify and test the appetite for specific end-markets before making any commitments.
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs can use the Materials Marketplace to find suitable materials and innovate to build new reuse and recycling businesses. Access to local and regional economic development agencies gives Marketplace users a unique connection to resources to explore new business opportunities in the reuse and recycling space.
Get Engaged
Path to Scale
Idea (1992): bring multiple industries together to find and implement By-product Synergy.
Action (1992-2015): deploy regional projects to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of industrial materials reuse, and propel reuse in the national dialogue. Develop better tools and strengthen the work processes.
Scale (present): rapidly deploy multiple city, state, and national level reuse projects around the world. Enable the circular economy culture shift.
Collaborations
The US BCSD is working with the National Association of Manufacturers to create linkages to the Manufacturers Marketplace, a platform to connect and drive collaboration between manufacturers in every industrial sector in the US. Tap into a world of hundreds of thousands of manufacturers, and within seconds find one perfectly suited to fill all supply chain needs. Find what’s possible. More customers. Better business partners. The Marketplace has comprehensive search capabilities to pair you up with the right American manufacturing partner – whether you need to find or be found. Increase your potential for lucrative contracts and connect with US-based suppliers to meet customer demands. Learn more at https://manufacturersmarketplace.us/
The US BCSD has entered into an agreement with UL to support the expansion of the Materials Marketplace and help companies secure recognition for reuse through third-party certification. As part of the agreement, UL and US BCSD will work to extend third-party validation services such as UL’s standards for circularity, recycled content and waste diversion, to members of the Material Marketplace, which will help them demonstrate recognition for their efforts to help create a more circular economy. The organizations will collaborate on market education and outreach efforts to continue to “expand the circle” and drive development and scale of new reuse and recycling market opportunities with business and industry in the US. Read more about the collaboration here.
why get involved
The Materials Marketplace program breaks down barriers to cross-industry collaboration and helps companies identify opportunities to minimize waste, find new customers, and drive high-value business relationships.
Business Led
The Materials Marketplace gives manufacturers practical ways to save money, improve supply chain resilience and generate value through reusable materials. Over 2,000 businesses - large and small - are using the Materials Marketplace across North America.
Technology Enabled
The Marketplace incorporates a secure, cloud-based platform for finding, qualifying and transacting materials reuse opportunities. And it works on all your devices.
Actively Facilitated
Marketplace activity is monitored, and reuse opportunities are identified and pushed to qualified companies as recommendations. If parties involved need assistance or an opportunity stalls, the platform is there to step in and facilitate movement.
Easy to Engage
State and city government sponsors have made it easy for businesses in their region to get engaged. Creating an account only takes a few minutes, and you can add material listings immediately after.
get involved
The Materials Marketplace enables participants to easily share details on materials available or desired, identify reuse opportunities, and exchange underutilized materials. Over 2,000 companies - large and small - academic institutions, non-profits and entrepreneurs are using the Materials Marketplace around the world. Click on one of the logos below to get engaged today.
The Materials Marketplace is a strong economic development driver for municipalities. It helped inspire the [Re]verse Pitch Competition, a social innovation program from the City of Austin and community partners including the US BCSD to help turn valuable raw materials that are currently leaving local businesses, non-profits, and institutions as waste into the foundation of new social enterprises. This four week program, run for the first time in November 2015, has helped launch new start-ups in the Austin area. Learn more at reversepitch.org.