stories of sustainability: RecycleMatch
Brooke Betts Farrell and Chad Farrell are out to change the way companies perceive trash. This team of in-laws has a long history in the world of waste disposal along with strong business backgrounds, and in July 2009 they decided to combine their experience and skills by founding RecycleMatch http://www.recyclematch.com/.
We first learned of RecycleMatch not long thereafter when, at Opportunity Green in early October, Brooke and Chad gave a 45-second pitch as one of the 25 contestants in OG25, which aimed to crown the most innovative green start-up of 2009. RecycleMatch unfortunately did not win, but then we heard that Brooke would soon host a webinar titled “How to Manage Your Company’s Waste Like a Product,” and we attended.
The webinar title illustrates one essential goal of the company. It seeks to match businesses who have some kind of waste with businesses who can take that waste as raw material and turn it into sellable product. Its website aims to function as a marketplace where companies can list either what they have to sell or what they seek to buy. The listing service is absolutely free, as is access to the lists.
“Through some of the matches that we’ve done, we’ve recognized that there is a lack of education on the supply side – the companies who have the waste really just think of it as trash,” Brooke says. “If they don’t have the right mindset, they don’t maximize the value.” The webinar, which was offered twice in December, presents steps that companies can take in order to see and manage the value of their waste stream.
To date, these ecopreneurs have garnered interest from small business owners, environmental consultants, small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies, and even Fortune 500 corporations. This incredibly wide range of parties goes to show just how endemic trash is to business. Everybody has it. RecycleMatch is providing a forum where these companies can interact and establish fruitful connections. They aim become the go-to on-line ecosystem that allows companies in one industry to consider the resources available through entirely different industries. One large company may be able to provide what they consider to be little material, “but for a small company, that might turn out to be a whole year’s worth of supply,” states Brooke. The more different kinds of businesses that participate, the more opportunities and innovation we’ll see.
A question that inevitably arises is, how does this new venture make money? Chad and Brooke know that a company has pay to have its trash hauled away to the landfill. If RecycleMatch makes a successful match – meaning they get another company to take away that trash for free – they and the trash-generating company evenly split the resulting savings, so that the client sees a 50% cost savings. The implications, of course, are much greater than the monetary impact: not only are there fewer materials sent to the landfill, but what was once considered waste suddenly gains brand new life.
While they are open to working with companies from all industries, RecycleMatch prefers to focus on commercial, construction, agriculture, and manufacturing businesses. These companies are the ones who have a steady stream of by-products from their processes, and who can supply other manufacturing endeavors.
For our part, we’re eager to see how this business develops. We wish them success, as we’re hoping to be able to work with them in the future to limit the impact of some of our own projects.
Thank you, Chad and Brooke, for giving us a look into this new company!
Brooke Betts Farrell and Chad Farrell are out to change the way companies perceive trash. This team of in-laws has a long history in the world of waste disposal along with strong business backgrounds, and in July 2009 they decided to combine their experience and skills by founding RecycleMatch.
We first learned of RecycleMatch not long thereafter when, at Opportunity Green in early October, Brooke and Chad gave a 45-second pitch as one of the 25 contestants in OG25, which aimed to crown the most innovative green start-up of 2009. RecycleMatch unfortunately did not win, but then we heard that Brooke would soon host a webinar titled “How to Manage Your Company’s Waste Like a Product,” and we attended.
The webinar title illustrates one essential goal of the company. It seeks to match businesses who have some kind of waste with businesses who can take that waste as raw material and turn it into sellable product. Its website aims to function as a marketplace where companies can list either what they have to sell or what they seek to buy. The listing service is absolutely free, as is access to the lists.
“Through some of the matches that we’ve done, we’ve recognized that there is a lack of education on the supply side – the companies who have the waste really just think of it as trash,” Brooke says. “If they don’t have the right mindset, they don’t maximize the value.” The webinar, which was offered twice in December, presents steps that companies can take in order to see and manage the value of their waste stream.
To date, these ecopreneurs have garnered interest from small business owners, environmental consultants, small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies, and even Fortune 500 corporations. This incredibly wide range of parties goes to show just how endemic trash is to business. Everybody has it. RecycleMatch is providing a forum where these companies can interact and establish fruitful connections. They aim to become the go-to on-line ecosystem that allows companies in one industry to consider the resources available through entirely different industries. One large company may be able to provide what they consider to be little material, “but for a small company, that might turn out to be a whole year’s worth of supply,” states Brooke. The more different kinds of businesses that participate, the more opportunities and innovation we’ll see.
A question that inevitably arises is, how does this new venture make money? Chad and Brooke know that a company has pay to have its trash hauled away to the landfill. If RecycleMatch makes a successful match – meaning they get another company to buy the materials or take away that trash for free – they and the trash-generating company share in the resulting savings. The implications, of course, are much greater than the monetary impact: not only are there fewer materials sent to the landfill, but what was once considered waste suddenly gains brand new life.
While they are open to working with companies from all industries, RecycleMatch prefers to focus on commercial, construction, agriculture, and manufacturing businesses. These companies are the ones who have a steady stream of by-products from their processes, and who can supply other manufacturing endeavors.
For our part, we’re eager to see how this business develops. We wish them success, as we’re hoping to be able to work with them in the future to limit the impact of some of our own projects.
Thank you, Chad and Brooke, for giving us a look into this new company!
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by aleida, on January 7th, 2010
Interesting Post Kevin.Are they operating in New England anywhere?
Thanks,
Fred Dallinger
Chair Green Marketing Committee
USGBCRI
Hi fred,
Thanks for the question. RecycleMatch is totally on-line, so they operate everywhere. They’re kind of like Ebay for recycling. They’re pretty new, so they don’t have a large number of listing on their site currently, but we’re hoping that they will be successful and make some great connections to keep material from the landfill.
Great to hear more about this company – it all makes good business sense!
Hi Julie,
I think they may be on to something really good. I’ve been wanting to do something similar for building materials for quite some time. But it may be better to work with RecycleMatch. I hope you have a use for the company in the future. And the founders are really interesting people. Thanks for the comment.
Great Post! There are SO many companies out there that are producing much more waste than just you and I do on a personal level. Recycling is not the main focus for a lot of these small to medium sized companies. The larger companies probably have a huge monetary and liabile incentive to recycle, so they must be up to date with their EH&S policies, which keep recycling a focus. Recycling and other green initiatives should be imperative to all companies, regardless of size. I wish them luck.
- Maurizio Maranghi -
Hi Maurizio,
Thanks for your comment. I think you would be surprised how many large companies have existing systems that ensure incredible waste production and limited recycling efforts. I think there are incredible opportunities for large and small company alike. Due to scale, small changes can make a huge difference to big companies. But I think it’s going to be smaller companies who will be able to see treasure where others see garbage. And it’s probably going to be someone outside of the mainstream who will take what ReccyleMatch is starting, and do something better still. I’m optimistic.