RecycleStore.com 
Markets a Value-Driven Concept

As one of the nation's leaders in recycling and waste reduction, California continually strives for improvement. Through encouragement and proactive recycling programs, the State has again and again come out on the cutting edge. What do we now have that is unique? RecycleStore.com.

RecycleStore.com is a California Integrated Waste Management Board-sponsored marketing program that aims to connect recycled-content product (RCP) manufacturers with interested buyers. Participating manufacturers are located in California’s 40 designated Recycling Market Development Zones (RMDZ). In short, it is an online mall of quality RCPs. With competitive prices for truly one-of-a-kind products, RecycleStore is home to more than 340 products and 52 manufacturers.

Perhaps RecycleStore’s popularity is embedded in its simplistic, yet ingenious concept: to market quality products from California’s “green” businesses, thereby reducing waste materials otherwise headed to the landfills. “What you do is great, I only wish we had this here,” says a Massachusetts resident. The magnetic appeal has spread to the East Coast and internationally, where numerous inquiries from promising green businesses and buyers prompt the demand for similar programs in their locations.

People, manufacturers and organizations as a whole seem to be seeking out more innovative and efficient means of doing business through earth-friendly angles. RecycleStore.com is evidence that recycling does not just mean collection. In a time of scarce natural resources and growing environmental problems, this way of business is more a necessity than ever. “We are pleased to be in a position to provide this free service to our RMDZ manufacturers,” says Recycling Business Assistance Branch Supervisor Corky Mau.

RecycleStore first began in the fall of 1997, when Zone Administrators, Board Members, and rural-based RCP manufacturers identified a growing need for marketing services to overcome business challenges. Commonly, recycling businesses face the double burden of manufacturing RCPs, which sometimes costs more than virgin materials, and mainstreaming these products to the public. The Board first agreed to support a project that offered free marketing services to RCP businesses located in the rural RMDZs of the state, then to RMDZs statewide. Since its birth, RecycleStore has grown from 35 to more than 340 recycled-content product pages and generated significant sales revenues for its manufacturers.

Still growing, RecycleStore is taking the show on the road April 10 and 11 to the 4th Annual Recycled Product Trade Show at the Sacramento Convention Center. “This event has in the past linked RCP manufacturers and buyers together, generating significant sales,” says RecycleStore Project Manager Steve Boyd.

Wax Box FireLog Corporation is among RecycleStore’s environmentally savvy businesses. The business transforms waxed cardboard boxes used for shipping produce into its well-received fire log product, “Hot Logs.” The state-of-the-art technology of manufacturing discarded waxed boxes into cleaner, longer-burning fire logs is the kind of stuff great business ideas are made of. Hot Logs are available at Holiday Supermarkets, and the business is looking to expand to other mainstream retailers and distribution outlets. “Based on all the calls and e-mail I field, I know that more distribution outlets will only mean more happy customers and far less wax cardboard in California’s overburdened waste stream,” says Wax Box Office Manager Diane Bickerton.

Interested buyers can also find an abundant array of manufacturers dealing with specific recycled materials. The Wooden Duck, Grandpa’s Cradle Company, Green-Furniture and Whit Mcleod use reclaimed lumber and scrap wood to produce beautiful home furnishing. VanDuerr Industries, Sign Man and Cartier Mats produce quality products from used tires. Corrugated Art and EarthWorks manufacture unique gifts from fiber sources. Businesses like Fire and Light and Shasta Visions make creative dishware and jewelry from recycled glass. For further information on RecycleStore, contact jphung@ciwmb.ca.gov. How many ways can you recycle something? Find out for yourself on www.RecycleStore.com.

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Last updated: December 30, 2008