Guidelines for Using CalMAX

The goal of CalMAX is to reduce the amount of reusable business and institutional discards going to landfills. CalMAX seeks to help California business, government, schools, and nonprofit organizations save money and other valuable resources by:

• Reducing their disposal costs.
• Helping them find reusable items and feedstock materials for little to no cost.

CalMAX is designed for nonhazardous materials that would otherwise be discarded. For information on managing hazardous materials, contact a Regulatory Assistance Officer at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), or call (800) 728-6942. Please note that CalMAX is not affiliated with DTSC.

This page contains examples of acceptable listings for CalMAX. Before you create a listing, please read the guidelines for creating one. Also, all CalMAX users should review the CalMAX disclaimer. CalMAX staff reserves the right to redirect advertisers to more appropriate sources when necessary.

Everyone is encouraged to peruse the CalMAX listings to find a wealth of free and low-cost materials!

• Acceptable "Available" Listings
• Acceptable "Wanted" Listings
• Unacceptable "Available" Listings
• Special Services
• Lister Responsibilities
• Complaints and Compliments

Acceptable "Available" Listings

• Businesses, government, or institutions/organizations interested in placing items that are potentially reusable to someone else, but currently with little to no market value. Examples include business overruns, seconds, outdated inventory, empty containers, etc. Individual exceptions may be made for marketable items being offered for free or below market value to schools or nonprofit organizations.
• Businesses, government, or institutions/organizations interested in placing large and/or recurring quantities of recyclable (scrap) materials for which recycling markets are not yet established (such as some types of paper, plastics). These materials may be useable as feedstock for manufacturers, recyclers, or brokers. To determine if there are established recycling markets in your area, contact your local city/county recycling coordinator, or check the yellow pages under Recycling Services.
• Individuals interested in offering items at significantly below market value or free for reuse by schools or nonprofit organizations.

Acceptable "Wanted" Listings

• Businesses, government, or institutions/organizations seeking used items. Examples include used office equipment, building materials, office and art supplies, etc.
• Manufacturers who are interested in obtaining feedstock materials for the manufacturing of their products.
• Professional recyclers and brokers interested in obtaining scrap materials.

Unacceptable "Available" Listings

• Manufacturers/distributors/retailers of recycled content products interested in listing their products. These listers may place a free listing in the CIWMB’s Recycled Content Products Directory.
• Professional recyclers and brokers interested in listing their products. Individual exceptions may be made for items that are not scrap materials, such as a closeout on containers, hangers, fixtures, or some other reusable item, especially if they are free.
• Businesses or individuals interested in selling used items at market value, such as appliances, furniture, automobiles, etc. Those items with established resale markets would be better served by utilizing local advertising options.
• Businesses or individuals interested in placing recyclable (scrap) materials with established recycling markets, such as cardboard and white office paper. These listers would be better served by contacting the local city/county recycling coordinator, or check the yellow pages under Recycling Services. Exceptions include those materials suitable in form and quantity for reuse in arts and education applications.

Special Services

CalMAX will continue to list specialized reuse and recycling services (see Other Resources) if they are: free public services; nonprofit organizations; companies that donate a significant portion of their materials for reuse by nonprofits (or act as a conduit for such donations); or if they offer unique information services to assist Californians in the reuse and recycling of specialized materials; or if they cater to specialized industries.

Lister Responsibilities

Please respond to all inquiries, even if only to say that you are not interested. CalMAX will only work if listers are responsive. If complaints are received that you are not returning phone calls and the problem is not resolved in a timely manner, your listing(s) will be removed. If the number in your listing is on an answer phone or voice mail system, please be sure your full name, and/or business name, as stated in your listing, is mentioned on your outgoing message. Otherwise, respondents have no way of knowing if they have reached the right party.

Listers should remove their CalMAX listing if no longer valid and report all successful exchanges. This feedback is absolutely critical to justify the continuation of this program.

Reporting Exchanges
Reporting exchanges is easy using CalMax's new automated exchange reporting feature. Just follow these easy and quick steps:

1. Select "My CalMAX" on the left navigation menu of the home page.
2. Sign in using your Cal/EPA WebPass (which you had to establish in order to create your ad).
3. Select the "Ads" link in the middle of the page. This will bring up a listing of all your CalMAX ad listings.
4. Under the "New Exchange” column, select the "Report” link next to the item for which you’re reporting the successful exchange.
5. Fill in the three fields and select "Save." Congratulations!! You've just reported your exchange and helped make CalMAX an even bigger success thanks to your efforts.

Complaints and Compliments

We appreciate any constructive feedback that you would like to offer, be it a compliment or a complaint. Please use the email address or phone number at the bottom of this page. Every one of your good ideas is implemented, as long as it is possible to do and benefits CalMAX overall. Your feedback is our only way of knowing what does and does not work in the real world of CalMAX. Please do not hesitate to tell the CalMAX coordinators what you think and how we can serve you better!