One of the most exciting aspects of waste management (I
’ll bet that’s a phrase you never thought you’d read) is called
materials exchange.
One of the most exciting aspects of waste management (I’ll bet that’s a phrase you never thought you’d read) is called materials exchange.
In a simple example, Company A winds up with extra shipping pallets from its operation and its neighbor, Company B, needs pallets on a routine basis. They hook up and Company A is able to reduce its garbage volume while Company B is able to save money on pallets.
While this type of plain-vanilla exchange is easy to understand, it’s not an exciting enough topic to write about in this fine newspaper. Here’s a twist on this concept that is truly exciting.
How about if a local company was separating out some of its waste and making it available to school teachers for use in arts and crafts projects? Would this keep your attention? Because that’s exactly what two local firms are doing.
Mission Bell, a local manufacturer specializing in architectural casework, millwork and fixtures since 1959, generates a variety of interesting scrap materials in its operation.
Since these materials are varied and usually far too small to be incorporated into new product, they have historically been thrown away. Efforts by the city to find a local school interested in the materials failed.
This is where a needed third party enters the story. The Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) is an organization specifically dedicated to collecting useful scrap materials from manufacturers and making them available to teachers for use as art supplies and other classroom purposes. Located in San Jose, RAFT has been facilitating these exchanges for nearly 10 years.
Our city’s recycling representative, while visiting Mission Bell, saw the great variety of scraps they had and showed them to RAFT.
The RAFT folks were very interested and currently, hinges, wood scrap and laminate scrap pieces from Mission Bell are being brought to the RAFT warehouse and distributed to teachers.A second local firm, Paramit, gets a variety of really interesting foam packing pieces as a result of its electronics manufacturing operation.
The foam comes in all shapes and sizes. The city’s representative saw this great foam and also showed it to RAFT. As a result, this foam is now becoming art in schools throughout the South Bay. If your workplace generates a supply of interesting scrap, contact me and we’ll have your scrap evaluated by RAFT.
Eco-Fact of the Week: RAFT is presently serving more than 5,000 individual teachers including 10 local public school districts. These teachers are reaching 800,000 children per year with interactive learning materials.
Each month an average of 1300 teachers visit their facility. Each month about 100 different companies donate surplus materials. Each month RAFT diverts approximately 10,500 cubic feet of reusable items from landfills. (RAFT Website)
Eco-Web Pages of the Week: RAFT has a web site that fully explains their center and operation. Visit www.raft.net for more information.
