Materials Exchanges in the Northeast

Northeast Recycling Council, Inc.

© June 2009

As you know, Materials Exchanges offer excellent opportunities to find a useful life for materials rather than creating solid waste. We are fortunate that there are several Materials Exchanges in the Northeast. Some are non-profit, and others are for-profit. NERC has developed this list as an informational service to make it easy to identify and access these organizations. Promoting the environmental and economic benefits of source reduction is part of NERC's mission, and Materials Exchanges provide an important source reduction service. This is the most up-to-date comprehensive listing of Materials Exchanges in the Northeast. Materials Exchanges provide an important public service. We hope that you'll take advantage of them!

Residential Swap Shops at Recycling Centers and Transfer Stations, and community-based online swap shops are not included in this listing.  One example of an on-line community swap shop is Freecycle.  You can visit their website to find out if your community has one.  If you need help in finding information about your community's swap shops, contact your town's recycling coordinator.

Disclaimer
This web page reflects the Materials Exchanges currently operating in the ten Northeast states to the best of NERC’s knowledge.  It is intended solely an informational resource.  No endorsement of any of the Exchanges or programs is intended or expressed by its inclusion on this list.  NERC is not responsible for failed URLs, changed information, or any transactions or other information or performance by any of the Exchanges.   

A Note on Food Banks
Although they provide an important reuse function, food banks are not included in this list. 

Feeding America (formerly named America's Second Harvest) has an online food bank locator.

The Materials Exchanges are listed in alphabetical order by name.

• If you are looking for a specific Materials Exchange, click on the letter of the name it begins with.
• If you are looking for a Materials Exchange with a physical warehouse/retail setting, use the search feature (control f) and type in the key word, such as the state name. Or, you can find out a Materials Exchange's physical location by reading the descriptions (location will be highlighted in bold).
• If you are looking for an online Materials Exchange, use the search feature (control f) and type in the word "online".
• If you are looking for a Materials Exchange to trade a certain product, each listing has symbols next to the name. See the key below to understand the symbols.

KEY

	Art & Craft Supplies
	Computers & Electronics
	Handles a Wide Range of Materials or Everything
	Industrial Supplies, Raw Materials, Chemicals & Equipment
	Medical Supplies
	Wood, Building Materials & Construction Debris
	Furniture (for Office and/or Home)

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q |
R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Other Material

A

AmeriCares 
AmeriCares is a non-profitdisaster relief and humanitarian aid organization, which provides immediate response to emergency medical needs and supports long-term healthcare programs for people around the world, irrespective of race, creed or political persuasion. AmeriCares solicits donations of medicines, medical supplies and other relief materials from U.S. and international manufacturers, and delivers them quickly and efficiently to indigenous healthcare and welfare professionals in 137 countries around the world.

Aroostook Home Supplies and Food Bank (Aroostook County, Maine only)

Ask4Plastic Waste Plastic Listing 
Find plastic scrap online from around the world.

B

Boston ReStore, Inc.     
Collects donated building supplies and office furniture from homeowners and companies. Materials are made available to lower-income homeowners and non-profit organizations in Boston, Massachuesetts.

Build It Green!  
Build It Green! New York City warehouse is a non-profit retail outlet for reusable, environmentally-friendly, and low-cost building materials.

Building Material Resource Center (BMRC)  
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, BMRC accepts residential construction and demolition reusables, including over-runs. Materials are made available to low to moderate-income households at a reduced rate.

Building Materials Exchange  
124 East Indiana Avenue
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19134
Phone: 215-423-3613

Provides materials and furniture to low-income homeowners in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

C

CharityAmerica.com       
Donate online appliances, books, clothing, furniture, bed and bath items, autos, building materials, computers, electronics, office equipment and sporting goods to nonprofits and charities in your community or anywhere in the US.

Computers-4-Kids 
Collects and refurbishes outdated equipment from anywhere and places them into Connecticut schools and other non-profit educational organizations.

Computers for Schools 

A national program that accepts donations of whole computers and computer parts for reuse in schools.

Construction Junction 
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, its western Pennsylvania's only non-profitretail store for used and surplus building materials.

D

Donation Networks         
A non-profit agency dedicated to serving schools, home schools, after school programs, and non profits across New Hampshire by providing them with equipment and supplies they need in order to succeed. We have a whole section of our store dedicated to computer equipment, arts and crafts, books and school supplies.

DrUsed.com

DrUsed.com is an online exchange for used medical equipment and surplus medical supplies.

E

Eastern Rensselaer County Community Warehouse (Hoosick Falls, New York)

Everyone's Resource Depot (Farmington, Maine)

Everyone's Resource Depot is a non-profit organization located on the University of Maine at Farmington campus. ERD encourages recycling and our main focus is to get the community involved with taking these recycled goods and re-using them in different, yet creative ways.  

F

Furnish a Future (Brooklyn, New York)
Furniture and household goods.

Furnish a Start
751 East Warrington Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15210
Phone: 412-481-5621
A small nonprofit that provides furniture and working appliances to people in need.

G

Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh's Computer Store
The Computer Recycling Center solicits donations of PCs and related equipment from corporations, small businesses & institutions.

Greater Erie Area Habitat for Humanity
They stock donated doors, windows, cabinets, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, and some appliances for resale to fund their Habitat for Humanity programs in Erie County, Pennsylvania.

H

Habitat for Humanity

Accepts a wide variety of used building materials that are then used in building homes for those in poverty.

Habitat for Humanity Home Store
The ReStore (located in Coatesville, Pennsylvania) accepts overstocked, used, discontinued, and salvageable building materials and home items donated by builders and contractors, suppliers and manufacturers of building materials, and individuals. These materials are then sold to the public at reduced prices, with proceeds to help build quality, affordable housing.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore
The ReStore is located in Binghamton, New York.

Habitat ReStore
(Click on Habitat ReStore on left hand side)
The Habitat ReStore, located in Syracuse, New York, accepts and sells a wide range of materials.

Habitat ReStore
The Habitat ReStore is located in New Rochelle, New York.

Habitat ReStore
The Habitat ReStore is located in Wilmington, Delaware.

Habitat Re-Store of Lancaster County
Owned and operated by Lancaster Area Habitat for Humanity, this restore (located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) is a building supply store that is open to the public and sells new and used donated building materials.

Hear Now
Collects hearing aids from anyplace in the U.S. donated through the mail.

Hudson Valley Materials Exchange
Based in New Windsor, New York this Materials Exchange is open to the public. Accepts materials for arts, education, crafts and home improvement.

I

Industrial Materials Exchange (IMEX)
A free online service designed to match businesses and residential clients that produce industrial wastes, by-products, surplus materials, and other unwanted industrial materials with businesses and residential clients that need them. The quarterly print catalog and website list wanted and available materials.

International Medical Equipment Collaborative (IMEC)

IMEC is a non-profit, volunteer-based, 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to provide doctors in developing countries with quality medical equipment to improve health care for the poor. For the past 14 years, IMEC has worked with over sixty other humanitarian organizations to revitalize hundreds of existing, impoverished hospitals with donated surplus medical equipment and supplies that are organized into complete medical departments, delivering them to over seventy countries around the world.

InterVol

InterVol’s recovery program, Recovery of Unused Medical Supplies (RUMS) saves medical supplies and equipment that otherwise would be destroyed or placed in area landfills.

M

Maine Building Materials Exchange

Maine Materials Exchange (M2X) (online)

Maine Surplus Property Division 
The Surplus Property Division provides various mechanisms for the disposition of state surplus materials and equipment that are no longer needed by the state department that purchased them. This includes daily sales, property offered for bid, public sales and public auctions. In addition, federal surplus property is obtained for donation to qualifying state, public or non-profit organizations throughout Maine.

Massachusetts Materials Exchange
Connects businesses online with reusable materials with others that can use them. The website is temporarily offline, but is expected to be fully operational in the very near future. 

Massachusetts Surplus Property Program
Surplus property includes, but is not limited to, office equipment and furniture, clothing, vehicles, and building materials that exceed departmental need. Priority begins with state agencies and municipalities, but materials after time may be available to the public.

Materials for the Arts (New York City)

Materials Resource Center (MRC)
MRC, based in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, New York, obtains scrap and surplus materials from industry, and makes them available to the arts, educational and non-profit organizations.

The Materials Reuse Project (MRP)

MRP is a public/private partnership in which area businesses donate surplus supplies that can be creatively reused in Buffalo, New York schools.

MAT-EX: Western/Central New York Materials Exchange
MAT-EX is a unique opportunity for businesses to exchange unwanted/unusable products that would otherwise be discarded, and/or locate free/inexpensive materials that can be used in daily business operations. Businesses in twenty-one counties of Western/Central New York, Niagara Consortium, and the Western Finger Lakes and Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authorities can participate.

Micrecycle
A collaborative drawing on resources offered by the business and non-profit communities. Micrecycle, based in Rochester, New York, gathers, repairs and refurbishes computers and peripherals that have outlived their usefulness in the workplace, and places them where they can do the most good: in needy schools and community-based organizations in New York State.
Morris County (New Jersey) Municipal Utilities Authority 's Online Materials Exchange

N

New Hampshire Hospital Association Materials Exchange
Post items your hospital has to sell or donate online, or to request items your hospital needs. Also, look here for supplies needed by non-profit medical relief organizations or businesses looking to buy or sell used or surplus hospital-related supplies.

New Hampshire State Surplus
New Hampshire state surplus program is open to the general public, as well as state agencies cities, towns and schools. Our hours of operation are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 8:00am-3:30pm.

New Jersey Surplus Computer Donation Program
The Surplus Computer Donation Program provides a means to distribute State used computer equipment to interested local government entities, boards of education, nonpublic schools and non-profitcharitable corporations.

New York State Surplus

New York City Waste Le$$ (NYC) 
New York City waste prevention and recycling resource, includes directory of materials exchanges and charitable organizations in New York City.

NonprofitTechnology Resources (NTR)
NTR accepts the donation of used computers, SVGA monitors, small dot-matrix printers, ink-jet and laser printers, and other computer accessories. Call NTR's office before dropping off your donation or to request a pickup of 10 or more Pentium "133" computers in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. NTR can pickup your donation of 100 or more Pentium "133" computers anywhere from New York City to Washington D.C. NTR also runs the Computer Thrift Store located at 1524 Brandywine Street, in Philadelphia.

Nova Scotia Materials Exchange (online)

NYC Stuff Exchange 
Find out where to donate, sell, or buy gently used goods in New York City.

NY Wa$teMatch (online)
This New York City based Materials Exchange is a free online service that matches generators of valuable commercial waste and surplus goods with organizations that can reuse them.

P

Pennsylvania Material Trader
A free online service designed to help businesses find markets for materials they have traditionally discarded. Material Trader helps businesses, industries, and institutions save resources and money.

Pennsylvania's Surplus Property Programs 

Per Scholas

Per Scholas provides very low cost, fully reconditioned and upgraded computer systems, with a Pentium II processor, donated by major corporations for technology-deprived children and families.

Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning (PENCIL)
Any company or individual with gently used furniture, equipment or other quality goods to donate can list these items on the PENCIL Box website where a deserving school can access these donations directly. Books, musical instruments, computers, furniture, science equipment, and art supplies are among the resources frequently in demand. PENCIL is based out of New York City.

R

The ReCONNstruction Center
A building materials reuse store, located in New Britain, Connecticut, that accepts donations of unwanted, but perfectly usable, building materials for resale at reasonable prices in a retail setting.

ReCycle North's Building Materials and Household Goods Retail Store
Located at 266 Pine Street, Burlington, Vermont, ReCycle North accepts appliances, computers, furniture, household goods, and building materials.

Recycle Shack
814 Second Ave., Royersford , Pennsylvania 19468
Tel: 484-686-7641
Reclaiming & Recycling Building Materials & Architectural Antiques Deconstruction Services.

Recycled Plastics Markets Database
Searchable online database for recycled plastics available and wanted.

Recycler's World (online)

Recycle-a-Bicycle

RAB refurbishes donated bikes and sells them at our retail locations (Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York).

The ReHouse Store
A used building materials warehouse containing an inventory of architectural salvage, both modern and historical, located in Rochester, New York.

ReNew Building Materials & Salvage
ReNew Building Materials & Salvage, Inc., is a non-profit retail store selling new, used, and salvage building materials in Brattleboro, Vermont.  Deconstruction services and pick-up available.

ResourceXchange
A free online service provided by the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC). The service is designed to help businesses, non-profits, educational institutions, and government agencies find markets for non-hazardous materials that have been traditionally discarded.

The Restore
They divert clean, usable commercial/industrial surplus from the waste stream and offer it to the public, teachers, parents, artists and crafters as art, craft and educational materials in Montpelier, Vermont.

ReStore
ReStore, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers never-been-used house parts at below retail prices, architectural salvage, deconstruction services, as well as design consultations.

ReStore
ReStore, in Stratford, Connecticut, is a building supply thrift store.

ReStore Home Improvement Center
Accepts donations of quality but unwanted home improvement materials and sells at low prices in a retail setting in Springfield, Massachusetts.

ReStore of Wyoming Valley
The ReStore accepts donations of new and used building materials and fixtures from a variety of sources. All donations are tax deductible to the donor. The materials, whenever possible, are used in the construction of Habitat for Humanity homes. The remaining materials are resold (located at Nanticoke, Pennsylvania) to the public at prices lower than retail.

Re-Stor/York
A building supply store, located in York, Pennsylvania, selling new and used donated materials.

Rhode Island Donation Exchange Program
Solicits manufacturers and homeowners for furniture, clothing, and building materials. It warehouses and redistributes donations to needy Rhode Island individuals or families.

Rhode Island State Surplus
The Department of Administration Division of Central Surplus Property Agency serves organizations by providing them access to its ongoing inventory. Currently, state departments, cities, towns, and non-profits for health and education are eligible. The materials available at the State Surplus Property Depot in Quonset, Rhode Island.

Ruth's Reusable Resources
A non-profit resource center (in the Bessy School in Scarborough, Maine) for schools in Southern Maine.

S

The Set Recycling Hotline

Companies and individuals in the performing arts, television and film industries wanting to dispose of scenic elements, such as flats, platforms, props, and theatrical equipment such as audio/video and lighting, can call the Set Recycling Hotline (based in New York City) to list their items as available for donation.

Share the Technology
National computer donation database online.

Storehouse NY
The Storehouse NY, a program of World Vision in Bronx, New York, provides donated resources such as clothing, school supplies, and building materials to revitalize neighborhoods and sustain families as they break out of poverty into a hope-filled future.

T

Throwplace.com
Donate used items online to a charity or non-profit within or outside the US.  Or put items in the Up for Grabs pile.

Tools for Schools
Tools for Schools redistribute used office furniture, computers and supplies from businesses to address the pervasive needs of cash-strapped public schools, and community based non-profits around New York City.

U

Upper Valley (Vermont) Materials Exchange (online)

Used Building Materials Exchange (UBM) Index
A free online worldwide exchange for those companies and individuals who buy, sell or trade used building materials.

V

Vermont Buildings & General Services: Surplus Property

Vermont Business Materials Exchange (VBMeX)

A free online service that links companies with surplus or by-product materials with other businesses or individuals who can reuse these materials productively.

Vermont Surplus Property
Located in Montpelier, Vermont, the state sells surplus property, both from Vermont as well as Federal agencies. There are no restrictions on who can purchase state surplus property.

W

Wastetraders
This online exchange provides the opportunity to exchange and trade materials considered to be unwanted, between companies.

Westchester Access
Assists in online matching of companies with schools and non-profit organizations in Westchester County, New York for the donation of unwanted computer equipment listed below.

Where to Reuse and Recycling your Old Computers in Vermont
A listing of local solid waste districts and businesses in Vermont that provide reuse and/or recycling options for used computers.

WoodList
Connects buyers and sellers of wood flooring, cabinets, and surplus building materials online.

Other Materials Exchange Directories

Earth's 911
Users type in their zip codes to find reuse opportunities in their area.

Recycler's World Information & Materials Exchange Directory
List Materials Exchanges by alphabetical order.

Reuse in New England
A Resource Guide to donation opportunities for businesses, local governments, and residents.

The purpose of the Reuse Resources of New England is to promote reuse over traditional solid waste disposal of materials that still have "use." The Guide is intended to be used by businesses, institutions, governments who deal with off-spec production or asset management, and others who need to dispose of items that still may have "use." It contains listings for where to donate used goods or unwanted materials, and serves those in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. This guide features organizations that are not-for-profit.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Listing through Jobs Through Recycling Program
Lists state specific and national Materials Exchanges.

Technical Assistance for Materials Exchanges

ReDO
A national non-profit organization providing technical assistance and support for reuse organizations.

Are we missing anyone? Mistakes or updates?

Please let us know and we'd be happy to make the corrections or additions. Contact Lynn Rubinstein.