CalMAX Helps California Businesses Reuse, Recycle: Organizations Can Buy and Sell Materials Online Through Free Classified Ads

National Spring Cleaning Week may have just ended, but CalMAX is helping California businesses stay in ship-shape year round. The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery’s (CalRecycle) CalMAX service helps jurisdictions, businesses, and organizations find "green" alternatives to throwing away valuable materials – by buying and selling them on the Web.

Consumers have Craigslist and eBay to help keep their closets tidy. CalMAX, also known as the California Materials Exchange, works the same way for commercial and nonprofit enterprises. After creating a CalMAX account online, businesses can post free listings for a variety of goods from pavers and rubber scrap to hand soap and file cabinets. Businesses looking to purchase items can search the CalMAX Web site for affordable, hard to obtain, or free supplies.

CalMAX is based on a simple idea: "One business' trash is another business' treasure." The program's mission is to build reuse markets for materials used by businesses, organizations, industry, schools, and individuals, and to find markets for non-hazardous materials that may otherwise be discarded.

The commercial sector contributes more than half of the trash that ends up in California's landfills. But, by reusing these materials instead of throwing them away, the commercial sector conserves energy, resources, and landfill space, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, disposal and purchasing costs.

For more information about how to use CalMAX to recycle and reuse materials visit www.calrecycle.ca.gov/CalMAX or call 877-520-9703.

CalRecycle is the state's leading authority on recycling, waste reduction, and product reuse. CalRecycle plays an important role in the stewardship of California's vast resources and promotes innovation in technology to encourage economic and environmental sustainability. For more information, visit www.calrecycle.ca.gov.

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CalRecycle is part of the California Natural Resources Agency.