United States Materials Marketplace: Q1 2016 Update
MOMENTUM BUILDS POST-DAVOSAs you've probably seen by now, the U.S. Materials Marketplace was recognized with a prestigious "Circulars" Award at this year's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in January, kickstarting a considerable amount of momentum for the project both in the US and around the world. Scroll down through our past postings to see recent news articles and social media activity.
SHARE THE NEWS This award is unique in that it's shared not only by our three organizations; but also by each of you as project participants and supporters. We want to help you share this achievement both within your organization and externally through your media channels and CSR reports. Contact us for a press package with badges and a brief description of the award.
PROJECT SPONSORSHIP We're asking all companies participating in the US Materials Marketplace to help offset costs for project administration, data analysis, ongoing software improvements, and program expansion with a participation fee. Three tiers of sponsorship are outlined on our website - click here for more information.
NEW REUSE IDEAS EMERGE FROM GREENBIZ CONFERENCE PVC anti-chip paste: GM has a good amount of unwanted PVC paste materials from their manufacturing processes, and Armstrong is interested in exploring the possibility of reusing this material in various flooring products (such as vinyl composition tile).
Limestone powder: Automobile manufacturers generate a paint overspray byproduct and use limestone to absorb extra paint. This byproduct is 90-95% limestone and 5-10% paint overspray. Armstrong flooring is exploring the possibility to feed this material into their production process to replace virgin filler for their flooring products.
SAVE THE DATE: JUNE 14-15 AT YALE UNIVERSITY
Move 'Ideas to Action to Scale' this summer with the US BCSD, WBCSD and Yale Center for Business and the Environment. Open up your calendars now and add June 14-15, 2016 in New Haven, Connecticut; and stay-tuned for more information as the date gets closer.
CALL TO ACTION: ADD NEW MATERIALS & NEW LOCATIONS We're looking to significantly increase the number of materials and locations in the Materials Marketplace database, which will in turn allow our team to identify more opportunities and create a greater impact. Adding new materials information and bringing more facilities online is a fairly straightforward process, and we've put together this quick tutorial to make it even easier.
We’re also moving forward toward a goal of having 100+ companies participating in the US Materials Marketplace by this time next year and will be updating you as new companies sign up.
NEW WEBSITE UPDATES We made some major updates to our project website - materialsmarketplace.org - in January 2016 to better communicate the scope of the project; share resources, news and updates; and capture new leads on new project participants. Click on the link to take a look, and feel welcomed to share it with your colleagues and linkedin connections.
MATERIALS MARKETPLACE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENTS The Materials Marketplace software will be getting some improvements this summer as it moves ahead on a continuous improvement path. We will be in touch to invite your contributions as the software improves and evolves.
G7 ALLIANCE ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY The Materials Marketplace is being recognized during a G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency Workshop in Washington, DC on March 22-23, hosted by the US EPA. The event theme is the Use of Life Cycle Concepts in Supply Chain Management to Achieve Resource Efficiency. This workshop offers US Marketplace exposure at the ministerial levels in all G7 countries and will help foster dialogue about innovative practices, key challenges, and highlight areas of opportunity related to life-cycle based approaches. Stay tuned for key outcomes and action items.