Industrial Material Exchange Service
A Free Confidential Material Exchange Program
Eggshells are used for tile
pigment......dryer lint is used as casket stuffing......fish
waste is used for asphalt blending......and horror movie sets are
used as a Haunted House for Halloween......
What do eggshells, fish waste, lint and
creaking doors have in common? All have been reused or recycled
for new uses through an unusual Illinois EPA industry-oriented
program.
The creative reuse of these materials demonstrates the basic
premise of the Illinois Industrial Material Exchange Service
(IMES), that one company's waste can be a valuable resource
material to another. Acting as an information clearinghouse,
directory, and marketing facilitator for reusable industrial
materials, IMES deals with waste by-products, off-spec items,
hazardous and nonhazardous materials, overstock, and damaged or
unwanted materials.
A survey of IMES clients shows that the program has directly
fostered material transactions between companies that generated
more than $112.5 million in cost savings. More than 278.8 million
gallons or gallon equivalents of material have been diverted from
landfill disposal in the process.
IMES can help manage an industry's waste streams when other
source reduction or pollution prevention applications are not
possible or practical, when on-site treatment or disposal is too
expensive, or when no in-house expertise is available for on-site
waste treatment.
The process can work both when waste is routinely generated
with properties and volumes that are predictable, or when waste
is generated on a one-time only basis.
How Does IMES Work?
IMES publishes a bi-monthly directory that goes to 14,000
subscribers nationwide. It lists both materials that are
available and materials industries are seeking. Request forms are
included in the front of each directory. To respond, or to list a
material, firms can send phone or fax requests to the IMES
office. Copies of the most recent IMES directory can be obtained,
or firms can be added to the mailing list, by calling
217-782-0450.
After a firm responds to a listing, IMES puts the potential
user in contact with the generator, with the final transaction
and transportation of materials left to the companies involved.
Materials listings stay in the directory for a minimum of one
year, unless the listing is withdrawn. If firms prefer to list
their materials confidentially; IMES will not release a company
name or phone number without permission.
Focus of the IMES program is on services to industrial
clients, so the program does not have direct involvement with
regulatory bureaus or the Illinois EPA's compliance programs, and
does not allow access to its files, or discuss client companies'
needs with Agency bureaus.
IMES Is Readily Accessible
To get more information, firms may contact:
Diane Shockey, program manager
Industrial Material Exchange Service #34
P.O. Box 19276
Springfield Ill. 62794-9276
217-782-0450, (fax) 217-782-9142
E-mail: Diane.McClain@illinois.gov
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