Materials Exchange

We’ve all heard the saying, “One person’s waste is another’s treasure," and it's true! Materials exchange is so much more about just identifying partnering opportunities for operational waste. Exchanging 'materials' can also involve an exchange or sharing of transportation, parking, staff, you name it! CoRDA, in partnership with the Ec-Efficiency Centre and Colchester Waste / Resource Management held their first 'Industrial Speed Dating' materials exchange event Dec. 3, 2009. See the article from the Truro and District Chamber of Commerce below. Also, please review the list of identified available and needed materials below.

Participants getting personal at the industrial speed-dating event.

CoRDA Tries its Hand at Speed-Dating

Speed dating has been known to lead to romance, but at least one provincial RDA would like it to help save resources and improve companies’ bottom lines. The Colchester Regional Development Agency (CoRDA) in collaboration with Dalhousie University’s Eco-Efficiency Centre (EEC) and Colchester Waste/Resource Management held an industrial speed-dating event earlier this month to aid companies and community organizations in the exchange or sharing of excess and underutilized materials, resources, and services.

“Many companies don’t realize that their ‘waste’ products could actually be a treasure to another company.” says Ericka Wicks, CoRDA’s Sustainability Coordinator. “Events like these enable companies to get together in an informal setting to discuss ways they can share resources.”

The speed-dating event included presentations about waste management, and also examples of similar events and partnerships forged from around the world.

“Many communities the world over are participating in events like these”’ states Penny Slight, Program Manager for the EEC. “The amount of money that can be saved and waste diverted is phenomenal!”

CoRDA believes this may be a new leadership role they can pursue on an ongoing basis to help businesses in the area. If you have any questions and/or materials for exchange please contact Ericka Wicks at ewicks@corda.ca