2011 - Volume #35, Issue #6, Page #31
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He Finds A Way To "RePurpose" Over-Engineered Industrial "Waste"
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“Many industrial products are candidates for repurposing,” says Carson. “But until someone buys it, it’s just potential.”
Carson likes to put customers together with over-engineered industrial waste. Insulated roof panels are a good example of what Carson looks for. Designed for use on large flat commercial roofs, the thick sheets of PolyIso insulation are moisture-resistant. When a leak develops in a small area, the entire roof is usually replaced, making large volumes of the high-tech insulation, as well as the rubber roofing membrane that covers it, available for salvage.
“The panel corners may be dinged or dented, but I can sell it for a third the cost of new panels, and it still provides good insulation,” says Carson. “Its moisture-resistant properties make it ideal for insulating foundations or the walls of a shop or poultry building.”
The roofing membrane gets used for everything from bunker silo covers to recovering older mobile home roofs or outbuilding.
“It would work as a weed barrier for landscaping and might even work as a pond liner,” says Carson. “People keep coming up with new uses.”
Carson recently took delivery of 750 ft. of high-pressure hose used to power-clean municipal sewer lines. The hose is designed to handle 2,500 psi, but has to be replaced if the outside layer is roughed up.
“It no longer has a value to the municipalities for use at 2,500 psi, but it may last another 20 years being used with 80 to 100 psi water or even air,” says Carson. “You can plumb your shop with it to run 150 psi air.”
Used 275-gal. totes are another popular item. One customer used some for an aquaponics farm, while another used his in the back of a pickup to haul water.
“Some items are instant hits; others don’t go,” says Carson. “In May I picked up 40, 10 ft. long, 2 by 10-in. lengths of solid rubber that had been used on the bottom of snowplow blades. I only sold 15 of them. One day someone will see them, and it will solve a problem, and they will want all I’ve got.”
Carson has 20,000 potential customers on his e-newsletter list. In a recent issue, he offered free sheets of tapered PolyIso insulation, 4-ft. by 4-ft. acoustical tile panels for $10 each (originally $50/tile) and super tough 6-ft. by 10-ft. filter cloths previously used in the brewing industry. Other recycled materials included billboard tarps, steel and plastic 55-gal. drums, climbing ropes and street sweeper brushes. To receive the newsletter, send your email address to: jessica@repurposedmaterialsinc.com.
“The filter cloths would make great, long-lasting tarps for cleaning up lawn and tree debris,” says Carson. “The brushes often get used as cattle back scratchers. We are always looking for new materials and new uses.”
Carson uses his website to list current inventory and current uses. He also solicits website visitors and newsletter readers to let him know about waste byproducts their companies produce or items to be replaced that are available for salvage. He is always looking at new purposes for his inventory.
“Our customers are our R&D department,” he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, RePurposed Materials Inc., 5138 E. 39th Ave., Denver, Colo. 80207 (ph 720 583-4873; www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com).
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