Did you know there is a local matchmaker for unwanted items? Tammy Turner, Resource Specialist with the Iowa Waste Exchange is just the person to find matches for your business’s unwanted materials (or to search for items that your organization, non-profit, or school could utilize!). The Iowa Waste Exchange (IWE) is provided at no cost by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Businesses, schools, organizations, non-profits can contact the IWE specialist in their area for confidential assistance in assessing waste streams, waste sorts, and identifying reuse and recycling opportunities. The IWE’s success in matching materials has resulted in the diversion of over 4.3 million tons of waste from Iowa landfills with associated savings of over $129 million in avoided disposal costs, avoided purchases, reduced transportation costs and freed storage space (since 1990).

The Iowa Waste Exchange maintains a database (http://programs.iowadnr.gov/iwe/searchmaterials.aspx) of available and wanted materials that is free to access. With over 13,000 materials listed in the IWE database, the Iowa Waste Exchange may have what you are looking for! It can be as simple as the resource specialist matching up gently used corporate desks/cubicles/chairs to a non-profit who could use that furniture, matching microscopes from a college to 6th graders, or as detailed as finding a new market for a manufacturing waste material.

There are 5 IWE regions across the state, with Turner covering Area 3 (28 counties). In addition to the state database, Turner sends out a monthly Iowa Waste Exchange Area 3 Newsletter with a listing of Available/Wanted Materials.

Contact IWE Resource Specialist, Tammy Turner at tturner@inrcog.org or (319) 235-0311 for more information, to list your surplus materials in the upcoming newsletter, or to receive the monthly Area 3 IWE Newsletter!