Cascade Alliance

Reuse, Remanufacture and Recycle

Broadly defined, a waste-based business is any venture that makes money from discarded materials.

Items are diverted from several waste sources, including dumps, transfer stations, businesses and individual donations. In a waste-based business the items are reused, remanufactured, or recycled for a profit.

• Reuse is using a product as-is (example: selling books online or in a retail thrift store)
• Remanufacture is taking an item and turning it into something else (example: clean materials from a discarded mattress used to make a dog or cat bed)
• Recycling is sending raw materials to a secondary market for remanufacture (example: collecting large appliances and selling the scrap metal)

What are the benefits? In addition to a cleaner environment and more responsible use of our natural resources, the overarching benefit is permanent, full-time, and stable jobs with access to healthcare for people who often struggle to find employment within the mainstream workforce. These include ex-offenders, people experiencing homelessness, victims of domestic violence, and/or people with low education and skill levels.

Cascade Alliance members are currently operating these waste-based businesses:

• Mattress recycling (SVdP is a global leader in mattress recycling. Click the link for more info.)
• Appliance repair and recycling
• CFC and propane recycling
• Mattress recycling and refurbishing
• Retail thrift stores (textiles and shoes)
• Online and retail book and media sales
• Used car sales
• Upcycling (remanufacturing discarded textiles into fashion items)
• Glass recycling and remanufacturing
• Candle wax remanufacturing