SE:How We Help The Environment
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We collect donated business surplus from companies in the metro Kansas City area, surrounding areas, and nationally. In 1997, we diverted some 55,000 non compressed cubic yards of business waste out of area landfills. That is roughly enough to cover an entire football field with a layer of materials 35 feet deep. In weight, this amounts to a little more than 7000tons. Between our reuse and recycling efforts we were able to keep all but 3% of the items we collected out of the landfill, (this 3% is mostly represented by damaged-beyond-repair wood and wood laminated products).
Naturally, our first choice is to provide the best products of these collected, reusable items to our charitable membership. Reusables that charities can’t use or can’t use up in the quantities we receive, are offered in surplus, public, or scrap markets in an effort to keep them out of the landfill and offset our operating costs. The revenues generated from these items helps us keep our prices to charities low and fund our programs and environmental efforts. The reuse and/or recycling of used electronics, metals, and other redeemables saves renewable resources from being forever lost in the dump. It is estimated that, by the year 2005, more than 150 million personal computers will be resting in America’s landfills. With financial assistance from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Mid-America Regional Council, and various corporate funders, we are able to address these problems. |