Ted Reiff is a legend in the world of reclaiming building materials. Starting out in 1993 by recovering building materials for flood victims in Mexico, Ted’s organisation, The Reuse People of America, has diverted over 400,000 tonnes of materials from landfill. The organisation now operates a string of warehouses across the USA.
I was fortunate enough to meet Ted and Executive Director Michael Chambers in their Oakland, California warehouse. Their operation covers 45,000 square feet and is usefully located on a site they share with Habitat for Humanity.
The Reuse People have been active in developing the tax benefit available to residential developers who are able to claim a federal tax rebate according to a certified value of the materials donated to a not-for-profit. Ted indicates that they have received $250 million of materials that have been eligible to claim a tax rebate.
90% of the materials they receive is from contractors whom they have long standing relationships with and who can retrieve material from soft strips whilst maintaining the value of the items for resale. The quality of the relationships is exemplified by timber. This is required to be delivered ready for sale with no nails, filleted and packeted ready to go for sale.
The tax benefit of donating materials as well as changes to local and state regulations around required destinations of waste have been beneficial to organisations both for-profit and not-for-profit who recover construction and demolition waste.
Under the guidance of Ted, The Reuse People of America have active and widespread in recovering deconstruction materials, proving that economic sustainability in this space is achievable.
https://thereusepeople.org/
Thanks to Ted and Michael for hosting me at Reuse People, Oakland.
Comments
Post a Comment