Repurposed Materials Inc. finds new homes for old industrial materials

Repurposed Materials Inc. says it is not a recycler. Instead, CEO Dan Creacy prefers the term "industrial matchmaker." The company's mission is to bring together waste or unusable material and people who have ideas on how to repurpose it. We're not just talking about grimy old junk here (although there's plenty of that); Repurposed Materials' operation has enough cachet that it has even been featured in Oprah Winfrey's O magazine.

The company will sell almost any kind of unwanted industrial products, including material handling equipment. For instance, a recent check of its website found 275-gallon IBC totes, used bulk shipping bags, plastic pallets, and conveyor belting.

Customers reuse the items they've bought in creative ways. Examples include turning giant mining equipment tires into livestock-watering stations, concrete utility pads into ballast for empty truck trailers, and rubber roofing membrane and "retired" vinyl billboard ads into cargo covers for flatbed trucks. One customer wrote in to say he was using old conveyor belts to build feeding stations for dairy calves, while another was using the belting to protect the bottoms of snowplow blades.

Repurposed Materials Inc. is headquartered in Denver and has an operation near Chicago. The company is looking to expand to Atlanta.