Recycled Products Listings

Recycled Products Listings

The Official Recycled Products GuideAmerican Recycling Market Inc., PO Box 577, Ogdensburg, NY 13669;

800/267-0707, 315/471-3258 (fax)

$155 single issue; $275 annual subscription including updates, monthly newsletter, online database.

Builders, designers, and specifiers who search out recycled content building materials know how hard it can be to find comprehensive listings to work from.

The Official Recycled Products Guide, while far from perfect, is a valuable companion on that search.

As a listing of building materials, the RPG’s main drawback is that is too broad—it lists everything from recycled office paper to plastic feedstocks, in addition to building products. The RPG is so well organized and cross-referenced, however, that having all this additional information isn’t really a problem. It’s easy to get at the listing you’re looking for, whether you search by product type, manufacturer, region, or brand name.

There are some unlikely omissions from the RPG’s building product listings. Amofoam RCY, for example, doesn’t appear, nor does ReClaim, Inc. (the company that processes roofing materials into road patch material). A special “Regional Listing of Construction Materials Merchants” inexplicably covers only Homasote and Huebert Fiberboard distributors. On the plus side, the listing of recycled plastic lumber companies is the longest we’ve seen anywhere (over thirty), and almost fifty cellulose insulation manufacturers are listed. While the RPG is a bit pricey for the small company, large volume companies and government agencies will likely find it a good investment.

McDonald’s McRecycle USA DatabaseMcRecycle USA, McDonald’s Corporation, Kroc Drive, Oak Brook, Illinois 60521; 708/575-3390 (fax only).

The best thing about the McRecycle USA Database is that it’s free. Just write or fax a request to Lynn Heinlein at the address above, and she’ll send you a print-out. Although not nearly as extensive as the RPG, this database does concentrate more heavily on building materials (along with restaurant supplies). Any company using 10% or more recycled content can be listed. A simple “yes” or “no” is all the list has to say about post-consumer content, but it does tell you if the business is minority owned. When ordering a print-out, be sure to specify that you’d like it in CSI format, with a vendor listing. The print-out by category is much harder to use.

–NM