DES MOINES – Iowa continues to lead the way in reducing what enters our landfills, thanks to continued partnerships and outreach by the Iowa Waste Exchange.
The Iowa Waste Exchange (IWE), one of the nation’s premier materials exchange programs, is a no-cost, non-regulatory, confidential service that matches institutions which produce byproducts and waste with other groups interested in using or recycling those materials. These matches save disposal fees and raw material costs, while reducing, reusing and recycling those materials.
In Fiscal Year 2024, IWE representatives made 5,215 contacts with different Iowa industries. They added more than 400 materials to the IWE database and made 461 matches. These matches prevented more than 87,000 tons of material from ending up in Iowa landfills, saving nearly $3.4 million dollars in fees and disposal costs.
To provide some perspective, a single garbage truck carries about 8.5 tons of material per load. This means more than 10,235 truckloads of material were diverted from Iowa landfills this year.
"Our clients truly drive our success at Iowa Waste Exchange. Industries reach out to us, and we simply facilitate the process," said Shelly Codner, Iowa Waste Exchange Coordinator. "Because of our area resource specialists' dedication to our clients' environmental and economic goals, word travels fast, and the data shows those achievements continue to pile up."
Since its inception in 1990, the Iowa Waste Exchange has kept more than 4.5 million tons of material out of landfills. Nearly 82,000 Iowa companies, nonprofits and municipalities have participated, saving Iowa industries nearly $140 million dollars over the course of the program.
The IWE maintains a database of more than 13,000 available and wanted materials at Iowa Waste Exchange Material Search. Interested parties can search for materials they need or list the materials they generate.
To find your IWE Representative, you can click on the IWE Representative Service Area Map