Surplus Match
Greater ‘year on year’ landfill tax charges and tighter regulation driven by new legislation mean that builders, developers, merchants & manufacturers should now be looking even more closely at the 'greener' options when it comes to dealing with their surplus building materials.
By this we don’t just mean a greater number of segregated skips for processing and recycling, which for waste is exactly the right option. We’re talking about tackling the construction industry’s surplus, the fit for purpose product that should never end up in a skip, it really should be traded locally without any intermediate onward transfer.
What defines ‘surplus’ as opposed to ‘waste’ you might ask. Well, surplus building materials are the left over products from the construction process that are still fit for their original purpose and can therefore be traded on the understanding that this ‘purpose of use’ doesn’t change. For example bricks can be traded so long as they are used for brickwork but not crushed for hardcore Timber on the other hand can be traded for making up a gate or fence but not for processing into wood burning pellets.
To prevent these surplus’s from ending up in a builders skip which is both costly from a financial & environmental perspective Surplus-Match has been set up, a user friendly website marketplace where sellers & buyers can trade surplus building materials quickly and easily. We are really keen to spread the word encouraging the construction industry as a whole to address the large amount of building materials delivered to sites that never get used - TRADE SURPLUS’S DON’T SKIP THEM should be an industry standard, not just talked about.
Everyone within the industry should now be aware of the phrase “Reduce, Reuse & Recycle” and in particular environmental managers the length and breadth of the country should now be actively looking at their procurement procedures. By adopting a proactive set of policies companies can embrace this issue with little if any heartache and with the help of Surplus-Match we will help to reduce your carbon footprint by reducing the amount going to transfer stations / landfill.
Surplus-Match is for absolutely EVERYONE, from both inside and outside the construction industry including the general public and employees of registered companies. We have a ‘Members Forum’ & ‘Members Affiliate Status’ available as we are keen to know how our members feel & actively encourage feedback including positive criticism. Affiliate status allows members the additional benefit of being able to access Surplus-Match and view all their advertised products by way of their own distinctive ‘affiliate page’, this page can incorporate as much or as little of their own ‘website look’ as they feel appropriate. Companies are also encouraged to promote their affiliate status within their own organisation to their employees who would have free lifetime ‘individual / buyer’ membership and a secure company password protected login.
Builders, developers & contractors:
Surplus materials are an inevitable consequence of the construction process, wasteage allowances and product quality tolerances vary considerably, materials get damaged on site and in transit, ultimately though trades people just can’t be left short of material. These and other variables have to be taken into account of when site purchasing takes place.
Merchants & suppliers:
End-of-line, ex-display & returned products ( with or without packaging & instructions ) are absolutely ideal materials for advertising on Surplus-Match and should help to free up valuable storage space within the business premises and bring in additional much needed revenues.
Manufacturers:
Encouraging both merchants & contractors within their supply chain to adopt a strict policy with regard their own surplus’s would be extremely beneficial all round, indeed this could be written into their supply agreements and advertised as such in relevant publications, newsletters etc.
Specifiers: ( architects, planners, project managers, regeneration organisations etc. ):
Architects, planners, project managers, regeneration organisations etc. can all become involved themselves by encouraging their clients to include a ‘re-use’ process within their environmental policy statements / tender documents.
Publications:
We have already been successful in gaining editorial feature in a number of popular construction magazines including website ‘hyperlinking’ for on-line copy and are stepping up our marketing campaign significantly throughout 2010 as we look to establish Surplus-Match as a key construction industry partner.
General Public:
This huge untapped market is now ready to take advantage of the industry’s surplus building materials and will be hearing about Surplus-Match in a number of ways.
Additionally we will be looking to & calling on the major industry ‘think tanks’ in both the public & private sectors, regeneration & developer partnerships, current trade associations and local / national buying groups within the construction industry to create policy with surplus’s in mind – the forming of a ‘Reuse / Surplus Materials’ trade association we feel is just round the corner and long overdue.
We are NOT an auction site & advertising will be FREE until such a time when sufficient product trading is taking place, then & only then will we be asking our ‘advertising’ members for a nominal annual charge per site or branch NOT per advert – FREE advertising will be available until at least the end of 2010.
