Circular Material Marketplaces

The Building Material Exchange Marketplace (BMEx Marketplace) is a free online platform that enables Vancouver Island construction, manufacturing, and demolition businesses to list, sell, and acquire used or surplus building materials such as concrete, aggregates, asphalt, metal, wood, glass, flooring, doors, drywall, fixtures, and shingles, with the objective of keeping usable materials out of landfills and promoting a circular economy in the region. The platform was developed by Light House on the Rheaply reuse platform and is promoted and financially supported by the Capital Regional District, Regional District of Nanaimo, Cowichan Valley Regional District, and the City of Nanaimo, with plans for a complementary physical hub in Nanaimo where contractors can bring unneeded materials for public resale.

The BMEx Marketplace complements broader regional efforts to reduce construction and demolition waste, which accounted for 22.7 percent of the garbage arriving at Vancouver Island’s Hartland Landfill in 2021, by providing a digital marketplace similar in function to Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist for the built environment. Stakeholders cited in the initiative expect the platform to facilitate material recirculation, reduce disposal volumes and industry environmental footprints, and support reuse practices by making surplus materials discoverable and marketable to local buyers and builders.

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