Business Thrives in Giving Industrial Products New Life
Resource Recycling
The latest analysis highlights how businesses are thriving by giving industrial products a second life.
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Recycling
Business thrives in giving industrial products new life
by Paul Lane
October 15, 2026
Repurposed Materials opened in 2010 with a mission to find new uses for excess or unwanted industrial items. | Photo courtesy Repurposed Materials
Although he’s run Repurposed Materials for 16 years, Damon Carson can still vividly recall the “Reese’s moment” that led to him opening what he called the country’s first “industrial thrift store.” While operating a garbage business in the Colorado Rockies in the 2000s, Carson saw what his business was sending to landfills. As he arranged to sell some of those materials for other companies to reuse, he also had a painting subcontractor for an unrelated business who commented on the versatility of advertisements printed on waterproof vinyl, which could be reused as drop cloths.
“That’s when the chocolate met the peanut butter,” he said. “I thought there has to be a way to reuse things.”
Thus, in 2010, Repurposed Materials was born. Carson launched the company in Lafayette, Colorado, and began working to both find excess materials that still have life and companies that could reuse those materials.
By combing through overordered materials, inventory from canceled projects and warehouse cleanouts, Carson accumulated a wealth of materials. The business deals with a lot of lumber, steel, cable and other construction-related materials, but he’s not afraid to take on unorthodox items — glass vials, for example, or expired natural gas pipes.
“We look for materials that are generic, versatile and adaptable,” he said. “We don’t want version 1.0. If it’s something we think we can rehome, we take it in. We never know who will raise their hands and say they can use something.”
Carson said his company had to raise its hand a lot initially to let people know such a service is available. But demand has grown a lot on the supply side, as he said he’s found a lot of companies are willing to keep materials out of landfills if they can. That’s due in part, he said, to those companies’ customers looking to work with businesses that are mindful of sustainable practices.
Finding equilibrium between supply and demand is the biggest challenge, he said.