What’s Working: Repurposing old stuff in Colorado can be profitable (2024)

Quick links: Finding profit | Where does Colorado recycling go | Nicotine pouch maker picks Aurora | LogRhythm layoffs| Colorado unemployment rate stays at 3.8%

Reduce, reuse and recycle are the three R’s in the world of sustainability. Damon Carson has a fourth one: Repurpose. That’s not the same as reuse, he says.

“A typical reuse is if you own a boat and decide you don’t want it anymore, you put it on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace and somebody buys it. There’s a 99% chance they’re going to use it as a boat,” said Carson, founder of Westminster-based RepurposedMaterials. “Repurposing is reuse but life No. 2 is very different from No. 1.”

Carson takes a different approach toward sustainability compared to recyclers in Colorado, which process waste plastic, tires, mattresses and other materials into something new.

He, instead, has assembled a playground of items filled with potential new purposes at a warehouse in Lafayette. Yards of old fire hoses. Tons of steel grates. Multitudes of whisky barrels, carpet samples, and even remnants of the old RTD bus station at Civic Center in Denver, according to an employee.

In the past, one bride repurposed white military cargo parachutes into a canopy for her outdoor wedding. Another customer used wood planks reclaimed from an old bowling alley and turned them into kitchen countertops. Spent vinyl billboard signs became unique dresses for a “Trashion” fashion show.

There are all sorts of random and large items to inspire local DIYers, plus signs with pictures for inspiration, and customers have gifted the company some of their projects, including an old ski lift chair with a seat made of repurposed rope.

“We call ourselves an industrial thrift store,” Carson said. “There’s lots of stuff that should go to the landfill and that seems like the only option. (But) there is an amazing amount of stuff in America from industry that still has value if you apply some effort into thinking about an alternate second life for it.”

There’s profit in repurposing

Carson’s been promoting the notion of repurposing old industrial objects for more than a decade. His company shares clever updates made by fans with fans via a newsletter. But it’s not really his hobby. It’s his business. And he’s found that connecting unwanted industrial and commercial items from companies with buyers who find new uses for the stuff is profitable. It has to be, he said.

“The only way we keep the lights on, the only way we keep propane on in the forklifts and employees paid is if we buy something for $1, we have to sell it for $2,” he said. “But they are not going to donate steel I beams to us because they can sell it to a recycler for 10 cents a pound.”

It’s a for-profit business that has expanded to locations in six states and 25 employees nationwide. He’d passed the million-dollar revenue mark a decade ago though he won’t say what sales are today other than it’s “definitely above $1.6M in revenue now,” he said. And he’s proud that he’s survived in the sustainability world without taking any grants or public subsidies.

But just like the recycling industry, there can be challenges when it comes to giving life to old stuff.

Carson has had to hone his business and negotiating skills. For metal, he may offer 12 cents a pound if a scrap metal buyer offers 10 cents. He benefits if customers realize that it is cheaper to donate items to him than send it to a landfill, which charges dumping fees.

He has to be picky though. He’s not about to buy 100 covered wagons, he joked. But he did take a gamble a few years ago when someone asked if he could take enormous pieces of glass.

“So Apple, the famous Apple company, they were replacing some skylights. They were really big — 7-feet wide, 30-feet long, 14 of them, at one of their stores in Palo Alto, California,” he said. “They could have thrown it into the landfill but it’s Apple. There was consumer pressure and shareholder pressure, ‘Hey, you make billions of dollars. Be a good steward.’ So they reached out to us through a middleman.”

Apple donated the glass and paid to transport it to RepurposedMaterials’ Arizona facility, he said. (Apple did not respond to a request to confirm the donation.)

“Then the game’s on for us,” he said. “If I can’t rehome those and can’t find someone to repurpose them, we’re going to send them to the landfill and it’s going to cost us money. We’re going to lose $2,000 or $3,000. Fortunately in that case, we were able to rehome (everything). And we did make a profit that allows us to live another day.”

Where does recycling in Colorado go?

In case you missed it, earlier this week I reported on four companies processing recycling in the state. They don’t just collect recycled waste, but they buy it and turn it into something new — and make a profit. They’ve joined a statewide effort called Circular Colorado to figure out a better plan to make sure consumer, business and industrial recycling doesn’t end up in landfills. The highlights:

• Old tires: Denver-based Pretred processes old tires into road barriers. Each 1,700-pound, 6-foot-wide barrier contains 70 old tires. >> More
• Most plastics: Direct Polymers rebooted the economics of recycling plastic to make a profit. Some of the secret is just transportation efficiency. The Denver recycler is also working on recycled-plastic railroad ties, which offers higher margins. >> More
• Thin plastic: Pueblo-based Driven Plastics turns flimsy plastic bags into a road pavement additive that’s already part of some roads in Pueblo. >> More

➔ READ: Recycling can feel pointless. Here are Colorado companies changing that.

But I didn’t mention everything since the focus was processes doing the work in Colorado. Seattle.-based Ridwell offers recycling pickup service for Denver residents and partners with multiple recyclers nationwide to process unwanted items into something new. Circular Colorado is also adding new partners though the goal for this organization is to help Colorado process recycling locally so items needn’t be transported out of state. That’s a work in progress, but here are other efforts worth mentioning:

Flimsy plastic bags: Besides Driven Plastics — which has a bin outside its Pueblo facility and just partnered with Pueblo’s RecycleWorks at 1595 Stockyard Road to accept bags — there’s also Trex, which makes composite decking and accepts plastic bags. Find NexTrex recycling bins at King Soopers and other stores.

Shingles: Malvern, Pennsylvania-based CertainTeed, which is part of building-materials giant Saint-Gobain, recycles shingle waste into asphalt paving mix. It joined Circular Colorado’s effort to create a network in the state in September.

Paper and packaging: Colorado’s Producer Responsibility Program for Statewide Recycling Act (House Bill 1355), which passed in 2022, put the financial responsibility of recycling paper and packaging on the producers. In essence, they pay to make sure the packaging use gets recycled. Still underway, the program is run by the nonprofit Circular Action Alliance. By Jan. 1, producers start paying dues if they’re using paper or other covered materials.

➔ MORE: How to recycle old mattresses, couches, furniture, appliances, construction materials, vinyl banners, computers and electronics, baby and kids gear, paint and everything else that’s hard to recycle. >> Story

➔ Get rid of old paint this weekend. Paint recycler GreenSheen is hosting an event Saturday with the Arapahoe High School baseball team. The four-hour event starts at 10 a.m. at 2201 E. Dry Creek Road, in Centennial. The Denver-based GreenSheen processes old latex paint into a premium latex paint that is sold in 18 colors at vendors nationwide. There’s also no charge, thanks to Colorado’s paint stewardship law, which charges a fee at time of purchase. If you can’t get to the event, GreenSheen accepts paint at its Jason Street facility and has a bunch of other local collection events scheduled. >> Event details

Sun economy stories you may have missed

➔ Colorado is steering affordable housing money to the middle class — and away from the working poor. Using affordable housing dollars once reserved exclusively for low-income residents, the state has begun subsidizing rental units for middle-income families who make as much as $170,000 >> Read story

➔ Stegosaurus fossil from Colorado fetches nearly $45M, setting record for dinosaur auctions. The price blew past a pre-sale estimate of $4 million to $6 million and past a prior auction record for dinosaur fossils >> Read story

➔ Xcel Energy is unsure it can meet Colorado’s clean-energy goals at the cost it promised. The utility wants more time, but regulators and consumer advocates worry delays will only boost the $12 billion price tag even higher >> Read story

➔ Individual health insurance rates in Colorado could see below-average increase in 2025. Premiums on the individual market could rise 5.5% next year, while premiums for Colorado Option plans look set for a smaller increase >> Read story

➔ Should all Colorado substitute teachers be members of PERA? The question is headed to court >> Read story

➔ Colorado’s ham radio operators are ready for an emergency — just don’t call them amateurs. A passionate group of amateur radio operators maintain a durable network that can keep communication flowing in good times and bad >> Read story

Other working bits

➔ Smokeless ZYN nicotine manufacturer picks Aurora, plans to hire 500. That’s courtesy of tobacco company Philip Morris International. PMI affiliate company Swedish Match announced a $600 million investment in the city of Aurora, and it includes building a manufacturing plant and hiring 500 workers. The plant is expected to ramp up to regular production in 2026. By then, hiring will be well underway and have an average annual salary of $90,000.

While company officials didn’t answer what starting pay for entry-level jobs would be, PMI spokesman Matthew Sheaff said in an email, “Opportunities at the new facility will cover a wide range of skill levels including positions such as engineers, production staff, technicians and quality control.” The Zyn pouches, which don’t contain tobacco leaves, do contain nicotine, an addictive chemical.

➔ 80 jobs cut as Broomfield firm merges. The merger of Colorado’s homegrown cybersecurity firm LogRhythm with Exabeam in Foster City, California, was completed Thursday. The company will be known as Exabeam. With the merger, 80 employees at LogRhythm’s headquarters in Broomfield will lose their jobs, effective Sept. 14, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter to the state’s Department of Labor and Employment.

While the Broomfield location will remain open, Exabeam officials declined to comment on its Colorado operations. “It is our aim to be operationally efficient and retain as much talent as possible for the success of the company. We will not disclose specific details regarding headcount,” an Exabeam representative said in an email. On its website, LogRhythm said it has “over 500” employees globally. Chris O’Malley, who joined LogRhythm as its CEO two years ago, was named CEO of the combined company.

➔ Colorado jobless rate remains at 3.8%. While the state had 800 more workers who were unemployed last month, the June unemployment rate was unchanged from May due to rounding. The nation’s rate inched up again by one-tenth to 4.1%. In June, the state added 1,400 nonfarm payroll jobs. More than half were government jobs. The state’s May job data was also revised down to 6,400 instead of 9,800 as more responses from businesses came in. Construction saw the largest decline in jobs, by about 1,100. For the year, public and private employers added 40,900 jobs putting job growth at 1.4%, below the nation’s 1.7%, according to state labor data. >> Labor department update

➔ Federal contracts 101 for women-owned businesses in Colorado Springs. The Small Business Administration is co-sponsoring the ChallengeHER event Aug. 22 in Colorado Springs to encourage participation in its Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract program. The free event includes training, mentoring and networking with government buyers and public agencies. >> Details

Got some economic news or business bits Coloradans should know? Tell us: cosun.co/heyww

Thanks for sticking with me for this week’s report. As always, share your 2 cents on how the economy is keeping you down or helping you up at cosun.co/heyww. ~ tamara

Miss a column? Catch up:

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• Colorado employers may finally have found enough workers
• How a Denver company is fighting the problem of underemployment
• Why Colorado could start attracting more filmmakers
• New broadband laws to help Colorado streamline distribution of $800+ million
• Nearly 55,000 Coloradans now have a retirement account after law went into effect
• Growing older in Colorado? You’ll be interested in these new laws

What’s Working is a Colorado Sun column about surviving in today’s economy. Email tamara@coloradosun.com with stories, tips or questions. Read the archive, ask a question at cosun.co/heyww and don’t miss the next one by signing up at coloradosun.com/getww.

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