Nicor Gas brings reuse and recycling market opportunities to businesses in its Northern Illinois service area following successful Rheaply pilot.
Rheaply is expanding its regional Reuse Marketplace to Northern Illinois businesses in conjunction with Nicor Gas, the state’s largest natural gas distribution company serving 2.3 million residential, business, and public sector customers.
Nicor Gas’ sponsorship will extend Rheaply’s existing reuse marketplace in Chicago to an additional 650 communities, helping to drive reuse of surplus inventory and materials coming out of businesses such as furniture, fixtures, equipment and other building products.
“Being able to extend Rheaply’s reach into Nicor’s service areas in Western and Northern IL is going to be a major boon for the health, growth and impact of the Chicagoland Reuse Marketplace,” said Rheaply CEO Garry Cooper. “I’m so excited to see the sustainability and community impact that comes as a result of this exciting partnership.”
Businesses and nonprofits of all sizes interested in participating in a federated reuse marketplace strictly for working professionals are welcome to sign up for the marketplace for free here.
Building off of Nicor Gas' pilot with Rheaply
In 2022, Rheaply’s platform enabled Nicor Gas to offer surplus assets like Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) through a hyperlocal digital marketplace and sharing network for United Way member organizations. This private sharing approach made it possible for Nicor Gas to quickly connect its surplus assets to vetted and deserving nonprofit organizations that were eager to put those materials to good use.
During the four-month pilot, 137 listings were posted on the Rheaply platform, 198 offers were made, and 159 offers were completed. This unlocked a total of $1.52 million of value created for nonprofit organizations – and diverted 80,200 pounds of material from landfills – resulting in approximately 527 kilograms of estimated embodied carbon emissions avoided.
“As the largest natural gas provider in the state, we believe that a clean energy future is possible with the right solutions,” said Meena Beyers, Vice President of Business and Community Development at Nicor Gas. “Our collaboration with Rheaply is another way we can not only deliver the energy our business and nonprofit customers need, but also help with energy-saving resources and sustainability initiatives.”
Nicor Gas’ success with Rheaply’s platform is a great example of how companies can partner with community partners to build a hyperlocal circular economy that quickly shares surplus resources, eliminates waste and reduces carbon emissions. This kind of project can also help build resilience for future challenges and disaster recovery.
How to Get Started on the Chicagoland Reuse Marketplace
Organizations ready to get started on Rheaply are encouraged to sign up on Rheaply via the steps below:
- Go to https://rheaply.com/cities/il/chicago/ (alternatively, if you already have an account, sign in here)
- Complete the sign up form
- Once approved, you’ll receive an email from Rheaply to set up your account
- List your first item through the “Create” button
- Browse for items and make an offer!
Looking to learn more about circular cities on Rheaply? Visit https://rheaply.com/cities/ to learn more about our initiatives.
