October 23, 2023 – Today at a launch event for sustainability leaders in Washington, D.C., Rheaply announced a new collaboration with Visa, a world leader in digital payments, to establish a free-to-join Washington, D.C. Reuse Marketplace for businesses and nonprofits in the D.C.-metro area. As part of its sustainability efforts Visa funded $200,000 to create three recommerce marketplaces specifically for businesses, powered by Rheaply’s technology. The first of these unique marketplaces, the D.C. Reuse Marketplace, will open today in Washington and contribute to the circular economy by offering a place for businesses to donate, buy, or sell furniture, fixtures, building materials, and other workplace items to fulfill any project. This program has the potential to divert millions of pounds of waste from landfills – retaining and recirculating value in the local economy, and displacing critical embodied carbon emissions in the process.
Encouraging recommerce activities for small businesses
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, regenerative business models that include key principles of recommerce such as resale, repair and rental are estimated to be over a $900 billion economic opportunity by 2030. There is massive potential to attract new customers for businesses, increase sales and create new jobs in D.C. through recommerce models.
The D.C. Reuse Marketplace launch represents an opportunity to inspire people to rethink the way they shop and consume. It also elevates Visa’s role in positioning recommerce as the foundation to a scaled circular economy.
“Recommerce in D.C. represents a shift towards more sustainable practices for businesses while empowering better and more sustainable living choices for individuals. Rheaply’s technology will support Visa’s ongoing effort to contribute to the circular economy and help businesses grow in the D.C. area."
With Rheaply, businesses of all sizes can join the platform for free and keep valuable products and material in use, and connect with each other locally to redistribute resources, reduce costs and landfill waste, and activate a circular city model through recommerce efforts.
Fast-tracking D.C.’s waste diversion goals
At the same time, the D.C. Reuse Marketplace will address the growing challenges facing the city to manage waste and develop systems and infrastructure to recover the value of unwanted goods.
According to Sustainable D.C., the District’s goal is to divert at least 80 percent of waste away from landfill and waste-to-energy by 2032.
The collaboration between Visa and Rheaply allows businesses to play a key role in realizing this goal, with more structure for releasing unwanted goods to the community for their highest and next best use instead of disposing or recycling/downcycling at their end of use.
“Seeing waste as a commodity can help grow a local circular economy by providing additional streams of income for local residents” – Sustainable D.C.
Create your Rheaply account
As a first step, the Rheaply and Visa teams are working hard to identify the D.C. area businesses who have significant surplus assets or supplies they can add to the marketplace platform to recover the value and build the foundation for recommerce efforts in D.C.
D.C.-area businesses and nonprofits interested in redistributing items such as workplace furniture, fixtures, equipment, building materials, or hard-to-recycle materials can connect with their business neighbors via the link below. Sign up to create your account and get full access to all of the region’s available listings and unlock the ability to post listings of your own for things you no longer need in the workspace.
Follow these easy steps:
- Go to https://rheaply.com/cities/dc/washington-dc/
- Complete the sign up form
- You’ll receive an email from Rheaply to set up your account and verify your business
- List your first item through the “Create” button
- Browse for items and make an offer!
Become a supplier to support the D.C. Reuse Marketplace
We are actively looking for supply from building professionals, store and facility managers, and commercial real estate professionals looking to find new homes for valuable resources in your warehouse or remaining from commercial vacancies, store closures, remodels and more. Get in touch to connect with a Rheaply representative to help you find the next best use for your resources.
