1. RecycleStore.com
Delivering Waste Diversion
Results through E-Commerce
Contract Results for RFP IWM-C2041 RCPs
Prepared for the California Integrated $$
Waste Management Board
Presented to the
Market Development Committee
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Sacramento, California
Presenter: Burnet D. Brown, MIH

2. What we’ll cover…
Outcomes and measures
 Objectives and measures of program effectiveness
Implications for waste diversion
Support for local government efforts
Outcomes
 Aggregate results
 Results disaggregated by RecycleStore manufacturers and areas
 Highlight program strategy and elements
Findings and recommendations
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 2

3. Success Criteria and Outcomes…
Key objectives and outcomes measures
 Increase RecycleStore.com traffic
 Measured in hits
 Deliver quality buyer referrals
 Measured by buyer click-throughs and emails to manufacturers
 Target high priority buyers
 Retail mass merchandise buyers
 Government buyers
 Individual consumers
 Any other high value buyer opportunities
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 3

4. What RecycleStore.com does…
Attracts buyer referrals from all over the U.S.
and…
 Delivers them to California manufacturers
 …in participating local RMDZs.
Accelerates market penetration of California
recycled products...
 To markets and consumers all over the U.S. and
beyond
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 4

5. What implications for waste diversion?
Dramatically increases the potential opportunities for diverting waste.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 5

6. How does it help local governments?
It enables the CIWMB to support local
governments by:
 Stimulating demand for products made in their local
area
 Providing technical assistance (e.g., SEO expertise)
 Providing free marketing assistance (PR, partnerships)
 Channeling sales revenues to California local markets
 Generating positive publicity by…
 Recognizing and saluting the
contributions of local Green entrepreneurs
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 6

7. Local Impact: Top Ten Businesses Receiving Buyer Referrals
Buyer
Rank Manufacturer Name RMDZ
Referrals
1 Wooden Duck Oakland/Berkeley 5,714
2 Plastopan Industries, Inc. City of Los Angeles 3,800
3 Shasta Visions Siskiyou County 1,785
4 Planet Squared, Inc. Los Angeles County 1,766
5 Whit McLeod Arts & Crafts Furniture North Coast 1,763
6 Corrugated Art South San Diego 1,691
7 Fire and Light North Coast 1,435
8 G.T. Water Products, Inc. Ventura County 1,314
9 Signman Signs and More Shasta Metro 1,179
10 EcoWeave Environmental Apparel No. San Diego County 1,157
Total — 21,604
Data covering the period 2001 to June 2005.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 7

8. Program results quantified…
241% increase in traffic over baseline starting point.
 From 10,000 hits/month to over 35,000 hits/month.
 Average of 22,000 hits per month.
Over 400,000 hits generated.
 Equivalent to 60% of the site's total recorded hits.
Set new record of 35,923 hits in a single month.
Delivered 14,671 buyer referrals during contract period.
First time expansion into mainstream markets.
 No longer limited to RCP niche markets.
 From “recycled chair” to “Arts and crafts furniture”
 From “recycled trash bins” to “Lockable security documents containers”
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 8

9. Why mainstream?
Mainstream consumers are not searching for “recycled gifts”.
Or “recycled furniture”.
Orders of magnitude larger.
Why mainstream? Much greater waste diversion opportunity.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 9

10. Mainstreaming works…
RecycleStore Marketing Results: 2003-2004 Hits Per Month
Performance Since Commencement of MIH Marketing Services Initiative
35,000
Earth Day 241% or 3.4 times
increase over baseline
Campaign starting point.
30,000
25,000
Hits Per Month
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Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 10

11. The Wooden Duck
Based in Berkeley, Calif.
Recycled wood furniture
Over 100 products in
RecycleStore
$4 million in annual sales
150,000 pieces of furniture
produced from reclaimed
lumber since 1995.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 11

12. Buyer Referrals Delivered to Wooden Duck
Dramatic growth
Buyer Referrals
#1 beneficiary of
RecycleStore buyer
referrals.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 12

13. Plastopan Industries, Inc.
Based in Los Angeles
Makes waste containers out of
recycled plastic.
 Minimum 25% post-consumer. 75% post-
consumer for municipalities (City of
Berkeley). Up to 100% PCR (indoor
containers only)
30 Products in RecycleStore.
Best-selling product is 64-gallon
lockable container. $106 each.
Only company in the country that
makes differentiated lockable
containers.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 13

14. Buyer Referrals Delivered to Plastopan Industries
3000% increase in buyer
referrals over first year.
Buyer Referrals
3,800 total buyer referrals.
 Delivered to Plastopan by
RecycleStore
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 14

15. RecycleStore Delivers Out-of-State Revenues
"In addition to our West Coast sales,
RecycleStore.com was responsible
for sales of our recycled metal float-
tube anchors in Texas and Alaska.”
— Will Tasto, President
Simple Castings
Orland, California
Glenn County RMDZ
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 15

16. Real sales…
“Last year RecycleStore.com
generated over $9,000 in sales
for our recycled-content
promotional items.”
— Sam Straub, President
Signman, Inc.
(Signs and Promotional Products)
Shasta Metro RMDZ
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 16

17. Cost effective results…
40%
Search
* U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, New Methods in Search Marketing: Contextual Advertising and Other Evolutions (Safa Rashtchy), June 2004
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 17

18. Strategy…
Mainstream RCPs
Reposition as high value added products
Continue to grow affinity markets
Category-by-category phased approach
Create partnerships (specialty, mass, government)
Celebrity endorsement
PR campaign
Search engine optimization
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 18

19. Repositioning RCPs
High quality
High value added
Functional art
Handcrafted
Value not commodity
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 19

20. Celebrity Endorsement
I went to the
RecycleStore website
thinking I'd be looking
at good intentions, and
found gorgeous,
artistic products…
— Actress Mimi Kennedy
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 20

21. PR Campaign…
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 21

22. Partnerships Created…
Retail mass merchandise buyers
 NMOA, 5000+ member wholesale buyers
 QVC, HSN, infomercial and catalog companies
 RecycleStore portal built on NMOA website for member buyers
Government buyers
 Executive Orders 12873, 13101- EPA product list
 Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence
Region IX Environmental Finance Center
Environmental Media Association
 Story placement. Studios. Whole Foods (Celebrity cloth bag).
Green Restaurant Association
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 22

23. What remains to be done…
Complete SEO for remaining RecycleStore
businesses
Create portal pages to meet professional buyer
requirements
Continue category-by-category phase-in
Qualify RecycleStore companies for EPA product
designation
 Channel into GSA and other buyer databases
See final report for full list of recommendations
Tuesday, September 13, 2005 MIH - 23

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