When Glenn Feagley, the Lion Surplus Manager at Penn State University said:

“At Penn State University, the Surplus Department can generate up to $2 to $3 million a year and I know a few more universities are doing similar.”

we knew we had to find out more.

We are always looking for ways to improve how we deliver the Warp It service to all of our customers. Therefore we felt that we could learn from and how the US sector maximises resource and asset value. We spoke to a whole host of surplus managers to get the lowdown and have presented our findings in the report below. 

This report will be of use to 

• Surplus managers
• Procurement managers
• Sustainability managers
• Waste managers
• Service design managers
• Finance Directors
• Estates and Facilities Directors

Report summary

In this report, we aim to help you explore the topic of reuse of surplus assets on large estates and offer advice from those who are working towards:

• Maximising asset value in large estates
• Moving towards circular economy principles
• Increasing participation in reuse practices

Warp It is passionate about achieving the goal of making reuse mainstream in organisations. We spoke to a well-informed variety of sustainability, waste and surplus managers in the University sector in the US, the UK and Australia to learn more about what they do and how we can cross-pollinate good ideas between countries.

While we focus on campus environments, this report can be applied to all large operational estates- sustainable healthcare, municipal council and private sector to name a few.

Some of the insights we learned include:

1. Organisations that don’t currently administer a focused system for the sales of assets, should explore this issue with greater zeal.
2. Organisations should think more creatively when searching for a local storage area for their surplus assets.
3. Warehousing and sales can be revenue-generating.  
4. Organisations should strongly recognise the considerable benefits of using students, interns or apprenticeships to co-manage their surplus operation.
5. Organisations who do not prioritise internal reuse are losing value if they sell their assets.

CONCLUSIONS:

• If you don't have a reuse system in your organisation you are leaking value
• If you do have a reuse system you may need to think bigger with regards to revenue generation
• If you don't have a store for your surplus it will probably be worth the investment
• Interns and apprenticeship are a great way to resource your surplus program
• Internal reuse is the highest value for of reuse for the finances and the environment