From time to time, RecycleMatch comes across innovative companies and individuals who are really creating something amazing out of waste.

Whether it is Ecovative Design’s alternative Styrofoam made from agricultural waste or artists like Ian Trask who use discarded objects as their medium for creative expression, it’s amazing how many people are thinking up ways to use the left-overs of our businesses and our society.

Most are happy to take miscellaneous unwanted materials for free. But, is that a good enough price tag for the pioneers taking on the most problematic, landfill-doomed waste streams? After all, they are competing with the landfill for your waste. Why not pay them a competitive rate?

What if your payment to these innovators actually helped subsidize the launch of their business, or helped market their finished goods created out of your waste and unwanted materials? If those payments helped create a sustainable demand for the materials your company discards, the long-run benefits would outweigh any potential short-term gain.

We recently met an entrepreneur whose technology would remove the dirtiest of industrial plastic waste streams from the landfills. Sadly, due to lack of funding and resources, he failed to create a market for his products. In hindsight, the corporations who sent him their waste for free would have been happy to have paid him a small sum to create a sustainable market. So, for the designers, scientists, manufacturers, artisans and geeks that create something new out of something old – maybe FREE isn’t cheap enough.