Recycling Markets Center, Inc.

What Recycling Markets Center, Inc. does

Recycling Markets Center, Inc. (doing business as Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center, RMC, and PennRMC) is an independent Pennsylvania non-profit corporation founded in 2004 and operating since 2005, headquartered at Penn State Harrisburg in Middletown, PA with a secondary office in Pittsburgh. Its stated mission is to reduce or eliminate barriers to expanded use of Pennsylvania's recycled materials by providing market-development assistance to entrepreneurs, manufacturers, recycled-material processors, material recovery facilities (MRFs), collection programs, haulers, and governmental agencies. The organization positions itself as a concierge/connector bridging economic-development actors with Pennsylvania's $22.6B recycling marketplace, with a small team claiming over 120 years of combined professional recycling industry experience.

RMC's core products are (1) the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Dataplace, a database that catalogues Pennsylvania brokers, processors, MRFs and manufacturers of recyclable materials and is searchable by companies, institutions, organizations and individuals seeking material outlets; (2) the Circular Merchant App, a free mobile and web application for buying and selling recyclable materials, developed and hosted by RMC with active trade-relationship management; and (3) a suite of circularity services branded as Center of Excellence and Circularity Services, which includes the Blueprint for Recyclability, E-Scrap Roadmap, Organics Compass, Supply Connectivity Program, Thermographic Energy Evaluation, and the RMC-MRI Collaboration document. RMC also runs periodic Markets Development Summits (solar PV panels, plastics, batteries) and maintains a webinar library covering environmental justice, circular-economy investment, and market development.

The business model is non-commercial and grant-funded. Anchor funding flows from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which explicitly underwrites general operations and the Circular Merchant App; the application is free to end users. The only disclosed fee-generating activity is event registration, exemplified by a $50 registration fee for the Battery Recycling Markets Development Summit. Distribution is hybrid: a self-serve database and app layer for SMBs and individuals, paired with direct stakeholder engagement for enterprise and government counterparts, all operating within a single-country, single-state (Pennsylvania) geographic scope. The organization is affiliated with Penn State, holds board-level ties to Closed Loop Partners, and lists GreenCircle Certified and MRI as service partners.

Name

Recycling Markets Center, Inc.

Legal name

Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center Corporation

Website

https://pennrmc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Recycling Markets Center, Inc. (Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center) is a Pennsylvania non-profit that operates a statewide recyclable-materials database, a free buy-sell app, and circular-economy advisory services for processors, manufacturers, haulers, and government agencies, funded primarily by the PA Department of Environmental Protection.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recycling Markets Development Services

NAICS

Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers (423930), Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers (42393)

akta.pro primary industry

Secondary Materials Brokerage & Trading (Recovered Commodities) (BPALADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Recycled Resin Trading & Distribution (PCR/PIR Commodity Markets) (EUAIAKAK)

Keywords

• Recycling markets development
• Circular economy consulting
• Recyclable materials trading
• Materials recovery facilities
• Recycling technical assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

New Middletown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Grants and Funding: Anchor funding from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. RMC operates as a non-profit corporation with public funding support.
2. Event Registration Fees: Registration fees for summits and conferences (e.g., $50 registration for Battery Recycling Markets Development Summit).
3. Circular Merchant App Services: Free app service provided to buyers and sellers of recyclable materials, funded by PA DEP.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Recycling Markets Center provides markets development assistance for Pennsylvania's recycled materials, helping entrepreneurs, manufacturers, processors, haulers, and government agencies find outlets and build trade relationships. Core offerings include a searchable materials outlets database (PA Recycling Markets Dataplace), a free mobile/web app for buying and selling recyclables (Circular Merchant App), a Center of Excellence advisory program, and a suite of circularity services such as recyclability guidance, e-scrap roadmaps, organics navigation, supply connectivity, and energy evaluation.

Product overview

Recycling Markets Center, Inc. (operating as Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center) is a non-profit organization that provides recycling markets development assistance rather than a traditional software product. The organization operates the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Dataplace (a database of recyclable material outlets), the Circular Merchant App (a free mobile application for buying/selling recyclables), and various circularity services including reports, roadmaps, and evaluation programs. The company does not offer a traditional SaaS platform but rather informational databases, mobile tools, and consulting services for Pennsylvania stakeholders including entrepreneurs, manufacturers, processors, and governmental agencies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Circular Merchant App: Mobile application developed and hosted by Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center to help build trade relationships for buying and selling recyclable materials. Funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Products and services

• Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Dataplace A database that helps Pennsylvania companies, institutions, organizations, and individuals locate outlets for various recyclable materials, including listings of Pennsylvania brokers, processors, material recovery facilities (MRFs), and manufacturers of recyclable materials.
• Circular Merchant App A free mobile and web application developed and hosted by the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center that helps users buy and sell recyclable materials, with the RMC team actively managing the service and helping build trade relationships between participants.
• Center of Excellence A program providing expertise and guidance to industry decision makers throughout Pennsylvania on recycling markets and circular economy practices.
• Circularity Services A suite of circular economy consulting services offered by RMC, covering recyclability guidance (Blueprint for Recyclability, Insights Into Circularity), e-scrap (E-Scrap Roadmap), organics (Organics Compass), supply connectivity (Supply Connectivity Program), and energy evaluation (Thermographic Energy Evaluation).
• Markets Development Summits and Webinars Educational events hosted by RMC, including Markets Development Summits on specific recycling topics (batteries, plastics, solar PV) and a recorded webinar library covering environmental justice, circular economy investment, and recycling market development.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Penn StatecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRMC has an affiliation with Penn State and is headquartered at Penn State Harrisburg. This partnership provides academic credibility and institutional support.
• Closed Loop PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBob Anderson from Closed Loop Partners serves on RMC's Board of Directors in an executive capacity. CLP offers funding strategies for circular projects and effects research, analysis and pre-competitive collaborations.
• GreenCircle CertifiedminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreenCircle Certified is listed as a Services Partner, providing certification services related to the circular economy.
• MRI (Materials Recovery Institute)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration document (RMC-MRI Collaboration.pdf) available through RMC resources, indicating a partnership for materials recovery education and standards.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• ReFED: ReFED is a national nonprofit working to reduce food waste, with overlap in secondary materials markets and circular economy infrastructure comparable to RMC's Organics Compass and market development work.
• GreenBlue: GreenBlue is a nonprofit that works with companies to advance sustainable materials and packaging — overlapping with RMC's circular economy consulting, Blueprint for Recyclability, and recycled materials connectivity work.
• Sustainable Packaging Coalition: The Sustainable Packaging Coalition is an industry working group focused on packaging circularity, comparable to RMC's role in facilitating end-market development for recovered materials.

Others

• GreenCircle Certified: GreenCircle Certified is a third-party certification provider for sustainability claims — listed as a services partner to RMC and adjacent in the circular economy verification ecosystem.

Regional players

• CalRecycle: CalRecycle is California's state recycling agency, which similarly funds market development and end-use applications for recycled materials; comparable to RMC's role within Pennsylvania but at much larger scale and a different state.

Direct peers

• Northeast Recycling Council (NERC): NERC is a regional nonprofit coalition of state recycling officials in the U.S. Northeast that develops recycling markets and end-use applications — directly comparable to RMC's state-level market development mission.
• Materials Recovery Institute (MRI): MRI collaborates with RMC on materials recovery education and standards, sharing a mission to support materials recovery facilities and recovered commodity markets.
• The Recycling Partnership: The Recycling Partnership is a national nonprofit that works with states, municipalities, and brands to improve recycling systems and develop end markets — directly comparable to RMC's mission of reducing barriers to recycled material use and developing recycling markets, but operating at national rather than state scale.
• Closed Loop Partners: Closed Loop Partners is an investment firm and platform focused on building the circular economy, with research, investing, and convening arms that overlap directly with RMC's recycling market development and applied research activities. A Closed Loop Partners executive sits on RMC's board.

Broad incumbents

• Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI): ISRI is the national trade association representing the scrap recycling industry — broader in scope than RMC but covering the same broker/processor/MRF/manufacturer constituency that RMC serves in Pennsylvania.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/PennRMC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ThePARMC
• Facebookfacebook.com/PennRMC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pennsylvania-recycling-markets-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Recycling Markets Center, Inc.