UCRRA Announces Selection of NYC-Based Big Reuse to Operate Ulster County Reuse Innovation Center
Press Release by Marc Rider, UCRRA Executive Director
February 18 2026
Kingston, NY – The Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA) has selected a team led by Brooklyn-based Big Reuse to operate its planned Reuse Innovation Center (RIC) – a central warehouse, workshop and retail space to divert reusable goods and materials from the County’s waste stream. The RIC is a centerpiece of the Agency’s Reuse Pathway for Zero Waste and Economic Resilience, or RePØWER project. In addition to the RIC, the RePØWER project will include a network of distributed collection and distribution partners throughout the county, with the goal of diverting at least 5,000 tons of waste each year.
The selection of Big Reuse to operate the RIC is a major milestone for the reuse and repair movement in Ulster County, which was popularized by the late John Wackman over a decade ago. Wackman was the driving force behind the establishment of Repair Cafe Hudson Valley, which is now coordinated by Sustainable Hudson Valley (SHV) and includes over 70 separate locations throughout the Hudson Valley, Catskills, Capital region and the North Country. In 2021, the Ulster County Legislature allocated funding for the Department of the Environment to hire SHV and ReUse Consulting to develop plans for an Ulster County Reuse Innovation Center. The group’s final report, issued in 2023, set forth the basic concept for the RIC and identified goods and materials with the highest potential for reuse.
In 2025, the UCRRA included the RePØWER project as part of its 5-year capital project plan and began efforts to locate a suitable facility and operator to implement the project. A final site for the RIC will now be selected with input from Big Reuse, with a goal to begin operations later in 2026.
Marc Rider, Executive Director of the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency:
“The ultimate reason we have so much waste that needs to be sent to landfills is because as a society, we have embraced an economy that extracts resources, makes things cheaply, and recognizes virtually no end-of-life cost for those goods,” said Rider. “Until we start to shift towards a more circular economy, agencies like the UCRRA will struggle to find responsible and cost-effective ways to handle our waste. The RePØWER project is our way of supporting Ulster County toward that shift.”
James Gordon, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency:
“This is an exciting moment for the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency. The UCRRA is committed to working toward a zero-waste future, and expanding reuse and repair will be a big part of how we get there. Big Reuse has the track-record and experience we need to hit the ground running.”
Justin Green, Founder & Executive Director of Big Reuse:
“Big Reuse is excited to use our 10+ years of experience operating Reuse Centers and leading community education and outreach work to support meaningful reuse efforts in Ulster County. We’re thrilled to be expanding our network by partnering with Circularly, a growing expert in building material reuse, and Found & Fixed, who focuses on furniture repair. We’re grateful to UCRRA, whose dedication to funding broad-scale reuse projects provides us a unique opportunity to build an impactful program that not only diverts significant amounts of materials from landfills but also helps support innovative reuse practices that engage and educate communities.”
Melissa Everett, Executive Director of Sustainable Hudson Valley:
“It is so gratifying to see the plans that we’ve all been working on take such clear shape with such accomplished partners. Thanks to UCRRA’s commitment to innovation, this project has become an important case study and catalyst for communities throughout the Hudson Valley to embrace a more circular economy through practical projects that can scale.”
About the RePØWER Project
Through the RePØWER project, the UCRRA aims to eventually divert up to 5,000 tons of waste away from landfill disposal each year. Currently, many items suitable for reuse or repair are discarded as solid waste at local transfer stations or in commercial dumpsters. Aside from the environmental and financial
impact avoided by diverting these materials from a landfill, extending their useful life means less demand for new goods and materials, which in turn translates into decreased emissions and costs from production. In this way, the RePØWER project represents an effort by the UCRRA to support residents, businesses and institutions in Ulster County to embrace a more circular economy by keeping materials in circulation at their highest value.
More information about the RePØWER project is available on the UCRRA’s website at
https://ucrra.org/repower
