Krispy Kreme doughnuts branch opened recently in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sales of the signature confections skyrocketed — as did waste generation. The store each week disposed of 70 five-gallon plastic buckets, used for doughnut fillings and glaze (O’Connell). The Des Moines-based Iowa Waste Exchange (IWE) then proposed a way to cut the fat from the store’s waste disposal costs (O’Connell). Pairing the branch with a local timber management company that picks up the buckets and distributes them for nut collection to aid reforestation efforts, IWE helped Krispy Kreme divert nearly 7,300 pounds of plastic per year from the landfill (O’Connell).Material exchanges match businesses that want to dispose of refuse with companies that can use the discarded materials. In its more than 10 years of operation, Iowa’s program has diverted more than 720,000 tons of waste from state landfills and saved businesses approximately $20 million in avoided disposal costs (O’Connell).