The Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Auburn-based Thriftbooks.com – one of the nation’s largest online seller of used books – for its recycling efforts.

Thrift Books recycles more than two million pounds of books each month. It purchases in bulk hundreds of thousands of used books each week that are at risk of being discarded. Every book that is purchased is examined for quality — to determine whether the book is in good condition for resale. Those in good condition are resold online or are donated to Thrift Books’ non-profit literacy partners. Those books that do not meet the quality requirements are sent directly to recycling plants.

Thrift Books has found that by creating a large market for inexpensive books online, not only are used books recycled, but the need for newly printed books declines, which in turn decreases the demand for paper and trees.

Elsewhere

3 Phase Energy Systems, an Auburn-based green manufacturing company, has entered into a distribution agreement with Amada America Inc., Buena Park, Calif., to provide the company with an immediate skilled sales force.

The distribution agreement enables Amada America to sell and service 3 Phase Energy System’s Exhaust Regenerator™, a device designed to create energy from the exhaust of industrial air-handling machinery, as an option on machinery purchases and machine retrofits.

The distribution partnership is intended to enable thousands of manufacturers to become green-energy producers with minimal impact on their normal operations, the companies report.