AR December 2006

Construction and demolition (C&D) recycling rates are on the rise across the country thanks to a favorable economic climate and pockets of friendly regulation.

C&D recycling rates are currently growing between 5 and 10 percent annually, according to William Turley, executive director of the Construction Materials Recycling Association based in Eola, Illinois near Chicago. The trade association, with around 160 members, represents a diverse group of companies across the C&D sector.

"We're seeing more people entering the business as well as bigger plants being put in," Turley said. The drive by many solid waste officials to promote recycling has helped increase the C&D recycling rates, he said. For example, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system helps promote recycling. The designation by the Green Building Council promotes environmental sustainability.

"We know that LEED is promoting a lot of this. I get a lot of phone calls from rather frantic architects wondering where they can send there C&D materials because they want to get LEED points. We’re seeing a lot of LEED action," Turley said.

Finding a market for the C&D material is often a challenge, however, Turley said. "We would like to see some more support for the markets. We need to see the closing of the circle and help from the government as far as buying this material," Turley said.

A survey conducted by the association estimates that there is about 140 million tons of concrete recycled per year, making it the most recycled material by weight in the United States. “We estimate that the entire C&D waste stream, including road and bridgework, along with building related C&D, is about 325 million tons," Turley said.

A friendly regulatory environment in certain states is also helping to promote C&D recycling, said Bob Brickner, executive vice president of Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc., a solid waste management-consulting firm in Fairfax, Virginia. "A lot of the states are now requiring C&D waste to be looked at more aggressively," Brickner said.

"The spread between the economics of just taking it to a landfill versus trying to do some recycling on the front end has created some opportunities for entrepreneurs and those that are handling this material to get involved in the recycling side of C&D."

The consulting firm also recently completed an evaluation of the amount of demolition material generated annually. The survey concluded that over 115 million tons per year of demolition material are handled across the country. The industry then recycles an estimated 73 percent of that overall material. The survey includes only traditional demolition services, therefore the results are different than from the Construction Materials Recycling Association, which included both construction and demolition.

Brickner said that it is important for solid waste officials to participate in the C&D recycling process in addition to just regulating the industry. "I see that potentially enhancing the additional market penetration of C&D recycling," Brickner said.

"Once a community addresses the needs, besides continuing to rollover contracts, you end up having opportunities to challenge the existing staff at the municipal level." Brickner said this would play a positive role whether it is writing C&D into proposal specs or mandating C&D recycling during the demolition of a municipal facility.

Michael Taylor, executive director of the National Demolition Association in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia, said there are about 14 different materials from a demolished structure that could be recycled. The association represents more than 900 demolition companies across North America. Taylor said the marketability of C&D material is highly dependent upon location, other competitive materials, and demand. Therefore, there are currently only three materials that are regularly recycled.

Most of the metal from a demolished structure currently goes to the scrap metal industry. "That’s pretty much all of the metal from the smallest venetian blind up to the biggest I-beam," Taylor said. "We're the largest source of feedstock for scrap metal."

The other two marketable C&D components are wood and concrete. Taylor said both are very region sensitive. "If you have an area where there are wood burning power plants that’s another potential market for your product," Taylor said. "The same is true for concrete. In areas of high-aggregate demand, like Los Angeles or San Francisco, the demand for concrete coming out of demolished structures is incredibly high."

In big stone states, like Pennsylvania or Kansas, concrete is often less competitive in price than virgin material. "With this material, if you have to transport it, with the price of fuel, more than 20 to 25 miles it tends to lose its value pretty quickly," Taylor said.

Another element impacting the viability of C&D recycling is landfill costs, Taylor said. If the debris is removed from New York, for example, it might cost over $125 a ton to dispose of the material. But Taylor said there are places in central Michigan where it only costs $8 a ton. "That is one of the pressures that exist that has an impact in certain regions of the country on whether material is successfully recycled or not," Taylor said.

Taylor said some states have established regulations to promote C&D recycling, while others have implemented rules that hinder the industry. He cited California where most of the counties are required to get to a 50 percent recycling rate. But it is often expensive to get a permit for a recycling facility. "That inhibits the possibility of a lot of people entering the market when they look at the overall profit margin," Taylor said.

Another problem is in Texas. Taylor said the state ruled that recyclers could not operate a C&D facility within a mile of another occupied building. "That’s not a problem if you are demolishing a silo way out in west Texas," Taylor said. "But unfortunately most of our work is in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin. If you want to process the material onsite we’re going to be feet from another building, not a mile."

Taylor said that to successfully implement a viable C&D recycling system across the country the federal government, through the Environmental Protection Agency, should develop a national C&D recycling policy. He said this would make the process more economically attractive and help develop markets for the recycled commodities.

Taylor cited a mandate by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s that required the federal government to buy recycled paper. The government is one of the largest buyers of paper in the world. "Recycling plants sprung up all over the country," Taylor said.

Taylor said the federal government should recommend that the state department of transportations and state facility managers allow recycled material to be used. "If the federal government could promote recycling then a decent portion of the material would be used in projects and not sent to a landfill. Recycling would grow," Taylor said.