CMRA honors C&D recycling excellence

The Texas DOT, Broad Run Recycling in Manassas, Virginia, and Gil Lopes, New England Recycling, were all honored for being the tops in the construction and demolition (C&D) recycling field during the annual meeting of the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA).

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), has one of the largest network of highway miles under its stewardship. In many parts of the state, TxDOT has been a big user of recycled aggregates with the assistant director lauding the advantages of recycled concrete in highway projects.

In just the last two years alone, TxDOT saved approximately 1.8 million tons of virgin aggregates by incorporating recycled concrete aggregate in cement treated base, flexible base, continuously reinforced concrete pavement, filter dams, gabion walls, concrete traffic barriers, flowable fill and select backfill for mechanically stabilized earth walls. This is on top of the state’s use of recycled shingles in hot mix asphalt for a few projects, and the common use of recycled asphalt in many operations.

Broad Run Recycling in Manassas, Virginia is a relatively new facility in the middle of a rapidly expanding area near our nation’s capitol. The idea for the facility began when the owners’ hauling company had limited nearby recycling options, and there was a growing demand for recycling because of the green building program, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). It is usually government that supports LEED, and it was two government agencies, the Virginia DEQ and local county, that gave Broad Run its 1,500 tons per day permits in record time, showing the support for the facility in the community. Land is at a premium in the area, so Broad Run is located on a lot of less than four acres. The sorting facility is placed within a building to fit in better with the neighborhood. But the facility’s point of pride is the ability to do a virtual 100 percent recycling rate for LEED projects. Also, the state DEQ has approved the recycling plant’s C&D fines as a soil product.

Gil Lopes, New England Recycling, Taunton, Massachusetts, received the C&D Recycler of the Year Award from the CMRA.

Gil Lopes runs a facility so highly regarded that the state Department of Environmental Protection has used it for tours and as an example on how to run a C&D operation in its state. As for innovation, the design that Lopes was very active in developing has allowed New England Recycling to maintain a very high recycling rate and allow for them to extract a multitude of commodities.

When the state of New Hampshire passed its ban on the use of C&D wood as a fuel product, Gil Lopes of New England Recycling stepped up and put his company’s name on the CMRA’s lawsuit as an aggrieved party. That took a lot of guts to put a spotlight on one’s company against a large governmental agency. Not only did Gil not hesitate, he pushed for the CMRA to go ahead with the lawsuit and has been very financially active in supporting the suit. In addition, Gil has long been a big financial and moral supporter of the CMRA and has always been looked upon as a credible leader for this industry.

The CMRA will hand out its 2010 awards at C&D World, its annual meeting next year in Las Vegas.