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Recycle Your Construction
and Demolition WastE for Less than the Cost of
Disposal.
by BRUCE WOOD
RECYCLING WALLBOARD AND WOOD, concrete and conduits,
shingles, slate, and a host of other byproducts of
demolition and renovation makes perfect sense to
Mark Lennon. Of course, Lennon is a principal with
the Institutional Recycling Network, the Concord,
New Hampshire–based cooperative that refers to
itself as the most experienced recycler of
construction and demolition (C and D) wastes in the
Northeast, and so he’s expected to be a true
believer.
While Lennon can make a good case for how and why
institutions benefit from IRN’s services, the bottom
line, he understands, is still the bottom line.
“We don’t just recycle your C and D, we also save
you money,” Lennon said. “Our whole reason for
existence as a company is to prove that doing right
by the environment can also be the right thing
economically for institutions and for contractors
and owners.
“If it didn’t work economically, we wouldn’t have
gotten this far.”
And far they’ve come in the half dozen or so years
since they got their start setting up basic
recycling plans for institutions around New England.
From helping a handful of institutions deal with
recycling piles of paper, dented desks, fluorescent
lights, and outdated computers, IRN has grown into
an industry leader that recycles anything and
everything from the pavement in front of a building
to the roof that tops it off for upwards of 130
institutions.
“Schools pointed out to us that ‘green’ building,
the LEED program (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design), and sustainable building were
becoming important to their campuses,” Lennon said.
“They asked us if we could recycle construction
waste and so we looked into it. First we found that
we could recycle wood and metal, then we found that
we could recycle brick and concrete, and then we
discovered markets for shingles and other roofing
materials.”
According to Lennon, concrete block can be recycled
for about one-tenth the cost of throwing it away.
Wood can be recycled for one-third the cost of
dumping it, and wallboard for approximately half the
cost of tossing it. “I don’t think the general
public would believe how much less expensive it is
to recycle many things than it is to throw them
away,” Lennon said.
IRN’s calling is to maximize the savings while
minimizing the hassle of recycling construction
debris onsite. According to Lennon, the most
effective way to accomplish this is to separate
waste materials into dumpsters designated for wood,
for metal, and for concrete block as they are being
removed from the building. If those materials are
sent to a mixed debris processor together, Lennon
said, it might cost $70 per ton to separate them. If
the separation is done on site, not only will there
be a check for the recycled metal, but the cost of
recycling the rest could be reduced to $10 a ton.
“There is always a need for somebody to help
orchestrate the process onsite, and that’s where we
come in,” Lennon said. “It’s not terribly difficult
but it requires some additional thought that lies
outside of the contractor’s traditional role on a
job site. What we do is optimize the financial
benefits of recycling for the contractor without
getting in the way.”
When called in for a job IRN develops a four-part
strategy that features:
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The overall waste management
plan—describing what is being recycled
and where |
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Training, troubleshooting, and feedback
for supervisors and subcontractors; |
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Management of the implementation of the
waste management plan to make sure
dumpsters go where they should and
that they are used properly; and |
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Documentation and waste slips from the
different recycling markets, as well as
savings calculations for LEED and other
types of certification. |
The effort is paying off. By IRN’s estimation, it
recycled 99.1 percent of the materials it handled
during Harvard University’s Radcliffe Center for
Advanced Education Schlesinger Library renovation.
In Vermont Law School’s Debevoise Hall renovation
project it recycled 45 tons of metal, 350 tons of
concrete, 111 tons of wood, 35 tons of wallboard and
13 tons of asphalt. Half of a total of 30 tons of
mixed debris was recycled.
That’s the big picture. The little picture is
meaningful as well.
“The one thing that surprised us the most with this
is how supportive the guys on the site always are,”
said Lennon. “And I say ‘always’ without
qualification because once you get onsite and start
talking to the workers themselves about what they
are doing they really jump on board.
“Almost everyone is recycling at home and a lot of
guys have told us in so many words that it’s always
sort of nagged at them that they are saving a few
sheets of construction paper that their kids are
using on a school project, but when they go to work
they are throwing away tons and tons and tons of
stuff every day. They recognize that as wrong.”
Wrong, as it turns out, and costly. |
