Construction Material Recycling Needs to Increase Dramatically
Construction material recycling is critical to the reduction of the total quantity of the waste stream. In areas where construction is brisk, the impact on local landfills and other solid waste facilities is major. Percentages of total solid waste in the landfill vary from 15% on the low side to 30% or higher in communities that are growing or rehabbing rapidly. But in any case, this topic is promising for its potential to lower building material waste through convincing relatively few actors of the merits of recycling. Like all recycling, an even better alternative is direct salvage and reuse. We'll talk about that near the end of the page too.
Asphalt, concrete, asphalt shingles, gypsum drywall, wood, and metals all can be recycled. In the case of asphalt, which environmentalists are prone to think is a bad choice of paving material due to its petroleum content, is easy to recycle. Almost any asphalt plant with the will to do so can incorporate the "millings," or the part of the asphalt pavement shaved off the top prior to re-paving, into new asphalt. Recycling asphalt reduces the amount of new material required, and saves the energy that transportation of those materials otherwise would require. In fact, much more used asphalt from roadways is recycled than concrete. So there's some argument that asphalt actually has a lesser carbon footprint than concrete. Asphalt shingles are estimated to account for about a third of construction wastes reaching landfills. Both the torn-off and worn-out shingles, and the leftover new shingles from re-roofing jobs can be ground and then analyzed for incorporation into a hot asphalt mixture used for most paving jobs of any size. Asphalt shingles might contain as much as 35% asphalt cement in them, a key ingredient required for new asphalt paving. Recycled concrete is acceptable as a source of aggregate, an important ingredient in making new concrete. Recently standards for incorporating recycled concrete have been set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Sources for concrete that could be recycled include former concrete roads, curb and gutter systems, airport runways, or building foundations. There seems to be less experience with recycling concrete than asphalt, so significant learning on the part of the industry still is needed. Crushed concrete also can be used as aggregate alone, what most of us would call gravel at our homes. Recycled drywall is used in the manufacture of new drywall. Alternatively, it can be an ingredient in cement or fertilizer. There’s a fairly low rate of drywall scrap recycling, but if you've ever done a major home remodeling project, you probably can testify to the fact that there are actually a number of leftover odd pieces. To date most of these are headed for the landfill, and the contractor must pay for disposal. Implementing Construction Material RecyclingAll of the above depend on education and persuasion of construction contractors and do-it-yourselfers of the importance of recycling to society, or to their pocketbooks if the contractor can do their own recycling. Homeowners also can be helpful through taking advantage of local opportunities to recycle building materials. In many communities Habitat for Humanity offers ReStore, a place where building supply stores, contractors, demolition companies, and individuals donate surplus construction materials, which Habitat in turns resells in a retail format at a fraction of the cost of new supplies. Other local versions of this principle may be in operation in your area. In Portland, latex paint recycling leads to blending of paints for re-sale. Metal recycling is plentiful in any large community. Like many less familiar materials recycling ventures, lack of information about how and where interested parties can recycle, as well as the small inconveniences involved, contributes to a low rate of recycling. For more information, the Construction Materials Recycling Association offers specialized sites for concrete, drywall, and shingles. Source Reduction as Even Better Than RecyclingWe don't want to leave the impression that the only value of construction material recycling is reduction of volume in the landfill. We should emphasize that the very best policy would be to save energy and greenhouse gas emissions through not manufacturing, transporting, demolishing, re-transporting to a recycling location, and finally recycling itself. So even though we're on a page that advocates for construction material recycling, prevention of waste generation is a very important strategy also. Surely waste reduction isn't such a radical concept. Return from Construction Material Recycling
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