Championship Lineup

Mixed C&D recyclers have often considered themselves pioneers in the world of recycling—taking on a complex stream of materials using trial and error methods to increase the recyclability of what comes into their facilities.

Such experimentation has brought with it the trials and tribulations associated with pioneering endeavors. Mixed C&D recyclers can be misunderstood by regulators, by their neighbors and even by potential customers.

Despite these challenges, the pioneers have helped move the industry forward and, in many cases, have been able to establish businesses that are substantial in size and that have become critical components of the solid waste and recycling infrastructure in their regions.

As a way to help honor and identify these successful pioneers, Construction & Demolition Recycling magazine has compiled a list of the nation’s largest processors and recyclers of mixed C&D materials.

At a presentation the 2006 C&D World Exhibition, Will Flower of Republic Waste Services urged C&D recyclers to communicate to neighbors and elected officials what goes on at their facilities and how it ultimately has a positive impact on the community.

He acknowledged that among all the other tasks faced by facility owners and operators, this one can get lost in the shuffle. But as recent events have demonstrated for mixed C&D recyclers, such efforts may prove not only beneficial but also necessary.

As summarized by William Turley in this magazine last year (See "State of the Industry" from the Nov/Dec 2005 issue of Construction & Demolition Recycling) regulators in different parts of the country are taking actions that are causing serious problems for many recyclers.

In New England in particular, C&D recyclers are in a position where material is being directed their way because of landfill shortages or outright bans, but restrictions on end markets are closing off important outlets for some materials after they are sorted and processed.

The conflicting goals of wanting to recycle versus both closing off end markets and zoning recyclers out of existence are causing C&D recyclers to wonder how to best deal with government agencies and how to communicate with the general public.

Despite these obstacles, the companies on our list of the Largest Mixed C&D Recyclers in the United States have managed to establish operations that clear regulatory hurdles, attract customers and help recycle the C&D materials that make up, by volume, one of the largest streams heading to landfills.

The importance of handling debris has been brought to larger public attention by the fierce hurricane seasons of the past two years.

Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan in 2004, and Dennis, Rita and Wilma in 2005 battered the South to the extent that considerable cleanup efforts had to be conducted and mixed C&D recycling facilities were among those working overtime to process and dispose of or recycle material.

But Hurricane Katrina, which inflicted heavy damage in southern Louisiana and Mississippi in late August of last year, has attracted demolition, disposal and recycling crews from throughout North America to what is still an ongoing effort to clean up damaged structures, trees, vehicles and anything else that was in the storm’s path.

In Mississippi, where more than 230 people died and some 65,000 homes were destroyed, an estimated 41 million cubic yards of storm debris was created by Hurricane Katrina, according to a representative from that state’s Department of Environmental Quality who spoke at the 2006 C&D World event.

In Louisiana, the storm damage was equally severe and the flooding of New Orleans created an overwhelming need for demolition, cleanup and recycling services, as in some parts of the city virtually every structure has been declared uninhabitable.

Segments of the public—as well as elected and appointed officials—who were previously unfamiliar with what happens to demolition material if it is not handled properly need only approach one of the impromptu post-storm dump sites (and get close enough to see and smell it) to appreciate the role of a well-managed C&D recycling facility.

Refrigerators with rotting food presented a particular challenge after Katrina, but fortunately companies such as Environmental Recycling (ER), Lexington, Ky., were willing to bring in their ferrous balers to tackle the problem.

At times, the company has had crews on site compressing anywhere from 4,000 to 12,000 units per day, as public health officials identified abandoned refrigerators as a No. 1 priority for cleanup.

A higher profile may ultimately help raise the status of mixed C&D recyclers, but the status can only stay elevated if the activities of C&D recyclers are beneficial.

The Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) and its executive director William Turley (who is also associate publisher of this magazine) are vigilant about the need for its members to help monitor the ethics of the industry and to help "bad actors" either adjust their business practices or face regulatory scrutiny.

To that end, the organization has been developing "best practices" documents to help C&D recyclers ensure that they handle materials responsibly and in ways that will help the industry stay on the good side of federal, state and local regulatory agencies.

The organization has been involved in best practices efforts for the handling and recycling of asphalt shingles and gypsum drywall scrap.

The CMRA’s New England Chapter is working with GreenSeal Environmental, Sandwich, Mass., to develop the best management practices when handling drywall scrap. "I am absolutely confident these products can be used successfully," GreenSeal’s John Blaisdell told attendees of the C&D World show regarding C&D fines used not only as ADC, but also as a remediated soil substitute in berms and embankments.

The ability of mixed C&D recyclers to help the widen public understand what their facilities do and how the fit into a community’s overall waste and recycling effort remains a challenge.

It is a credit to those companies on this list that they are able to maintain productive operations in an industry that is still finding its way and trying to change older pre-dispositions to simply bury these materials without first attempting to economically recover in-demand secondary commodities.

Identifying who is actually recycling the most material is this publication’s challenge. Mixed C&D recyclers come from a variety of backgrounds, including landfill operators, debris haulers, demolition contractors and the entrepreneurs who have entered the business with the establishment of mixed C&D plants as their main business focus.

Trying to determine which of the companies from these varying industry segments are the largest and most active in their fields provided one layer of research, followed then by making contact with the companies identified as candidates.

These companies can have very different policies concerning the disclosure of their business activities. Some are reluctant to provide information, and in some cases this probably led to their omission from the list.

Our intention in putting together this list like is to recognize and honor the most successful operators in this recycling segment. It takes hard work by a lot of people to set up a productive mixed C&D plant and then produce marketable recycled products. The managers and employees of these largest companies can be proud of what they have accomplished. As a publication, we hope that our recognition of these companies will be viewed as a way to honor leadership in an industry that can provide challenges with each new load of material that enters a facility.

Despite the challenges mixed C&D plant operators can face, it appears safe to say that the growth of this industry during the past 10 years is not a temporary phenomenon, and this list will not be a one-time endeavor, but rather a way to regularly recognize the industry’s leading companies.

The author is editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted at btaylor@gie.net.

To view a PDF of the list of the largest mixed C&D recyclers in the U.S., follow the following link: