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 Brian Taylo |
One aspect of the recycling of construction and demolition materials that has followed the pattern of most other secondary commodities is an initial concentration on places where large amounts of material are generated.
Contractors, entrepreneurial recyclers, property owners and haulers have identified recycling opportunities starting with larger scale projects and locations that generate sizable amounts of material.
Those circles have widened as aggregate recycling, wood recycling and mixed C&D recycling have grown in tandem—and as an array of local or state governments, property owners and contractors have become convinced that the more C&D materials that are recycled the better.
The initial focus on large sources makes sense whether a government agency is trying to promote recycling or a private company is trying to recycle profitably. Whether the goal is a higher diversion rate or to undertake a logistically sensible endeavor, recycling several thousand tons of debris will accomplish more than spotting one roll-off container at a minor renovation project.
Recycling’s history has shown, though, that the search to keep the secondary commodity faucet flowing will eventually lead to collection models for smaller amounts of material. For every mammoth scrap metal processing or exporting facility, there are several “feeder yards” where electrical contractors, plumbers or people who collect a few bags full of aluminum cans can take their scrap materials.
On the C&D side, a collection model for smaller amounts has emerged from at least two places in the form of lightweight, one-time use containers that can be used at residential sites and in other non-industrial settings.
National Recycling LLC of Romeo, Mich., has introduced the Boxxster™ (www.theboxxster.com), with the company saying on its website it is initially targeting tear-off asphalt shingles. “The Boxxster system is a set of five 2.4-cubic yard containers, equaling approx. 12 cubic yards of room for your roofing waste,” the company’s site says.
In the Boxxter’s home state of Michigan, several roofing supply stores and roofing contractors are listed as customers, with the shingles they collect “that meet material specifications set forth by each state’s DOT used as a liquid asphalt substitute in the processing of asphalt for roadway paving,” according to theboxxster.com.
The Bagster® (www.thebagster.com) is the name given to a similar service being offered by Houston-based Waste Management Inc. (WM), which has coast-to-coast hauling services and is investing in an increasing number of mixed C&D facilities.
Television advertising spots have been used to promote the introduction of the Bagster, which WM says is available at home improvement stores, including some Home Depot locations. “When a Dumpster is too big for the job,” says WM, the Bagster is “a cost-effective alternative” for situations such as home renovations, garage or attic cleanouts or roofing projects.
Should the collection of small amounts of C&D materials through such systems prove to be cost-effective, that can be interpreted as a sign that the industry is continuing to evolve favorably.
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