C&D World: Opening Up the Gates

Confronting the “not in my back yard” (NIMBY) attitude can become a full-time vocation for C&D recyclers, who are often made to feel unwelcome by nearby property owners who are newcomers to their traditional neighborhoods.

Speaking to attendees of the C&D World Conference, which took place in Miami in mid-January, Will Flower, a vice president with Republic Industries, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., noted that many recyclers are “losing their habitat,” much like forms of wildlife that suffer when development begins to encroach.

New residential developments, where buyers of new homes have spent considerably for their piece of the American dream, can be particularly problematic. “Even though we were there first, when they move in, this brings in a lot of pressure,” said Flower.

A key to communicating with such neighbors is understanding exactly what they have at stake, though, says Flower. In addition to their homes being their refuges, for most people it is also their single largest investment, so maintaining property values is a high priority.

A Wall Street Journal article from this January cited a study that found that one of every five homeowners in the U.S. had actively opposed some kind of development, by signing a petition, writing a letter, attending a meeting or through a variety of activities. “That’s a tremendous amount of people,” said Flower.

The three types of developments most often were landfills, casinos and power plants. The landfill stigma is of no help to many C&D recyclers, since in some cases recycling occurs on landfill sites while in others, recycling activity is considered a “waste” handling activity by those likely to complain.

Flower offered several suggestions for C&D recyclers to try to address future NIMBY-style troubles. Most involved communication and educating the surrounding community:

·        Make community relations a budget line item and pay proper attention to it

·        When communicating with neighbors, show an openness and willingness to accommodate differing opinions; don’t expect to deliver a monologue

·        Avoid the appearance of brokering a “back room deal” by sneaking into a neighborhood or quietly expanding operations

·        Be proud of what you do and go out into the community via business and community groups and Open House events.

“We need to be out there telling our story,” said Flower, so neighbors, voters and elected officials know “how critical our job is to the community.”

The C&D World Exhibition & Conference took place Jan. 15-17 in Miami. It is the official show of the Construction Materials Recycling Association and is managed by GIE Media Inc., publisher of Construction & Demolition Recycling magazine.