Construction & Demolition Recycling Association names new president

The national Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA), Aurora, Illinois, held its annual membership meeting March 29 as part of the 2015 C&D World Exhibition & Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. As part of the proceedings, the leadership of the organization was passed from Valerie Montecalvo, president of the Bayshore Family of Cos., in Woodbridge, New Jersey, to Kevin Herb, founder and CEO of Broad Run Recycling in Manassas, Virginia.

The CDRA is the trade association that represents about 300 companies across the United States that specialize in the recycling of C&D debris from residential, commercial, institutional and industrial road base and building projects.

More than 70 percent of the C&D material generated in the United States is recycled, according to Dr. Timothy Townsend of the University of Florida, whose research team prepared a C&D white paper for the CDRA titled “Benefits of C&D Recycling.” The area of landfill avoided by recycling this amount of C&D is annually equivalent to more than 440 acres of waste at a depth of 50 feet. In addition, C&D, which includes concrete, asphalt, wood, drywall, metals, asphalt shingles, and many other materials generated during road, bridge, and building projects, is created at a rate of approximately 480 million tons per year, making it the largest individual waste stream in the country, according to the white paper.

Under Montecalvo’s leadership as president, the association completely rebranded itself; assembled a database of how C&D processing is regulated in each of the 50 states; developed a first “Strategic Plan” to guide operations; and conducted advocacy related to numerous federal, state and local rule proposals that could affect the thriving nature of C&D recycling.

“I have had the honor and distinct pleasure of serving as president of the CDRA over the past two years,” said Montecalvo. “Our industry is critical to the economy of the United States and to the advancement of national, state and local goals for sound materials management and sustainability. The future of our organization is very bright and our contributions to the national economy and environment unsurpassed in the recycling field.”

Montecalvo passed the gavel of leadership to Herb at ceremonies held Monday, March 30, as part of the CDRA Annual Membership Meeting.

Bayshore Recycling operates seven different recycling businesses, which are located on a 55-acre site in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. Services include: recycling of concrete, asphalt, brick, block and glass cullet into aggregate materials; remediation of petroleum-contaminated soils; materials recovery of mixed construction and demolition debris into secondary products such as landscaping mulch and biofuel; full-service metal recycling; recycling of consumer electronics such as TVs and computers; and acceptance of dredge material via barge.

Started in 2008, Broad Run Recycling has the capability of recycling 95 percent of the material it takes in, according to the company. The company processes more than 600 tons of C&D debris a day in its 26,000-square-foot facility. Materials the company takes in include wood, metals, aggregate, wood-derived fuel, rigid plastics and cardboard. Residual waste is used as an alternative energy source to create electricity.

Broad Run is a member of the United States Green Building Council-National Capital Region and is the only facility in the Washington metro area that has been certified by the Recycling Certification Institute (RCI). Broad Run says it is helping to lead a national effort to create a certification and standard for the amount of waste that companies are required to recycle.