CMRA MEETING: CMRA Takes on Several Issues

Efforts to keep C&D recycling viable in the face of new regulations and laws will be a focus for the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) in 2003. CMRA members met for their Annual Meeting and installed new board members in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, Jan. 20.

Issues facing recyclers of concrete, wood and other building materials include dealing with hazardous substances such as lead and arsenic as well as combating unreasonable restrictions relative to zoning and siting facilities.

On one front, the CMRA is working with the government laboratory CERL to characterize painted concrete, ideally so it can show that the trace amounts of lead in such material does not render it unfit for recycling. Several CMRA member companies, including Eagle Crushing Co., Galion, Ohio, and Ted Ondrick Co., Chicopee, Mass., have pledged $1,000 contributions to help fund the study.

The idea is to provide a sample study that can be submitted to regulators in various states should they question the practice of recycling concrete that contains trace amounts of lead-based paint. Testing will begin on Feb. 10 on materials recovered from a demolition project at Fort Ord, Calif.

The CMRA will also be conducting programs to boost end markets and materials generated. The group has started working through the U.S. EPA WasteWise program to form construction site target recycling levels. The first such arrangement is in the works with retailer Target Co., Minneapolis, with the retailer pledging to recycle 50 percent of the materials at its construction sites. “We think it’s a good way to promote C&D recycling at the customer level, working with the customers of contractors rather than contractors,” said CMRA executive director William Turley.

On the end markets side, the CMRA is asking to help provide information to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Washington, when that group begins studying the issue of specifications of crushed concrete as road base.

“Markets and regulations will unify us the most,” incoming CMRA president Tom Roberts told the assembled CMRA members, who come from several types of businesses. Roberts’ company, JR Capital Corp., handles mixed C&D debris, including concrete, asphalt and wood, the most commonly generated C&D materials.

“We want to bring a voice to regulators and elected officials in states where there are challenges and debates concerning our processes and our products,” Roberts declared.

Members from various states noted that they face end market restrictions such as demolition wood not being usable as mulch (Massachusetts) and concrete crushing plants being restricted from doing onsite work (Texas) if there is a home, school or church within one quarter of a mile.