Fort Lewis Focuses on C&D Salvage, Recycling

The pollution prevention team at Ft. Lewis, Wash., has diverted more than 725 tons of organic material and 1,400 tons of wood debris from its solid waste stream and avoided $174,000 in disposal costs by reusing lumber and other resources from building deconstruction.

Part of a military construction redevelopment at the fort required the removal of 100 to 200 World War II-era wood framed buildings. Before the buildings were taken down, Fort Lewis, and its partner, the Seattle District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, held a workshop on alternative forms of demolition to facilitate communication between contractors and promote the reuse of building materials.

Building materials that cannot be reused or recovered at Fort Lewis are recycled to the greatest extent possible, according to a press release from the U.S. Army Environmental Center. In 2006, more than 9,000 tons of asphalt and concrete from construction and demolition projects was recycled through a natural aggregate replacement project that ground the materials up and used them in other ways across the installation. Fort Lewis also used 5,000 tons of recycled concrete for projects such as road restoration, repair and access to the timber sales area and road maintenance.

More information is available at http://aec.army.mil.