A two-year-old feasibility study will be updated as part of an effort by the Ulster County, (New York) Resource Recovery Agency board to establish construction and demolition debris separation programs.
The board voted to authorize an updated report from agency consultants Clough, Harbour & Associates, at a cost of $12,000.
Agency executive director Charles Shaw said the separation program would cost an estimated $2.5 million and involve the installation of equipment to sort construction and demolition materials.
"When someone comes in with material from tearing down a building, we run it over a sorting line," he said. "We chip up the wood and sell it or give it away, the sheet rock goes back to the factory to make new sheet rock, the asphalt is sent back to make new asphalt, and the steel goes to scrap metal dealers.
"The real savings is we don't have to pay to dispose of it in a landfill, which cost us $52 a ton," Shaw said. "A good C&D diversion project like we're proposing could save 35,000 tons."
Components of the system would include shredding equipment that officials estimated would save $303,000 if installed in 2005. According to figures provided by the agency, the county would save $150,000 in landfill costs, $75,000 in fuel, $20,000 in wood grinding costs and a "conservative" estimate of $13,500 in overtime expenses.
Annual expenses for the shredding system included $108,000 for a five-year equipment lease and $57,000 in operating costs.
Frank LaVardera of Clough Harbour said the previous report cost "in the neighborhood" of $14,000 to $16,000. He said the report would be updated to include information on trends in the construction debris market.