On World Recycling Day, Allen Burns says C&D recycling progress depends on better data and sorting

As the industry commemorates World Recycling Day on March 18, Allen Burns says tonnage alone doesn’t tell the full story in construction and demolition (C&D) recycling.

Burns is the second-generation owner of Richard S. Burns & Co. Inc. (Burns Services), a waste and recycling solutions company that serves residential and commercial customers in the Philadelphia area. The company recently shared internal operation data ahead of World Recycling Day, reporting diversion of more than 1.2 million tons of C&D materials from landfills between 2021 and 2025.

Among the material tonnage reported, the largest figures include 280,000-plus tons of barrier and beneficial reuse materials, 75,000-plus tons of concrete, brick and block and 53,000-plus tons of wood processed into biomass fuel for energy recovery.

RELATED: Burns Services diverts more than 1.2M tons of C&D materials from landfills

For Burns, a mindset of maximizing material quality and accountability takes precedent in the company’s operations.

“Instead of treating our inbound materials as a waste, we're treating them as a commodity,” he says. “It was my dad [who] always said that our inbound material is a commodity you haven’t found a home for yet. It’s not a waste. Stop thinking that it’s a waste and look at everything like it can be reused.”

That philosophy has shaped operations at the company for decades, including how materials are handled from the moment they arrive on-site.

“The cleanest it’s going to be is when it first comes through the door,” Burns says. “If we start moving it with machinery, then we downgrade the material to the point where we can’t recover it or there’s a lower value to it. So we start sorting on the ground.”

Burns Services employs its TommyCart System to improve throughput. Burns says this enables the company to take a higher volume of material.

Instead of relying entirely on traditional material recovery facility systems, the company has invested in in-house equipment and sorting processes designed to preserve material integrity. Burns says this approach can significantly improve recovery rates.

At the same time, he notes that industrywide progress is not only about technology but trust first and foremost.

“Everybody’s interested in recycling, but the fact of the matter is that recycling isn’t cheaper than disposal,” Burns says. “There’s a lot of people that put numbers out there that are less than accurate.”

That challenge has put greater focus on third-party verification. Burns Services is the first company in Pennsylvania to earn certification through the Sacramento, California-based Recycling Certification Institute, which audits reported recycling data.

“That’s like an auditor coming in and auditing your taxes,” Burns says. “They verify all our numbers, and everything that we say is accurate.”

Looking ahead, Burns sees technology and data playing a larger role in improving performance across the sector. His company is expanding its use of project-level tracking to better reflect actual recycling outcomes.

“If you’re doing a great job, you’ll get rewarded,” Burns says. “If you’re not doing a great job, then you’re not going to get rewarded for what somebody else is doing.”

According to Burns, the C&D sector still has significant room to grow, particularly if the industry can align around better processes, clearer data and stronger collaboration.