Sacramento Kings demo project tops recycling goals

The Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the city of Sacramento, California, have jointly announced that the new Entertainment and Sports Center (ESC) has exceeded its recycling goals during the demolition phase of the project.

The Kings and the city say that nearly 101,000 tons of material, or more than 98 percent of the former Downtown Plaza shopping center, was recycled. The demolition took place between August 2014 and March 2015.

California state law state requires the recycling of at least 50 percent of construction materials and the ESC’s project goal was 75 percent.

“Environmental stewardship is in Sacramento’s DNA,” says Kings President Chris Granger. “We’re thrilled that nearly all of the Downtown Plaza has been recycled and will find new life in projects throughout Sacramento. Under Owner Vivek Ranadivé’s NBA 3.0 philosophy, the Kings are committed to building the greenest arena in the greenest state in the country.”

Adds Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, “In Sacramento, we’re starting to make a habit of setting lofty goals and then exceeding them, but recycling an amazing 98 percent of the Downtown Plaza is a spectacular notch in our belt that needs to be recognized. I could not be prouder of our city and our partners at the Kings for the commitment to sustainability during construction of what is expected to be the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold arena in California.”

Materials recycled include:

• concrete: 87,000 tons;
• metal: 6,600 tons;
• wood: 51 tons;
• paper: 14.2 tons; and
• other/mixed: 6,460 tons.

Three Sacramento firms—Teichert, Bell Marine and Crete Crush—recycled nearly 88,000 tons of concrete into aggregate, with a portion being repurposed into the ESC’s foundation.

Scrap metal was handled by Portland, Oregon-based Schnitzer Steel and Cass Inc., based in Oakland. Wood and other materials were handled by Recology in Vacaville, California, and L&D Landfill, located in Sacramento.

The ESC is scheduled to open fall of 2016, in time for the 2016-2017 NBA season.