Southeast Recycling Conference: Health Before Recycling in Katrina Zone

After the 2005 hurricane season, residents (and the public and private sectors that serve them) were faced with one of the most massive clean-up projects in recent history.

Attendees of the Southeast Recycling Conference & Trade Show, which took place in mid-March in Orange Beach, Ala., witnessed a PowerPoint presentation from Mark Williams of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that detailed some of that state’s struggles.

Williams’ presentation featured slides showing damage to a variety of structure types caused by Hurricane Katrina, from single-family residences to warehouses and retail stores.

The end result was an estimated $25 billion in damage that produced some 45 million cubic yards of tangled, unsorted debris.

The random, unplanned nature of the debris was one of several critical reasons why recycling materials could not be a top priority, says Williams. Additionally, the public health priority of disposing of food waste, hazardous waste and other potentially troublesome materials took precedent over achieving recycling goals.

Despite the challenges, Williams said that at some drop-off sites, clean wood was mulched. Additionally, concrete crushing was also expedited, said Williams. “We were able to recycle a lot of concrete into aggregate,” he remarked.

Cleaning storm debris has been just one recycling challenge faced in United States EPA Region 4 (which covers part of the Southeast), according to Pam Swingle.

C&D materials make up some 25 to 40 percent of the region’s waste stream, depending on definitions. Swingle says this material is “largely untapped for recovery.” Among the concerns are contaminants (such as lead paint and CCA-treatment chemicals) in the wood stream, she added.

Swingle credited the University of Florida efforts led by Tim Townsend and funded by groups such as the CMRA for efforts to investigate and ultimately help clear up these potential roadblocks.

The U.S. EPA representative also gave snapshots of several C&D recycling case studies, including a deconstruction project at Fort Knox in Kentucky (153,000 tons of material recycled) and a public works department building in Orange County, N.C. that priced out as costing less to deconstruct than to demolish because of the value of materials recovered.

The Southeast Recycling Conference & Trade Show, hosted by the Southern Waste Information eXchange Inc., took place March 11-13 in Orange Beach, Ala.