Two Des Moines, Iowa-area businesses have opened to recycle waste from construction and demolition sites, filling a void left two years ago when Iowa's only construction recycler closed.
"We think it's a phenomenal idea," said Chris Pagliai, vice president of Metro Wrecking Inc. of Des Moines, a demolition company.
"Anytime you can recycle instead of bury debris, it's always a plus," he said. "It's a win-win for everybody."
Without the new companies, more construction waste and demolition debris would wind up in the Metro East Landfill. That's particularly wasteful, because prices for lumber and other building supplies are increasing.
The new companies are:
• Taylor Recycling Facility of Iowa, part of a growing New York company that processed debris from the World Trade Center disaster.
• Phoenix C&D Recycling, a locally owned company.
The two companies are the only construction and demolition recycling operations in the state, according to permit records at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Construction and demolition projects create waste such as wood, concrete, brick, paper, cardboard, metal and even dirt. Construction companies, homeowners and contract waste haulers have to get rid of it all somehow. Now, instead of hauling it to a landfill, material can be hauled to Taylor or Phoenix for recycling.
Material is sorted by machine and by hand into categories and then processed into products.
Recycling construction and demolition waste has little impact on the cost of new building materials, said Tiffany Wilmot, president of Wilmot Inc., a recycling consulting firm in Nashville. But if more materials were recycled or reused, it could put some downward pressure on new prices.
Tony Colosimo, chief executive of Phoenix, said recycling can have some impact on prices of new materials, such as metal or paper products. When prices for raw materials are high, manufacturers often use more recycled materials, helping to keep prices in check to some degree, Colosimo said.
Phoenix operates at a former facility of Central Construction and Demolition Recycle Inc., which closed in 2002 after nearby businesses sued, saying the firm failed to keep the area clean.
The closing meant that tons of building waste was diverted to area landfills each month. Waste officials warned that monthly garbage bills might go up for many Des Moines-area residents.
The facilities are open to haulers, contractors and homeowners with any size vehicle.
Both facilities, according to their agreements with Metro Waste Authority, accept all types of debris resulting from new construction renovation and demolition work, including wood, scrap metal, concrete, brick, asphalt, cardboard, paper, wallboard, plastic buckets and shingles.
The Metro Waste Authority encourages homeowners and businesses to recycle construction and demolition waste. Authority rates are less than some recycling center rates, however, because many customers are homeowners or small companies. The authority needs to keep prices at moderate levels to prevent illegal dumping, a spokeswoman said.
The Des Moines area's Metro Waste Authority, operator of the Metro East Landfill, pays the Iowa Department of Natural Resources $2.20 for every ton dumped at Metro East.
The rate, however, could have gone up to $3.30 a ton if Metro East failed to meet state goals of diverting at least 25 percent of all waste from the landfill. Recycling construction and demolition waste had helped meet the goal.
Had the rate gone up, cities could have tacked on an additional fee to homeowners' garbage bills, and commercial haulers could have charged their customers more. But because the state hasn't measured a full year of waste diversion since Central closed, the rate wasn't raised, said Antoinette Bernich, a Metro Waste spokeswoman.
Construction and demolition debris is still accepted at the Metro Park East Landfill, although the agency hopes that more and more material will be recycled.
Both Taylor and Phoenix said they can survive.
Ken Mogul, Taylor's vice president of operations in Des Moines, cited his company's 15 years in the business. Colosimo pointed to the market for alternative daily cover and experience in the Des Moines market through Artistic Waste Services, which provides curbside garbage and waste collection.
Pagliai, whose company hauls debris to Taylor, said the practice saves money, taking into account the time, fuel and depreciation in equipment involved in the long drive to the landfill.
Recycling is good for the environment, saves landfill space and turns debris into usable products, Pagliai said. "I just think it's a great idea." Des Moines Register