A fund that addresses the issues.

The Issues & Education Fund of the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) is a non-profit organization created to advocate the C&D recyclers' position to local, state and federal officials. It was set up in response to a frequently voiced opinion by recyclers that they were losing on the regulatory and legislative fronts against better funded and organized interests that often compete with their businesses.

So at the 2004 CMRA Annual Meeting, held in January in New Orleans, a kickoff fundraising dinner was held for the Issues & Education Fund. More than $25,000 was pledged at the dinner, and, as of this writing, the contributions are flowing in on schedule to reach that mark.

Of course, that is but a small fraction of what some competing interests have to draw upon in just one state, and this $25,000 is to cover the whole country. But it is a great start, and with success, it will grow.

What successes will there be? The first project the CMRA's Issues & Education Fund will undertake is a comprehensive survey of all the information on the composition and characteristics of C&D fines. Many regulators have questioned the end uses of this material. If end markets are closed off one-by-one for this material, it will work to the detriment of recyclers. The goal is to show, by gathering all known information on the subject, a detailed account of what is in the fines portion produced at C&D facilities. Whenever possible, the information will be broken down by region, as well, to reduce the likelihood that regulators in one state will raise objections of geographical distinction.

This is only the first step. The CMRA Issues & Education Fund is looking to help individual members with specific problems, and this is partially why the fund was set up. The organization also is considering duplicating the recently completed lead-based paint on concrete recycling project performed under the guidance of the Army Corps of Engineers' Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. (See "Painting an LBP Picture," March/April 2004 Construction & Demolition Recycling, p. 44.)

The bottom line is that this fund was set up to help C&D recyclers advocate for what they need to help their businesses grow and to increase the amount of C&D material recycled in this country. To that end, the CMRA Issues & Education Fund is always looking for input from C&D recyclers on what needs to be done. If you have some ideas, please feel welcome to contact the organization at [e-mail] or to contact Tom Roberts, the current president of the CMRA, at [e-mail]. We look forward to hearing from you and to receiving your ideas.

All interested parties are invited to attend the mid-year meeting of the Board of Directors of the Construction Materials Recycling Association in New Orleans, Aug. 19., 2004, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, the same site as the Annual Conference earlier this year. Please contact the CMRA (630/585-7530 or [e-mail]) to register.