Up to the challenge: C&D recycling is a major component of the U.S. EPA's Waste Wise Building Challenge Program.

In July 2002, the U.S. EPA awarded a grant to the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) to conduct a public education and training program to increase the reuse and recycling of construction and demolition debris. The purpose of the $75,000 grant was to provide technical assistance to the public and private institutions, corporations and companies to hdp them implement C&D recycling. Under the program, participants were required to:

* Join the Waste Wise Building Challenge Program.

* Implement a corporate policy, local government ordinance or adopt best management practices for reusing and recycling C&D debris on eligible construction and demolition projects.

* Incorporate reuse and recycling into construction or demolition documents, including contractor requirements and specifications.

* Include contractor or subcontractor training on best practices for reusing or recycling C&D debris.

* Provide the CMRA and the EPA with C&D diversion data and project information to be included in a case study for the grant program.

* Incorporate a sustainable design approach for the project that would include reused or salvaged materials, recycled content products and other sustainable design measures as applicable to the project scope.

Participants in the grant program had to meet the following criteria:

* Scope, size and budget for project.

* Sufficient volume of C&D tonnage that may be potentially diverted from landfills.

* Commitment on the part of the participant to adopt C&D reuse and recycling policies.

PROJECT BREAKDOWN

In July 2002, in my former role as regional director of the CMRA of Southern California, I was brought under contract as the grant program consultant. I worked in coordination with William Turley, executive director of CMRA and the associated publisher of Construction Demolition Recycling, which is the grant recipient.

Four demolition recycling projects and a technical assistance and training effort have been implemented since the grant program started in July 2002.

Claremont Village Expansion Project--Claremont Village, Calif., is a commercial area that includes restaurants, banking and other small businesses in the city's central business district. The commercial and residential development for Claremont Village Expansion is now underway just west of the existing village area. The expansion program will include a mixed-use development of retail, residential and other uses. From May 2002 to March 2003, the city replaced a roadway, cleared several sites and demolished a number of buildings for the expansion program. Property owned by the city was sold to developers for the mixed-use project. Buildings owned by private companies and residents were sold or acquired by Claremont's redevelopment agency under eminent domain proceedings. Because of the large amount of C&D debris that was generated in the Claremont Village Expansion, as well as other criteria that it met, the project was selected for the U.S. EPA C&D Reuse and Recycling Grant program. The Village Expansion project included 35 acres of site clearance and building demolition.

In addition, Claremont's Community Services Center and Waste Management Yard will also be demolished and the site will be cleared for the mixed-use development. However, these activities may not take place during the grant period. In addition, a decision has not been made by the city about the demolition of the east end of the citrus packing house, which is estimated to be an additional 130,000 square feet.

Tons that have been recycled in conjunction with the grant project are detailed in the city of Claremont Village Expansion Recycled Tonnage Data Report. The results are summarized in Table 1 on this page.

Target Stores--Target Stores is one of the largest discount retail chain store corporations in the United States. Because of its significant sales volume, its market share with discount commodities and its prominence in the retail industry, Target is continually expanding its commercial base. Target Stores builds between 100 to 200 stores throughout the United States annually. New stores are constructed either as new stand-alone buildings, using a standardized architectural design or as renovations of existing buildings. In the case of existing building reuse, the building core of an old retail store is selectively demolished, the exterior is renovated and the store is rebuilt to meet Target's architectural style and commercial theme. Prior to the grant program, Target Stores has had limited success with recycling jobsite C&D debris as a standard practice. Some concrete from new construction and site demolition, metal fixtures from interior renovations and a new program to bale cardboard generated by construction activities have been recycled at certain project sites. Target Stores joined the grant program to start expanding its C&D recycling activities at sites where C&D recycling centers were available to cost-effectively recycle jobsite materials. Incorporation of best management practices (BMPs) and providing a training program for staff and contractor/subcontractors have had the greatest potential to significantly increase diversion of these materials.

Eureka Store Demolition Recycling Project--Target Stores purchased a closed Montgomery Wards store site in Eureka, Calif., and demolished the building and cleared the site for a new Target retail store. The approximately 150,000-square-foot-site was located on the northern boundary of the city adjacent to the 101 Freeway. The building area was about 85,000 square feet. Contractor specifications (Section 02060, Building Demolition and Recycling Requirements) were provided to prospective demolition contractors, as well as a Contractor's Solid Waste and Recycling Management Plan and Contractor's Report of Reuse, Recycling and Disposal. I acted as Target's solid waste management and recycling representative under the grant. He attended the job walk on June 17, 2003, and reviewed project recycling requirements, discussed requirements with prospective bidders for the contractor's solid waste and recycling plan and for the contractor's recycling reporting forms. Based on that information, I helped prepare the recycling plan on behalf of Target Stores for project planning purposes. The final Contractor's Solid Waste and Recycling Management Plan was provided by the demolition contractor.

Recycling was the preferred option for processing demolition and site debris, because this met with local C&D recycling policy and because it was the most financially feasible option. The local transfer station charged $88 per ton for disposed materials. The closest landfills are located in Medford, Ore., (200 miles each way), or Redding, Calif., (125 miles each way). Although the tipping fee was lower at the landfill, the transportation cost ($75 per hour each way) was prohibitive. Materials could be recycled onsite or offsite for a much lower cost per ton (estimated to be less than $10 per ton).

Concrete, asphalt and concrete block comprised the majority of debris onsite, and they were either crushed and reused onsite or taken offsite for crushing.

Scrap metal, wire, conduit and cable were collected onsite in 40-cubic-yard roll-off containers and taken to a local scrap recycling facility.

The building contains both painted and non-painted wood. The non-painted materials were recovered.

Materials that could not be source separated because of economic or operational factors were disposed of at a local transfer station or taken to landfills. Other disposed material such as drywall (or debris that cannot be included in miscellaneous debris loads because they contain no recyclables) were taken to the local transfer station. The transfer station makes the decision on which landfill to use, depending on the lowest transportation cost and tipping fee. The results of the site and building demolition are summarized in Table 2 on page 54.

Target Stores--Boston South-bay Demolition Recycling Project--As a follow up to the Eureka project, Target Stores coordinated C&D recycling for another property located in the Dorchester, Mass., area. This building was an existing K-Mart, which was renovated for a new Target retail store. The project architect, Peterson Griffin Architects, adopted Section 02060, Building Demolition and Recycling Requirements, and Sections 02060A, Contractor's Solid Waste and Recycling Plan, and 02060B, Contractor's Report of Reuse, Recycling, and Disposal as part of the demolition documents.

The contractor, Jeffrey M. Brown Associates, selected a demolition subcontractor, and the work began on July 2, 2003. The demolition subcontractor used a large mixed C&D recycling facility to process the debris, but it was not able to meet the 75 percent diversion requirements of the grant because the selective interior demolition debris could not be separated for recycling.

Nonetheless, recycling activities were tracked for the grant program. The contractor has provided a Solid Waste and Recycling Plan and Contractor's report of demolition recycling activities as summarized in Table 3 on this page.

PROJECT RESULTS

One of the goals of the grant program is to implement C&D recycling on major projects that do not otherwise recycle C&D materials or on projects where innovative technologies can be developed to expand current C&D recycling practices. The following are some highlights of project results that were achieved beyond the baseline C&D recycling practices of the participants:

City of Claremont:

The city implemented Section 02060 building demolition specifications for the Village Expansion Project, which included contractor requirements to provide a solid waste and recycling management plan and a report of recycling and disposal in conjunction with the building-demolition and site clearance contracts. Previously, the city did have a C&D reporting requirement in place for all haulers that dispose materials in the city, but this was expanded to focus on C&D materials, and minimum diversion goals of 75 percent were set for the Village Expansion. The results were documented with tonnage data and a series of digital images that illustrate C&D recycling processes.

The city reviewed a draft C&D recycling ordinance that I helped prepared, which would require 75 percent C&D diversion rates, SWM+ recycling plans and reporting by all commercial and industrial generators (residential and multifamily would be excluded). The city anticipated at that time that a C&D ordinance would be required under California's new state law, SB 1374. However, that law was modified by legislature to require only certain localities to comply with a model C&D recycling ordinance as directed by the state's waste board. Instead, the city modified the ordinance as an internal requirement for all of its public works projects.

The city coordinated the C&D recycling program beyond the Village Expansion. All new C&D recycling projects will have a 75 percent diversion rate and be required to report diversion using the city's reporting format.

The C&D program was expanded to the Claremont Colleges, which includes 10 major campuses within the city. The Pomona College implemented the C&D recycling requirements, SWM + recycling plan and reporting forms on a new life sciences building that will obtain a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Target Stores:

At the beginning of the project, Target Stores had little or no organized C&D recycling for demolition of buildings for new stores or for building renovation/selective demolition projects. C&D recycling was conducted whenever local facilities were available and contractors elected to recycle. The pilot C&D recycling projects for the Eureka and Southbay stores have implemented the following new best management practices for C&D recycling:

* A set recycling rate of 75 percent diversion for C&D debris;

* Training of contractors and demolition subcontractors on the grant program and C&D recycling and documentation requirements;

* Incorporation of C&D recycling specifications Section 02060--SolidWaste and Recycling requirements in the project bid documents;

* Use of Section 02060A--Contractor's Solid Waste and Recycling Management Plans, which contractors are require to submit prior m the start of work, for approval by Target and myself; and Use of Section 02060B--Contractor's Report of Recycling and Disposal, to document C&D processes incorporated (i.e. source separation or mixed debris recycling) and types of materials diverted by tons.

As a result of the success of the Target pilot projects, a program can be incorporated for C&D recycling on future projects where C&D recycling facilities exist and recycling can be achieved within the contract sum and schedule. In addition, other large corporations that have major capitol development programs can follow suit based on Target's success. It is not dear whether a Corporate Policy, BMPs or contractor specifications for C&D recycling will be implemented by the grant participants on a long-term basis. Follow up with the grant participants is highly recommended. C&DR

The author is principal of KMI Building, Associates, Glendale, Calif, and can be contacted at kmibuildinginc@earth/ink, net or [phone].

Table 1: City of Claremont--Village Expansion Summary of C&D
Materials Recycled and Disposed Sept. 16, 2002--March 10, 2003
Per City of Claremont, Calif.

Material Type              Recyclability & Process           Estimated
                                                                Tons

                                                              Recycled

Asphalt                    Crush/recycle onsite               411
Concrete                   Crush/recycle onsite               4,949
Scrap Metal & fixtures     Source separate & recycle offsite  270
Lumber                     Sale to Mexico                     122
Miscellaneous Demo Debris  Process offsite for recovery       0

                                                              Recycled

Recycled Materials                                            5,752
Disposed Materials
Total Tons Generated
Recycling Rate             83.37 percent

Material Type              Estimated Tons

                                     Total
                           Disposed  Generated

Asphalt                    0         411
Concrete                   0         4,949
Scrap Metal & fixtures     0         270
Lumber                     0         122
Miscellaneous Demo Debris  1,147     1,147

                                     Total
                           Disposed  Generated

Recycled Materials
Disposed Materials         1,147
Total Tons Generated                 6,899
Recycling Rate

Table 2: Target Eureka Store-Montgomery Wards Demolition and
Solid Waste and Recycling Data--Final Report Per Kernen
Construction, Eureka, Calif.

Demolition Debris

Material Type               Potential Recyclability & Process  Tons

                                                               Recycled

Asphalt/Concrete            Crush/recycle onsite/offsite       11,019
Concrete Block (CMU)        Crush/recycle onsite/offsite
Scrap Metal & Fixtures      Source separate & recycle offsite  168
Wood (non-painted/treated)  Source separate & recycle offsite  125
Acoustic Ceiling Tiles      Remove for reuse off site
Miscellaneous Demo Debris   Process off site for recovery

Tonnage Summary

                            Recycled                           Disposed

Recycled Materials          11,312
Disposed Materials                                             1,225
Total Tons Generated
Recycling Rate              90.23 percent

Demolition Debris

Material Type                                C&D Facility

                            Disposed

Asphalt/Concrete            0                Kernen Construction
Concrete Block (CMU)        0                Kernen Construction
Scrap Metal & Fixtures      0                Arcata Recycling
Wood (non-painted/treated)  0                Arcata Recycling
Acoustic Ceiling Tiles                       Arcata Recycling
Miscellaneous Demo Debris   1,225            Arcata Recycling

Tonnage Summary

                            Total Generated

Recycled Materials
Disposed Materials
Total Tons Generated        12,531
Recycling Rate

Table 3: Target Store-Boston Southbay Interior Demolition and
Site Clearance Preliminary Solid Waste and Recycling Report
Per Jeffrey M. Brown Associates Inc. Boston *

Building Demolition Debris (Selective Demolition)

Material Type              Potential Recyclability & Process  Est. Tons

                                                              Recycle

Concrete                   Crush/recycle offsite              451
Scrap Metal & Fixtures     Source separate & recycle offsite  253
Miscellaneous Demo Debris  Process off site for recovery

                           Recycled                           Disposed

Recycled Materials         704
Disposed Materials                                            2,400
Total Tons Generated
Recycling Rate             22.68 percent

Building Demolition Debris (Selective Demolition)

Material Type                         Potential C&D Facility

                           Dispose

Concrete                   0          Fed Corp/Durham
Scrap Metal & Fixtures     0          Brockton Recovery
Miscellaneous Demo Debris  2,400      Pond View Recycling

                           Total
                           Generated

Recycled Materials
Disposed Materials
Total Tons Generated       3,104
Recycling Rate

* Reported by J.M. Brown in cubic yards and converted to tons by
Ingalls Inc. using standard conversion factors.