Wreck trek: thanks to the 'green' movement, an L.A. hauling and recycling company is cleaning up.FROM drywall to dirt to couches to cardboard, if it's thrown into one of Looney Bins' trademark orange dumpsters, the company will probably recycle re·cy·cle tr.v. re·cy·cled, re·cy·cling, re·cy·cles 1. To put or pass through a cycle again, as for further treatment. 2. To start a different cycle in. 3. a. it. Sun Valley recycling company Looney Bins Inc. has built a reputation on accepting, sorting and recycling just about anything tossed into its bins, and with its sister company, Downtown Diversion Inc., has a certified See certification. recycling rate of over 75 percent--higher than most any other recycler in the business. The company started nearly two decades ago as a demolition contractor, but over time it became clear that much of the waste from demolition could be recycled, said Mike Hammer, the company's president and chief executive. Few companies at the time were in the business of recycling such debris, and the company soon gained recognition within the industry. "We became known for being able to handle large construction and demolition jobs," Hammer said. "Today we process over 1,500 tons per day of construction and demolition debris." And its reach is growing. Looney Bins began recycling movie sets and is increasingly being used by small contractors, supermarkets and private residences. Today, one of the company's largest clients is Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., whose Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. studio has been recycling its sets for the past decade. "They provide excellent service," said Bruce Ferency, grounds foreman for Sony Studios. He said some other recyclers say they recycle movie sets, but Looney Bins is the only one he knows of that does so on a large scale. And since the studio started using the service 10 years ago, it has diverted a huge amount of debris from landfills. Looney Bins has recovered thousands of tons of wood from the Sony studio alone. "Before that, it would just go into the dumpsters and then to the landfills," Ferency said. Movie set recycling has been highly successful for the company: As much as 90 percent of the material recovered from movie sets is recycled, the company estimates. And it is being reused in some surprising ways. Wood recovered by Looney Bins has been used in the Special Olympics Special Olympics International sports program for people with intellectual disability. It provides year-round training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type summer and winter sports for participants. and for making planter planter, farm or garden implement that places propagating material such as seeds or seedlings into the ground, usually in rows. Broadcasting, i.e., scattering seed in all directions, by hand followed by harrowing (see harrow) to cover the seed with soil was an early boxes for area nurseries, while nails and related building materials Building materials used in the construction industry to create . These categories of materials and products are used by and construction project managers to specify the materials and methods used for . have been used in foreign countries to make hospitals and other structures. The success of the non-construction recycling services, coupled with the growth of the "green" movement, has helped the company grow despite a decline in a main source of its revenue--residential construction. "The overall construction industry is dropping but there is an overall green movement that is pushing for more recycling, so that has increased our market share," Hammer said. The company offers bins as small as 3 cubic yards and as large as 40 yards. Prices range from about $200 per week to nearly $500 per week in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. depending on location. The company charges between $40 and $50 per ton of material dropped off at its facilities, which is more expensive than dumping loads at landfills, which often is between $30 and $40. Cities and counties are required to divert half of their waste from landfills, but private contractors do not have such restrictions. However, contractors who do recycle their debris may be eligible for green building certification programs, such as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. or the Collaborative for High Performance Schools programs. The companies have been growing by a combined rate of about 30 percent annually for the past four years. The companies combined for more than $20 million in revenue in 2006. (With the same president and chief executive, Looney Bins and Downtown Diversion are effectively divisions of a single company.) With the residential construction industry down, Downtown Diversion has been helped by the building boom in downtown recently. There is still a large share of the market up for grabs for recyclers. The Construction Materials Recycling Association estimates that 350 million tons of construction and demolition material is generated every year, of which only 28 million tons--8 percent--is recycled. Sorting Debris Once the filled bins are brought to the company's downtown recycling facility, the sorting process begins. It's a mix of high- and low-tech. The bins are delivered to the facility and dumped. The material is loaded into a machine and "through a series of screens and conveyor belts conveyor belt One of various devices that provide mechanized movement of material, as in a factory. Conveyor belts are used in industrial applications and also on large farms, in warehousing and freight-handling, and in movement of raw materials. , magnets and air systems, the material is sized and spread out," Hammer said. At this point, the material is inspected visually and employees are responsible for picking out different types of material. Some wood, dirt and other debris is ground into mulch mulch, any material, usually organic, that is spread on the ground to protect the soil and the roots of plants from the effects of soil crusting, erosion, or freezing; it is also used to retard the growth of weeds. , while other types of material is shipped off to other facilities for processing. Anything that is left over is delivered to landfills. The company will accept a wide variety of material, but won't take hazardous material or food waste. William Turley, executive director of the Construction Materials Recycling Association, said the company is well-positioned to grow in the recycling industry due to its new technical capabilities. "They started out with low mechanization mechanization Use of machines, either wholly or in part, to replace human or animal labour. Unlike automation, which may not depend at all on a human operator, mechanization requires human participation to provide information or instruction. but now they have a beautiful state-of-the-art facility in a great location," he said. "They can do more tons and sort more completely and thoroughly than previous techniques allowed." The company opened a facility just east of downtown in 2004, becoming one of the few major recycling companies to set up shop in the middle of a large city. But having a recycling facility in the middle of the city presents its own problems, Hammer said. To prevent unpleasant odors Odors anosmia Medicine. the absence of the sense of smell; olfactory anesthesia. Also called anosphrasia. — anosmic, adj. halitosis bad breath; an unpleasant odor emanating from the mouth. and a negative environmental impact, it is a closed facility with extensive misting and ventilation systems ventilation system Public health An air system designed to maintain negative pressure and exhaust air properly, to minimize the spread of TB and other respiratory pathogens in a health care facility to make it bearable bear·a·ble adj. That can be endured: bearable pain; a bearable schedule. bear for the workers inside. "It's a fully enclosed en·close also in·close tr.v. en·closed, en·clos·ing, en·clos·es 1. To surround on all sides; close in. 2. To fence in so as to prevent common use: enclosed the pasture. facility. We can run full speed and you can stand right outside the facility and the only thing you'll see is trucks going in and out," Hammer said. Looney Bins Inc./ Downtown Diversion Inc. Founded: 1989 Core Business: Recycling construction debris and other material Employees in 2007: 150 Employees in 2006: 135 Goal: To recycle a large percentage of construction debris, movie set material and general waste to keep it out of landfills Driving Force: Environmental concerns and programs and requirements that encourage recycling BY RICHARD CLOUGH Sir Richard Clough (c. 1530–1570) was a merchant from Denbigh and an agent of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Clough was from a humble background, but his fortunes were improved when he was noticed, as a boy chorister in Chester Cathedral, for his remarkable singing Staff Reporter |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion