Making plans: a New England contractor conducts careful planning for its construction materials recycling program

Construction & Demolition Recycling, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Vance Freymann

Impending regulations in Massachusetts will mark a major change in the handling of construction and demolition (C&D) materials. As planned, a ban will be enforced by mid-2004 that will prevent landfill deposits of asphalt, brick, cardboard, concrete, wood and metal coming from commercial construction sites. These regulations will directly address a major source of landfill volume in Massachusetts and are expected to be a model for other states.

Consigli Construction Co., Inc., a Massachusetts-based construction manager and general contractor, has been involved in a voluntary pilot study of C&D source separation and recycling since 2001.

Consigli is providing data on waste reduction results for five projects that will be published as case studies for other builders to follow once the regulations are in place. Consigli is also providing data to Northeastern University in Boston for use in the development of a software simulation model that will help to predict construction waste streams.

MINIMAL PAIN

To date, Consigli has found little adverse impact as a result of its waste reduction efforts. In most circumstances, waste reduction can be achieved at marginal additional cost, given proper advance planning. Consigli has implemented a company-wide source separation program, encompassing all of its projects, and has remained competitive against contractors not currently required to recycle.

On some of the projects, Consigli has worked with Symmes Maini & McKee Associates, a Massachusetts-based architecture and engineering firm that advocates sound environmental practices in design and construction. One role of the designer is to help establish a proper project team mindset early in the project development process to ensure later adherence and optimum results.

More than 136 million tons of building-related debris from construction and demolition sites is generated every year, making it the single largest source in the waste stream. Figures developed by the U.S. EPA help the building owners, designers and contractors to understand the magnitude of C&D waste. In commercial construction, a typical new building generates an average of 3.9 pounds of waste per square foot of building area. To put this in perspective, a new 50,000-square-foot building--a typical college residence hall or mid-size suburban office building--will produce almost 100 tons of waste.

Change the activity to demolition and the figures increase dramatically. In this case commercial buildings yield an average of 155 pounds per square foot of building area. Turn the same 50,000-square-fool building into a demolition project, and the result will be almost 4,000 tons of waste.

In Massachusetts the proportionate impact of C&D is similar to national figures. Overall, roughly 1 million tons of C&D go from Massachusetts construction sites to landfills annually. Of this amount, 660,000 tons are deposited at instate landfills, while some 320,000 tons are exported. C&D accounts for roughly 25 percent of all Massachusetts landfill deposits and fully 95 percent of the non-municipal solid waste (MSW) stream.

LOOMING CHANGES

With landfills in the state nearing capacity and heightened environmental concerns, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is now drafting regulations on C&D waste that should take effect by the end of 2004. While other county and municipal governments have imposed C&D bans, the Massachusetts regulations will constitute the country's first statewide initiative.

As currently proposed, the regulations will initially ban asphalt, brick, concrete, wood and metal from landfills. An existing ban on corrugated cardboard will be enforced in conjunction with the newly banned materials. Other materials may be added to the ban once the regulations are in place. The stated goal of the DEP program is an 88 percent non-MSW landfill diversion rate by 2010.

The detailed C&D recommendations of the Massachusetts DEP can be found in the document "Beyond 2000 Solid Waste Master Plan," which is accessible on-line at www.state.ma.us/dep/bwp/dswm/ mplan.swmp.doc.

When the new Massachusetts regulations go in to effect, contractors will have three options for handling C&D waste:

1) Waste management planning, centered on direct reuse and on-site source separation and recycling.

2) Continued deposit of all materials in mixed C&D dumpsters. This will require later separation of the banned materials by a third party at a remote site, prior to landfill transfer.

3) Continued deposit of all materials in mixed C&D dumpsters, with subsequent hauling by truck and/or rail to out-of-state landfills.

THE DESIGNER'S ROLE

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.

Developed and maintained by the U.S Green Building Council, the system assigns points for using energy-efficient designs and recycling-friendly products in the construction and renovation of buildings. The more points received, the more "green" the building is considered.