Steps Towards Sustainable Community, Winter 2005

Grindables Recycling

John and Rebecca Sleuter started doing on-site processing of construction and demolition waste in 2002. In January 2004, they became Grindables Recycling after opening their Boyd Road facility for processing materials off construction sites.

Grindables gets materials from area builders, including Pacific Builders (Insert, page 4). They charge $55/ton to dispose of the material, which is less than the $87/ton charged at the landfill. Grindables processes wood, drywall, asphalt shingles, and hardy board; they don’t have the equipment to do road asphalt or concrete.

Although Grindables does only half of its grinding on the actual construction sites, "the key is on-site recycling," says Sleuter. "Ideally you want to be able to grind and use the material on-site. Ground hardy board can be mixed in base aggregate for driveways. Ground drywall can go into the soil on-site and the ground wood can be used for mulch."

Larger pieces of wood waste also get used for firewood. Wood ground at Boyd Road is sold for mulch, pathways, animal bedding, erosion control, or playground cover. Grindables charges $5 to load a truck with mulch and $40 to haul to a site.

Drywall ground at Boyd Road is made available free to farmers, gardeners, and composters for soil amendments. "It helps loosen compacted and clay soils and retain moisture in loamy soil," notes Sleuter. "It also helps to flush out salt in soils."

Ground asphalt shingles and hardy board are mixed with gravel for private rural road base. "We would like CalTrans to approve this material for use on regular roads as that would really increase its viability as a resource,” explains Sleuter. "CalTrans has not been interested thus far."

"Our motto is 'Working together to bring dumping to a grinding halt,'" says Sleuter. "After years doing roof construction, I thought, there has to be something you can do with the waste material. We got into this big time, thanks to the Waste Board." With the help of a Recycling Market Development Zone loan, the company bought their portable 24-foot grinder in 2002 and started going to local construction and demolition sites.

While operating the portable grinder, Rebecca Sleuter explained, "Recently we deconstructed a 4,000-square-foot building. We salvaged and recycled the wood, metal roofing, composition shingles, drywall, and wiring. Out of 29.9 tons, only 600 pounds went to the landfill. Most of what goes to the landfill is material that has been cross-contaminated, like shingles and wood mixed together, or trash mixed in with other materials."

"We recently ground 3 tons of confidential documents for Mad River Hospital," says Sleuter. "It went to a new composting operation."

The Grindables website, www.grindables.com, is slated to be online after the first of the year.

Contact information:
John and Rebecca Sleuter
Grindables Recycling
Site: 1515 Boyd Road, Arcata, CA
Mailing: 1570 Underwood Road, McKinleyville, CA 95519
(707) 822-4542
Fax (707) 822-1672
jbjj@northcoast.com

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Last updated: August 01, 2008