"Innovations" Case Studies: C&D Recycling Plans and Policies

C&D Recycling Plan Process

Community C&D recycling plans need to be recognized as part of an evolving process to collect additional data and to test the recommended approaches. The process should also evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of what has been proposed and what actually gets implemented. Although a plan may be adopted at one moment in time, to be truly effective it needs to recommend ongoing processes and implementation steps that will inevitably lead to the desired outcomes of the plan. C&D plans will be successful if they provide strategies to harness the forces of the marketplace to maximize waste diversion. They must also document that success for the local government to share with the State.

Source: Characterization of Building-Related Construction and Demolition Debris in the United States, U.S. EPA, June 1998, EPA530-R-98-010, page ES-3.

Following are some of the key steps that should be taken in the development of a C&D recycling plan.

• Step 1: Identify C&D Debris Generated Locally
• Step 2: Collection Analysis
• Step 3: Evaluation of Tools and Strategies
• Step 4: Recommendations, Budget, and Timeline

Step 1: Identify C&D Debris Generated Locally

This is one of the more difficult aspects of C&D planning in most communities. C&D debris varies by season and year, as construction and demolition projects vary from year to year.

Building-related C&D debris is generated from a wide variety of construction, renovation, and demolition activities. Figure 1 highlights the relative percentages of building-related C&D debris.

In addition to building-related C&D debris, substantial amounts of C&D debris are produced from road, bridge, and land clearing activities that are managed by the same processors and landfills that manage building-related C&D debris.

Information may be obtained from homebuilders, homeowners, remodelers, commercial developers, building contractors, highway and street contractors, bridge builders, pavement contractors, site grading contractors, demolition contractors, roofing contractors, drywall specialists, and excavation specialists.

C&D debris may be produced from many types of projects, including:

• Site clearance (brush, soil, trees, and stumps).
• Excavations (earth, fill, and rock).
• Roadwork (concrete slabs, concrete and asphalt chunks, asphalt millings, scrap metal).
• New construction, renovation, remodeling, or repair (wood, sheetrock, metals).
• Demolition, wrecking, implosion, dismantling, and deconstruction (all of the above).
• Disaster debris (all of the above).

The amount of C&D debris will vary based on the general economic conditions of the region, weather, major disasters, special projects and local regulations.

Data Projections. Some of the best sources of information to base future projections are zoning changes, community development plans, and building permits issued in a community. Building permits are the best barometers for identifying major projects that will impact a community in the coming year. Zoning and community development plans may provide some insights into the potential for future construction and demolition activities in the area.

C&D recycling planners should contact their community development, redevelopment, and building departments to obtain information about these anticipated changes and locate historical records. If historical records can be provided for the past two to three years, then some analysis can be made of that data to project what might be expected, on average, for the next two to three years.

If hard data is available regarding the types and nature of buildings that are expected to occur, then estimates of C&D debris expected from such activities can be calculated. In the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) landmark report “Characterization of Building-Related Construction and Demolition Debris in the United States,” Franklin Associates provides the following suggestions for such calculations:

Residential Construction Debris. Types of houses, building practices, and regulations vary widely. U.S. EPA used an average of 4.38 pounds per square foot (ppsf) of floor space for their estimates.

Nonresidential Construction Debris. Nonresidential buildings vary even more widely than residential structures. U.S. EPA used an average generation rate of 3.89 ppsf.

Residential Demolition Debris. Assuming an average of 1,600 square feet for single-family houses and 1,000 square feet for multifamily houses, EPA used 61 ppsf for single-family and 115 ppsf for multifamily houses.

Nonresidential Demolition Debris. Assuming an average building size of 13,300 square feet for buildings built between 1920 and 1969, EPA used 155 ppsf for nonresidential buildings.

Renovation/Remodeling Debris. EPA analyzed the amount of material produced by major remodeling projects and the number of those projects expected each year from the housing stock. EPA found that 68 percent of renovations were for improvements and 32 percent were for repairs. After extensive calculations, the total of residential and non-residential debris approximately equaled the amount of demolition debris estimated. A rough estimate of remodeling debris could be obtained by using such a calculation.

The combination of all these factors yielded a total of 2.8 pounds per capita per day (pcd) for all C&D debris, not including roadway and bridge construction/demolition or land clearing debris. This could be used as a check on the numbers calculated above.

Historical Analysis. A check and comparison of data projections are analyses of historical data in the area. Data may be obtained from existing waste haulers, recyclers, landfill operators, and regulators of those operations. Historical data should be compared to economic data for the community to determine if the economy was comparable during the past several years compared to local economic projections for the future.

Once an estimate has been made of the amount of C&D debris that is projected for the future, then the plan can assess the need for additional collection and processing capabilities in the area.

Step 2: Collection Analysis

The second step is an evaluation of the collection infrastructure. If a waste hauler collects C&D debris on an exclusive basis, that hauler should have much of the data needed to evaluate current operations and assess future needs. If multiple haulers collect C&D debris on an open competitive basis, a local government may need to contact each of the haulers to obtain the data desired, possibly on a confidential basis.

Information should be obtained from C&D waste haulers on the equipment and services they have available and the rates for those services. A survey could be sent to haulers serving your area requesting the following information:

• Types of trucks available (for example, front loaders, rolloffs).
• Types of containers available (for example, 1- 2- and 3-cubic-yard bins and 10-, 20-, 30-, and 40-cubic-yard debris boxes).
• Rates for collection, based on size of container and frequency.

Conditions of rates (for example, whether there are base tonnages assumed per box, and more weight is done for a surcharge, or whether collection charges on a volume basis are separate from disposal fees on a weight basis).

In addition, similar information should be obtained from independent and franchised haulers serving other cities within a 25 to 50-mile radius to compare the costs of service and the structure and types of services available. The comparative analysis should provide sufficient information to gauge the full range of services needed or desired in the area.

Also, as part of the collection analysis, similar information should be obtained from reuse, recycling, and composting businesses in the area. There are many types of businesses that reuse, recycle, or compost source-separated or mixed C&D debris.

Recyclers generally fall into the following categories:

• General
• Asphalt
• Concrete
• Brick
• Appliances
• Flooring
• Wood
• Drywall/Sheetrock
• Metal
• Paint
• Plastic
• Other

A statewide listing of C&D recyclers, processors, and receivers is included on the CIWMB Web site at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/ConDemo/Recyclers/. In addition, in a few communities, there are other businesses that specialize in deconstructing buildings, taking them apart by hand to preserve materials to be used again for their original purpose (for example, lumber, doors, windows, and plumbing fixtures).

Other businesses also are involved in salvaging or reuse activities. Often these can be found by looking in the Yellow Pages. Deconstruction contractors usually advertise under “demolition contractors” and include references in advertisements to “hand wrecking,” “selective demolition” or “used building materials.” Some of these may also be found in reuse and recycling guides prepared by other nearby local governments, particularly by the larger cities in the area.

For reuse, recycling, and composting companies, questions should also include:

• Is there a fee for services provided? Is there a payment for the sale of recycled materials?
• Is there a minimum quantity of materials to be collected?

Are there specifications for the amount of contamination allowed? What happens if there is more contamination?

A review of the types of mixed C&D recycling businesses available within a reasonable distance of your community is also important. This could determine which of the tools and strategies you choose to ensure the maximum waste diversion from C&D wastes.

In addition to talking to service providers, it is helpful to contact a representative sample of different types of C&D waste generators—including major businesses—contractors, developers, and public agencies involved in construction and demolition activities.

A review of city contracts, ordinances, and permits related to C&D collection and processing activities is also important to understanding the existing collection system.

Step 3: Evaluation of Tools and Strategies

Once you obtain background information for your area, you should evaluate the tools and strategies noted above. The full range of options noted above should be presented to key stakeholders and decision-makers for their review and comments on the best approaches to implement in your area. You may want to obtain more detailed background information from one or more of the sources referenced above, either by downloading information from the CIWMB Web site or by contacting other communities directly to obtain their firsthand comments on what worked best for them.

The analysis of the most appropriate options is primarily based on your availability of staff resources, an understanding of local economic conditions, and an assessment of local political realities. The more involved the requirements, the more staff time necessary to review, monitor, and enforce those requirements.

Establishing the “threshold level” for your community depends on local economic conditions and how much C&D material is created by different types of projects. High thresholds are appropriate if most of the C&D work anticipated is from commercial, institutional, and industrial projects. A lower threshold—but simpler—process is more appropriate if the majority of C&D debris anticipated will be from individual homeowners and small commercial business remodeling projects.

Finally, you may find it easiest to establish requirements on city projects only. Or you may find that stakeholders and decision-makers don’t mind these extra requirements being imposed on them, if they understand the need for them and know that they will be implemented fairly and with the minimum of red tape.

Step 4: Recommendations, Budget, and Timeline

Once you have identified which of the tools and strategies will work best for your community, they should be drafted in a coherent, clear plan for adoption by local decision-makers. The recommended plan should be presented with a budget and timeline for implementation. The budget should provide sufficient resources for education and training of involved city staff and all the stakeholders who were involved in the planning process. The timeline should outline particularly what will happen in the first year, because during that time many details may need to be addressed for a smooth implementation.

The city council, board of supervisors, or the city manager/county executive could adopt the plan. Regardless of how the plan is adopted, many of the requirements of the plan will require one or more ordinances to implement. Once adopted, local staff should inform all those who are affected about the new program and offer training materials and presentations to ensure a good understanding of all facets of the program.

Table of Contents | Next Section

Last updated: October 26, 2007