C & D News

A construction and demolition recycling facility has opened in Topeka, Kan., according to a report in the Capital-Journal (Topeka, Kan.).

GreenPoint Construction Demolition Processing Center, owned by Brahm Demolition, accepts all types of C&D debris, including shingles, concrete, metals, sheetrock, masonry, carpet, wood and bricks.

The facility was opened to reduce the amount of C&D debris going to the city and county landfills.

GreenPoint received a $150,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment through the Solid Waste Management Competitive Plan Implementation Grant Program, which helped fund equipment for the new facility, according to the report.

GreenPoint Construction Demolition Processing Center is a subsidiary of Bahm Demolition Inc., which also owns and operates Bahm Construction Inc. More information is available at www.greenpointcd.com and at www.bahmdemolition.com.

Phoenix Acquires Crushing Firm

Phoenix Associates Land Syndicate has announced that Southern Concrete Crushing LLC has been acquired and will become part of the growing Phoenix aggregate and mining division.

Paul Alonzo, president and CEO of Phoenix, says, "This acquisition will allow Phoenix to move into the huge demolition market along the Gulf Coast. Phoenix will now have its own concrete crushing facility for reprocessing and recycling demolished concrete from roads, bridges, etc.

"Additionally, Phoenix will have mobile crushing and screening capabilities. With this acquisition our company now holds one of the largest stock piles (5.5 million tons) of material of this type available along the Gulf Coast, with estimated resale value of this material between $10-$21 per ton depending on which product is supplied," according to Alonzo.

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is calling for all construction projects that involve more than 30 days or 500 person days of construction to plan and implement a site waste management plan (SWMP). The CIOB says that creating this would encourage more efficient use of materials as well as reduce waste. The proposed threshold also provides consistency with notified projects under the new construction regulations, thereby minimizing additional red tape.

The construction industry generates 109 million metric tons of material yearly, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says.

Michael Brown, CIOB deputy chief executive, says, "As an industry we can’t just rely on construction companies with an ethical approach to the environment to take up the slack for those that show little concern for the use and misuse of our resources. We need a change of behavior that requires everyone to reduce waste. Without the appropriate regulation and teeth, we fear that SWMPs will only be used by larger operators who have an interest in environmental issues."

Brown adds, "If SWMPs are made mandatory, they may result in some additional cost, but given a level playing field this should not affect the competitiveness of the company. There will be opportunities for cost savings in terms of recycling and reuse that would help offset any costs incurred."

The CIOB has submitted that principal contractors should be responsible for preparing and implementing a SWMP; recognizing that they can delegate this responsibility if appropriate.

Dallas Contracting Co. Inc., South Plainfield, N.J., has completed the demolition of the former Penick facility in Newark, N.J.

The plant demolition is part of a larger redevelopment of the site, according to a press release from Dallas Contracting.

The former plant was a contract manufacturer of controlled active pharma ingredients. The company produced a variety of inorganic chemicals, especially bismuth salts, several products via chemical synthesis or fermentation and a full range of opiate narcotics. Its main products were codeine and morphine.

The site consisted of more than 30 multi-story buildings and structures and a parking lot. The buildings totaled more than 250,000 square feet. As the plant had been added to and modified over the years, the buildings were an eclectic collection of building materials. Some buildings were comprised of large wood beams, with concrete floors and brick walls, whereas other buildings were built using concrete-encased steel beams and heavily reinforced walls and floors.

To offset the cost of the project for the client, Dallas Contracting carefully dismantled several of the wood beam construction buildings, resulting in nearly 100,000 board feet of salvaged wood materials. Additional cost savings came from Dallas’s ability to salvage and sell used equipment.

Ze-gen Inc., a clean energy company providing gasification technology to convert waste streams into synthetic natural gas and low emissions electrical energy, has opened a demonstration facility in New Bedford, Mass.

The company hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony July 23. The facility is located at New Bedford Waste Services LLC (NBWS).

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Boston, awarded Ze-gen with operational permits at the end of 2006. Those permits allow the demonstration plant to operate for 12 months.

This limited time operation will allow Ze-gen to collect data on the system and the resulting synthetic gas needed to design a full-scale facility, which the company would like to locate in New Bedford.

NBWS’ facility has been site assigned by the city of New Bedford and permitted by the DEP to handle, process and transfer up to 1,500 tons of C&D material, municipal solid waste and scrap tires per day.

More information is available at www.ze-gen.com.