C&D News

MANUAL HELPS BUILDERS REDUCE AND RECYCLE

A new manual has been produced to help architects and engineers specify waste reduction, reuse and recycling measures before construction projects begin. The manual, entitled WasteSpec: Model Specifications for Construction Waste Reduction, Reuse and Recycling, was developed by the Triangle J Council of Governments, Research Triangle Park, N.C.

A construction specification contains the details on how a construction project is to proceed. As corporations and public agencies look for more ways to cut costs and demonstrate environmental responsibility, there is a need to direct contractors and subcontractors to implement waste reduction and recycling measures.

Until now, writers of construction specifications have been on their own in drafting appropriate language addressing waste reduction and recycling. WasteSpec responds to this need by providing model language addressing all phases of a construction project.

The 114-page manual includes appendices with information for bidders on how to estimate recyclable waste, a sample waste management plan, a checklist of 135 materials and items typically contained in demolished buildings and resources for further information on “green” building.

The manual is available complete with a computer disk containing model specifications from the Triangle J Council of Governments at (929) 549-0551.

CELLULOSE WASTE-BASED MATERIALS STUDIED BY ILSR

In a new study entitled A New Industry Emerges: Making Construction Materials From Cellulosic Wastes, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Washington, documents the growth of a new industry – the manufacture of construction materials from cellulosic wastes such as waste paper, sawdust, straw and other vegetable fibers.

“The growth rate of this industry is phenomenal,” says author David Lorenz. “Two years ago only one or two companies were producing these products. Based on the present rate of growth, five years from now, the industry may consist of as many as 40 companies employing more than 4,000 people.”

Lorenz attributes expansion of this industrial sector to both environmental and technological changes. “Rising costs of disposal and advances in processing technology combined with the increasing volatility of timber prices are nurturing this new industry.”

ILSR’s report offers the first detailed analysis of the rapidly expanding business of producing panel and board products from plant matter wastes. The study highlights 12 companies that represent the many diverse products and processes that comprise this industry.

In 1994 about 100,000 tons of cellulosic waste were used to make construction products, Lorenz estimates, a figure that could rise to 2 million tons by the year 2000.