C&D News

RECYCLING AMONG CONEXPO TOPICS

More than 80 seminars will be presented as part of the ConExpo-Con/Agg event in March, with several of them focusing on recycling.

Among the recycling topics offered at ConExpo are:

• "What’s Happening in
Concrete and Asphalt Re
cycling"

• "Money in the Dumpster: Recy-
cling at Construction Sites"

• "Recycled Asphalt Shingle Use in
Hot Mix Asphalt."

ConExpo’s seminar schedule runs from Tues., March 19 to Thurs., March 21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In addition to the recycling seminars presented as part of the trade show, the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) will also be presenting sessions as part of its annual meeting, to be held at the Treasure Island resort in Las Vegas.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers will also be conducting focus groups involving heavy equipment manufacturers and their customers on how equipment buyers want to do business with manufacturers.

ConExpo-Con/Agg, which is held every three years in Las Vegas, is billed by its organizers as the Western Hemisphere’s largest construction and construction materials exposition.

PARKING GARAGE MOVED AND RE-USED

In an impressive logistical feat, Spectrum Development Group and subcontractors working with the Eagan, Minn., company moved and re-used a 300,000 square feet parking garage.

The nine-year-old parking deck, formerly located at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, was initially scheduled for demolition. "It seemed like an incredible waste to us to demolish this concrete," notes Spectrum vice president Charlie Henrich. "And due to the nature of the pre-stressed concrete, it can be re-used; it doesn’t age. The economics work, so why not?"

The structure was disassembled and moved piece-by-piece four miles away to a 20-acre site near Interstate 494. Spectrum used the individual sections—which on average weighed 29 tons and measured 60 feet by 10 feet—to construct a second level parking area for a new office facility.

Those involved in the project believe it to be the largest re-use of an existing structure in Minnesota, and perhaps the U.S.

Regulators Threaten C&D Recyclers

Recyclers of C&D materials in both California and Texas are working to overturn or stave off laws that could threaten their businesses.

Legislators in Texas have passed a bill banning the high-output operation of several types of portable crushing plants within one quarter-mile of any homes, churches or schools. "In essence, that kills portable crushing in Texas," says Leonard Cherry, the owner of a Houston-based demolition and recycling company and current president of the National Association of Demolition Contractors (NADC).

The NADC, the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) and other groups are trying to work with state regulators to develop "more common sense rules," in the words of CMRA executive director William Turley.

Critics of the Texas legislation are pointing to a suspicious loophole: owners of licensed landfills and transfer stations are exempt from the ban, leading one observer to comment, "It sounds like the legislation was tailored by the solid waste industry."

The Texas law also imposes stricter rules on mixed C&D recyclers, including a tougher permitting process.

Troubling proposals are also facing C&D recyclers in California, where the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) is developing new regulations for C&D recyclers.

Much of the increased regulation there is focusing on mixed C&D processors, where larger processors of materials may soon have to acquire solid waste permits, which are more expensive and difficult to obtain. There is also concern that the new regulations, as written, would require C&D recyclers to landfill many loads rather than process them and remove contaminants.

As in Texas, recyclers in California believe the push for the new regulations is coming from the solid waste industry, which sees the growing C&D recycling industry as one that is diverting material (and revenue) from the solid waste stream.

"C&D recyclers in both states are rumbling that many of the distasteful parts of the mixed waste regulations are being pushed by the big waste companies, who are beginning to realize C&D recycling is here to stay," says the CMRA’s Turley. "So now, some say, they are trying to control the business through regulations that favor their positions in the industry."