C&D News

MASS. BAN ON C&D TO BE IMPLEMENTED

The Massachusetts ban on disposal, or transfer for disposal, of specific construction and demolition materials will probably be promulgated by October, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It will take effect nine months from the date of its promulgation.

The wording of the ban, which will require all asphalt pavement, brick, concrete, wood, metals and old corrugated containers (OCC) from C&D activities to be diverted from disposal to a recycling center, is generally the same as the final version worked out by the DEP and various stakeholders, according to Ed Coletta, spokesperson for DEP. Those stakeholders included regulators, haulers, recyclers, environmental groups, architects/engineers, contractors, landfill owners, transfer station owners, trade associations, building owners, consultants, law firms and municipalities.

The stakeholders recommended to the DEP a phase-in ban on the disposal of asphalt pavement, brick, concrete, metal and wood. One of the factors in targeting these specific materials was a determination that recycling and reuse markets exist for each of them, according to James McQuade, regional planner for DEP who oversaw the development of the ban.

William Turley, executive director of the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) and the associate publisher of Construction & Demolition Recycling, sister publication of Recycling Today, says, "The DEP is to be applauded on two fronts here: first, for including industry in the development of the ban. So many states enact regulations like this without industry input, before getting all the facts. Second, this will promote C&D recycling in a state that has a solid infrastructure to make sure this ban works."

Other states have expressed an interest in doing something similar within their borders. But, Turley says, New England in general and Massachusetts in particular are fortunate to have the C&D recycling facilities there to process the materials into products.