Allied Waste Opens New C&D Facility
Allied Waste Services has opened its newest C&D facility in Chicago. The $8 million facility has the capacity to process up to 1,500 tons of recyclables per day.
"This facility exemplifies Allied’s commitment and leadership as the region’s largest recycler by offering communities and businesses economically sustainable recycling options," Bob Kalebich, general manager of MRFs and transfer stations, says. "The facility’s state-of-the-art equipment can accept almost all types of C&D debris and recover 90 percent of all recyclable material."
Designed specifically to accept commingled loads, Allied employs both mechanical and manual sorting in its process, designed to provide the highest recovery rate possible. The facility can process C&D materials generated during the construction, renovation and demolition of buildings, roads and bridges. Most construction scrap is wood, drywall, metals, concrete/dirt and cardboard.
"As LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council becomes more and more a standard in new construction, builders and developers can rely on a successful C&D recycling program to gain two out of 13 points awarded by the USGBC in the Materials and Resources category," Kalebich says. "The growing demand for building green requires a convenient, easy and cost competitive service for recycling C&D."
Massachusetts Recycler Files Suit Against New Hampshire C&D Burning Ban
New England Recycling (NER), a Taunton, Mass.-based mixed C&D recycling company, has filed a lawsuit against the state of New Hampshire over its laws that prevent burning C&D material.
The suit was filed Sept. 12 by NER and the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) Issues & Education Fund, the advocacy arm of the CMRA, Eola, Ill. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Concord against the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Service Commissioner Thomas Burack and Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, claiming they are enforcing unconstitutional legislation.
The suit claims that the ban effectively stops the import of fuels derived from C&D material, in violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which reserves the right to regulate interstate commerce to the federal government, according to attorney Lee Blais of the Mansfield, Mass.-based firm Blais & Parent.
The laws at the center of the suit began as temporary moratoriums on the burning of wood fuel derived from mixed C&D material that began in 2005. A permanent ban on the burning of C&D material was signed into law by New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch in 2007. The suit claims these laws restrict interstate commerce by effectively impeding the importation of fuel derived from C&D material for the "protection of the failing New Hampshire virgin wood industry" and "keeping New Hampshire from becoming the ‘dumping ground’ of the Northeast."
The suit also claims the logic behind banning the material over environmental concerns is flawed, maintaining that C&D fuel can be burned safely. The suit cites studies conducted by the Environmental Research Group of the University of New Hampshire that concluded C&D fuel can be burned safety.
"The University of New Hampshire studied the C&D issue and came out with research that demonstrated there was no negative environmental impact," Blais says. "This fear is totally misplaced."
Explore the November 2008 Issue
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