C&D Recycling

Wisconsin Set to Require Recycling of C&D Material on Larger Projects

The state of Wisconsin’s Division of State Facilities will be requiring construction and demolition debris to be recycled rather than landfilled. The new policy covers any construction or demolition project valued at more than $5 million and begins Jan. 1, 2010.

The decision to implement the program came after two Wisconsin agencies and a nonprofit organization showed the effectiveness of recycling C&D debris through a demonstration project.

The pilot project brought together the nonprofit group WasteCap Resource Solutions (formerly WasteCap Wisconsin) with the Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of State Facilities, under a contract with the Department of Natural Resources.

The goal of the project, which began in 2007, was to develop methods, standards and a trained staff to result in successful, measured C&D debris recycling on state projects.

A study performed by the DNR in 2002 found that C&D material made up nearly 30 percent of the municipal solid waste stream, with five of the 10 largest single components of the waste stream found in C&D debris.

Dave Haley, Wisconsin chief architect and deputy director of the state’s Bureau of Architecture and Engineering for the Department of Administration, says, “By any measure, this effort has been a success. Every pilot project exceeded the 50 percent goal, and many of the contractors that recycled on these projects are now recycling on other projects where they are not required to recycle.”

According to Haley, “These projects have an average 84.8 percent recycling rate and have diverted 41,771 tons of material to date—the equivalent of removing 1,500 cars from the road for one year.”