MATERIAL RECLAMATION READIES NEW PLANT
A committee reporting to the High Point, N.C., City Council has endorsed a franchise permit for a C&D debris recycling plant to be operated by Material Reclamation of Raleigh (MRR), a company established by the D.H. Griffin Co. of Greensboro, N.C.
According to a report in the Greensboro News-Record, the plant will accept construction and demolition debris from Guilford County and parts of Forsyth County, Randolph County and Davidson County, all in North Carolina. The site will also include a landfill—and must be permitted as a landfill—though the company says it will recycle from 60 percent to 75 percent of the material it accepts.
The city of High Point, which is about 15 miles south of Greensboro, in the fall of 2001 approved the purchase and rezoning of land for MRR to build its landfill and recycling plant.
Since then, MRR says it has already spent about $1.5 million to develop the new site. Tom Terrell, a High Point attorney representing the company, told the newspaper MRR plans to invest up to $6.5 million in the project.
The recycling plant and landfill, which is projected to have a 25-to-40-year lifespan, now have the support of High Point Mayor Arnold Koonce, who says he originally was confused about the company’s recycling process and had concerns about the size of area that would host debris. MRR has since explained its recycling plans to the mayor’s satisfaction.
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FRANCE STUDIES C&D RECYCLING ISSUES |
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With the French government set to oversee the demolition of 15,000 low-rent housing units in 2003, the time is apparently right for that nation to study its C&D waste stream. The French government estimates that contractors generate more than 30 million metric tons of waste and recyclables each calendar year at building sites. "The risks and rewards of sustainable development and the toughening of European legislation will progressively cause manufacturers to recycle as much waste as possible, and to limit the amount to be dumped," predicts a news release from the French Technology Press Office, Chicago. The French Research Center for Building and Construction (CSTB) is developing methods for contractors to both reduce the amount of waste generated and also to anticipate and prepare for recycling opportunities on the jobsite. |
TEXAS-SIZED PILES OF DEBRIS UNDER SCRUTINY
Legislators are urging the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), Austin, to develop rules requiring recyclers to process and sell materials promptly.
The issue returned to the forefront in early July after a pile of asphalt shingles blazed at a Lubbock recycling company. Firefighters from six towns battled 20 acres of burning scrap wood and shingles that had been accumulating for years, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Under current rules, business owners can take in material for speculative accumulation, with no requirements to ship a certain percentage of material taken in during a given time frame.
But a Lubbock-based Texas legislator says the TNRCC needs to clarify the definition of a recycler to prevent stockpiling situations that can lead to eyesores, health hazards and major fires.
"We passed legislation last session that said the TNRCC needs to develop rules about what a recycler is," state Rep. Carl Isett told the Avalanche-Journal. Proposed changes could require recyclers to sell 50 percent to 75 percent of materials received within six months to a year, he said.
"The rules should be (published) in the next couple of weeks," Isett told the newspaper, "and we hope they are adopted in August and become law in January."
It is unclear whether some recycling organizations and companies might oppose such a comprehensive rule, or to what extent such a rule would be enforceable in operations where materials from different shipments are mixed or blended for composting or for cost-effective shipment.
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