A Safe Harbor

The multiple segments of the C&D recycling industry have the opportunity to come together during a fall time slot this year at the C&D Recycling Forum, taking place Oct. 3-5 in downtown Baltimore.

The Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel serves as the host property for a gathering of recyclers, contractors, haulers and industry suppliers at an event being organized by Recycling Today sister publication Construction & Demolition Recycling magazine, the National Demolition Association and Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc.

The C&D Recycling Forum is billed by its organizers as offering solutions for C&D recyclers by “fostering the profitable recycling of C&D material.”

A FULL SCHEDULE

The program for the C&D Recycling Forum begins the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 3, runs all day Monday, Oct. 4, and through the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 5.

During much of that schedule, attendees can choose from two session tracks: one focusing on management and business planning issues and the other on operations and equipment aspects.

Among the sessions in the Operations and Equipment Track are:

• “The Diversion Decision,” which examines the factors that lead haulers and contractors to decide whether to landfill materials or divert them to a recycling destination;
• “The Green Light for Onsite Crushing,” with presenters offering insight into factors that go into the decision to crush concrete and asphalt on site;
• “End Market Innovations,” offering a look at developments markets for materials such as gypsum drywall and asphalt shingles; and
• “Hazards of the Job,” which includes presentations on ways for demo contractors and recyclers to handle asbestos, lead and refrigerants when they are encountered.

“The sessions in our Operations and Equipment Track are designed to let attendees take back ideas and new methods that can increase the profitability of their businesses,” says Jim Keefe, publisher of Construction & Demolition Recycling magazine.

“Managers in the C&D recycling business are hungry for knowledge on operating methods and new techniques—that’s the real meat-and-potatoes of how they can make money in this business,” says Bob Brickner of Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc., based in Fairfax, Va.

GOOD EXAMPLES

The C&D Recycling Forum’s joint plenary sessions and several of its Management and Planning Track sessions offer examples of successful recycling projects and lessons learned from years spent in the business.

The opening session on Tuesday morning, Oct. 5, features a look at two prominent projects and the C&D recycling efforts tied into them.

In “Reaching the Target,” Rob Dorinson of Evergreen Recycling, Las Vegas, provides details of how his company helped the builders of CityCenter recycle considerable volumes of material as they attained LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) status for the $9 billion project. The project’s final score card showed a 95 percent materials recycling rate.

The other case study at this session features Brickner offering an overview of the Nashville Thermal Waste-to-Energy dismantling and recycling project. GBB, which managed the project, says, “98.5 percent, by weight, of all the materials within the old waste-to-energy plant were either salvaged for re-use or processed for recycling, including materials such as crushed concrete aggregate, crushed asphalt, metals and railroad ties.”

Monday’s joint plenary session features Brickner providing a history of the development of the C&D recycling industry, with additional presentations from industry veterans.

Other Management and Planning Track sessions include:

• “The Demolition Impact,” which looks at the ways recycling and materials recovery has changed the way contractors approach the demolition process, from preparing bids through to site cleanup;
• “Taking Time for Salvage and Investment Recovery,” in which panelists discuss techniques, timetables and optimal salvage and investment recovery opportunities available at the start of demolition and renovation projects;
• “The Energy Market: How Great is the Potential?” during which panelists discuss how scrap wood, land clearing debris and other materials have enjoyed steadily growing demand thanks to energy and fuel markets as well as offer their views as to what extent this market will continue to move forward; and
• “Maximizing Metals Markets,” a session at which presenters examine techniques and relationships that can assure contractors and haulers that they are realizing maximum profit potential from the scrap metal stream derived from their projects.

“Like the Operations sessions, this part of the program can also help attendees really think about the profit-and-loss aspects of their businesses that they may lose touch with during the day-to-day rush,” says Keefe.

WITHIN EASY REACH

Keefe and Brickner say that Baltimore was chosen as the host city for the C&D Recycling Forum because it offers an affordable destination with an Inner Harbor location that can also serve as a setting for scenic and enjoyable evening dinners.

From most parts of the country, the city is an easy and inexpensive one to reach. Southwest Airlines operates some 150 flights from 26 gates in and out of Baltimore/Washington International Air- port (BWI) each day.

Baltimore also is within easy driving distance for a large portion of the country, including the heavily populated Eastern Seaboard region from New York to Washington, D.C., where higher landfill fees have helped spur an active C&D recycling market.

The event’s organizers are urging attendees to act soon to register at www.cdrecycler.com/forum to attend and to make a reservation at a discounted rate from the event’s room block at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel.

“We’re excited about how the C&D Recycling Forum is shaping up and we’re looking forward to helping the market come together for a fall event,” according to Keefe.

The author is editor-in-chief of Recycling Today and can be contacted at btaylor@gie.net.