REDUCTION OF WASTE AND SUSTAINABILITY

 Of the 20,000 landfills located within the United States, more than 15,000 have reached capacity and closed. Many more are following this pattern each year. Construction-related waste constitutes more than 25 percent of landfill content and equals total municipal garbage waste generated in the United States. As a result of this volume of waste, an increasing number of landfills will not permit, or are charging extra for, the dumping of construction-related waste. In response, recycling of such debris is increasing at the job site. Materials such as gypsum, glass, carpet, aluminum, steel, brick, and disassembled building components can be reused, or, if that is not feasible, recycled.

In addition to construction-waste recycling, the building industry is beginning to achieve significant waste reductions through more building reuse and adaptation, as opposed to demolition. In past decades, the trend has been to raze a building at the end of its first life (assumed to be the “useful” life) and replace it with a new building. With ingenuity, older structures can be successfully renovated into cost-effective and efficient “new” structures. Adaptive reuse of older structures can result in financial savings to both sellers and purchasers. One example is the National Audubon Society headquarters building in New York, the product of a 1993 project that recycled a 100-year-old eight
story building. Conservation of the building’s shell and floors saved approximately 300 tons of steel, 9,000 tons of masonry, and 560 tons of concrete. Audubon estimates a savings of approximately $8 million associated with restoration instead of demolition and new construction.

Portland Trailblazers Rose Garden Arena

Portland,Oregon One of the best examples of the savings potential for recycling of construction-related demolition debris is the Portland Trailblazers Rose Garden Arena, a new 750,000-square-foot stadium built in Portland, Oregon, in 1995. In demolishing the old stadium and an adjacent facility, the project contractor, Turner Construction Company, was able to divert successfully from the landfill the majority of the construction and demolition debris including 1,300 tons of wood, 1,000 tons of metal, and 29 tons of cardboard through reuse and recycling. In addition, the contractor diverted large quantities of gypsum wallboard, site-clearing debris, concrete, and asphalt. For a recycling cost of only $19,000, the contractor avoided an estimated $166,000 in landfill costs. Rebates totaling $39,000 were received from third party vendors for the metal and cardboard. The resulting net savings from the project for the full recycling effort was approximately $186,000.