This is the second article detailing the Northwest Service Center, a new vehicle maintenance center for the City of Dallas. Situated on a 17 acre Brownfield site, construction began April 2005, and is slated for completion Spring 2006. The Northwest Service Center has the goal of achieving LEED silver status.

A large majority of materials on a construction site can be recycled in one form or another. Construction and Demolition (C&D) materials make up approximately one-fourth of the waste stream in North America.  Per the TCEQ publication AS-187, published December 2004, “In 2003, construction and demolition waste in Texas, created 5,406,766 tons or 19% of waste in the landfill.” 

Recycling can be defined in various ways, but it all comes down to one simple word: REUSE. Simply put, recycling is a process a material goes through. It may be a series of changes, treatments or process’ to regain the material back to some form for reuse. As mentioned in a previous article, the construction industry must start re-thinking our construction waste management strategies. The City of Dallas , Northwest Service Center ’s General Contractor, Mitchell Enterprises, Ltd., has successfully implemented a highly stringent C&D waste management plan. This plan would not be as successful without the participation from the owner, architect, consultants, the Waste Management’s construction sales representative, the Construction Waste Management’s construction sales representative, the general contractor, and sub contractors.

The City of Dallas Northwest Service Center is currently sixty-five percent complete with construction and has not taken one load of trash to the landfill. The majority of the materials are being recycled or reused. There is one dumpster on the project site for general materials that cannot be recycled. Once this dumpster is full, it will be taken to the Waste Management Landfill in Lewisville , where the emitted methane gasses will be captured and used for energy.

The following facility information has been provided by Brenda Fritcher of Waste Management: “Landfill gas recovery is the ultimate in recycling.  It turns garbage into a high value energy product.  Because landfill gas is generated continuously, it provides a reliable fuel for electric generation.  Landfill gas produces full power for 90 to 95 percent of the year - a level higher than most fossil fuel & nuclear power plants.  Harnessing this energy source extends the availability of non-renewable sources, reduces the amount of greenhouse gases benefiting both the community & the environment. The Gas Recovery Power Plant at Waste Managements DFW landfill has been producing "green energy" for the community since 1988.  The Gas recovery Plant runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  The facility generates approximately 32,700,000 Kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.” For more information on Waste Management’s Landfill Gas Recovery Power Plant call 972-315-5450.  

TO DATE WE HAVE RECYCLED:

• 2,281 tons of CONCRETE

• 3,956 tons of EXCAVATED SPOILS

• 8,142 tons of ASPHALT

• 4 tons of LIGHT POLE MATERIAL

• 1 ton of CARDBOARD/PAPER

• 542 pounds of PLASTIC

• 225 pounds of ALUMINUM

• 21 tons of WOOD

• 1,500 pounds of TREES/BRUSH/SHRUBS

• 7 tons of STEEL

• 3 tons of WOOD PALLETS RETURNED TO MANUFACTURERS

The items recycled are equal to 14,417.864 tons or 99.65% of C&D materials diverted from the local landfill! Not only did we divert this material from the landfill, but we also helped improve our local environment. As a result of recycling the above items this is equivalent in Greenhouse Gas Emissions to removing fifty passenger cars from the roadway each year, as well as being equivalent to one of the following in energy use: 30 households’ annual energy consumption, 976 Barrels of Oil, or 45,240 Gallons of Gasoline. The EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) software program is available for a free download to assist in calculating these reductions.

Did you know that recycling 1 ton of plastic (PET) saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space & can save 1000-2000 gallons of gas? Energy saved by recycling 1 aluminum can will run a TV for 3 hours and can save the energy equivalent to one cup of gasoline. Recycling aluminum reduces air pollution by 95%   Recycling Steel reduces air pollution by 86%  Recycling Steel reduces water pollution by 76%

Lately the most frequent question at the job site has been “Are you spending more money recycling compared to hauling to the landfill?” Honestly, yes we are. The increase in expense is caused by the lack of companies providing single stream recycling.  It is very difficult to locate facilities that will take a large majority of the C&D items and there are only a couple local municipalities offering these services. Single Stream Recycling Service would become available if we contributed to creating a larger demand.

CMU and gypsum wallboard are two items often landfilled.  Since the majority of facilities offering recycling for these two items are difficult to locate, we must look at alternative options. One is the option of crushing on site and reusing the CMU as a base material and the gypsum wallboard in landscape areas. The other option is to deliver it to a facility well over an hour from the DFW area. What is the most sustainable option? It is obviously to crush and reuse.  However, if the project specifications do not include this option, the general contractor is left with two not-so-environmentally-friendly options: 1) hauling the material to the nearest landfill or 2) hauling the material to a facility over an hour away.  These two options also create transportation emission environmental questions.

We must also address Demolition at the local level. The rubble from demo work is a mixture of several materials and there is no easy method for sorting these items. Actually, it is almost impossible to sort these materials. Therefore, most general contractors favor the idea of hauling them to the nearest landfill. This is not sustainable, nor the correct practice in this day and age of a society moving in the sustainable direction. Demolition materials must be addressed early in the design stages to incorporate all options, including alternatives.

The construction industry must work together with local municipalities to implement a plan for sustainable C&D means and methods. If this is not addressed soon, the industry will be taking multiple steps backwards in its progress.  The City of Dallas, TCEQ and EPA, all have information on their web sites locating facilities accepting several C&D items.  The largest disadvantage has been the lack of readily available updated contact information for these facilities.  The C&D coordinator will need a large amount of time for research prior to starting any C&D activities. While composing the C&D plan, it is advisable to identify all materials and where they will be taken for proper disposal. Most C&D plans include the basic materials, but fail to identify the items difficult to recycle. The majority of C&D plans fail to include such items as roofing insulation, tar paper, and sealant containers, to name a few.  As we are aware, C&D recycling is not the highest priority at most construction sites and the project budget seldom includes funds or time to build a C&D detailed plan. “I cannot express the extreme importance of coordinating, educating and communicating all aspects of the C&D action plan items, starting with the design phases and working through the entire construction process.”  

Rachael Green, LEED AP, is a licensed interior designer with 13 years of design and construction experience, the last five of which have involved sustainable design. In addition to being a member of the USGBC North Texas Chapter, Rachael has also provided local training on the LEED rating system. For additional information regarding this article, please contact Rachael Green at rgreen-nwsc@sbcglobal.net. All comments are the sole responsibility of the writer.

This article was originally posted 2/14/06.