"Innovations" Case Studies: Mixed C&D Processors
Analysis and Costs of Mixed C & D Services
Analysis of Mixed C&D Services
The following is a summary of the range of services that are available for hauling and processing mixed loads of C&D materials based on the facilities noted above.
Hauling Services
Many of the companies highlighted above also provide hauling services for construction and demolition debris. Mixed C&D loads are taken back to processing yards for sorting out recyclable materials. Materials sorted include wood, gypsum drywall, scrap metals, mixed C&D materials (for example, brick, wood, metal and/or concrete combinations) and salvageable items. One company estimates that about 50 percent of the loads it pulls are taken to its yard, and the recovery rate from those loads is about 60 percent. Two companies accept fully mixed loads of C&D materials at their sites, from both private haulers and from their own hauling operations.
In some cases, companies haul source-separated materials (for example, concrete, wood, or scrap metal) directly to recycling processors. Contractors are required to place separated loads in trucks or rolloff bins and keep them free of other materials so that they can be accepted at the recycling center. Most of these companies are interested in subcontracting C&D recycling services with local haulers, where appropriate. Some stated that lower rates could be negotiated if a local hauler established a regular account with their company.
Processing
Most companies process fully mixed loads of C&D materials at their sites, using a combination of manual labor (sorting from the floor), front-end loaders or excavators with grapplers, and high-capacity mechanical processing systems. Each facility varies in terms of how much hand labor and equipment they use. In addition, facilities may have grinders or bring in crushers.
The companies take in loads from their own vehicles as well as accepting all types of source-separated and mixed C&D loads from other haulers for a per-ton tip fee. Many of these facilities are easily accessible. The Sun Valley facilities are all directly off Interstate 5 in Los Angeles. Zanker is directly off Route 237 in the heart of Silicon Valley in San Jose.
Recycling Rates
Diversion rates vary by company, by use of manual or mechanical processes, by source-separated versus mixed debris processing, and by materials handled. Processing Zanker’s source-separated materials such as concrete, asphalt, and wood may achieve as high as a 100 percent recycling rate because the facility only accepts clean materials.
Mixed debris processing can vary from 10 percent, when manual labor is used, to 95 percent, when high capacity equipment is used. Facilities vary on the degree to which they are able to provide auditable documentation of their recycling rates for loads processed, particularly for mixed debris processing. Estimated recycling rates from companies are difficult to use for substantiating IWMA diversion.
Comparative Costs at Mixed C&D Debris Centers
At facilities that accept mixed debris loads, tipping costs may be equal to or lower than landfills, depending on the load and the location. High-volume prices would assure a lower tipping fee at these centers. Tipping fees for clean source-separated loads are much lower for materials such as concrete, asphalt, wood, and green waste. For example, the disposal fee at the Bradley Landfill-recycling center is $34 per ton, but its recycling facility accepts clean wood loads for as low as $20 per ton.
Company End Products
One of the important features of both source-separated and mixed debris processors is that they produce recycled end products rather than merely landfilling materials. These products include recycled road base produced from crushed concrete and asphalt, soil amendments and compost material produced from recycled wood, and scrap metal. In addition, used building materials and architectural salvage create other important opportunities for reuse, particularly from dismantling and “decon-struction” projects. New markets are also developing for gypsum drywall, used carpeting, and other C&D debris.
Clearly, C&D debris need no longer be landfilled or taken to transfer stations where mixed C&D debris processing facilities exist. In fact, around the nation, C&D recyclers are increasingly reporting 80 to 95 percent diversion rates from C&D processing facilities. In some areas of California, facilities are available for haulers to achieve those levels of diversion. Several facilities are working to expand their mixed C&D processing capabilities. This is due to the tremendous opportunities that recycling mixed C&D present in helping to meet IWMA diversion goals.
Examples (summaries) of Mixed C&D Processors
Bradley Landfill and Recycling Center
Bradley Landfill and Recycling Center is a fully permitted Class III landfill in Sun Valley owned and operated by Waste Management, Inc. In addition to disposal operations for all non-hazardous solid waste, it has a new mixed C&D operation located in a separate area from its disposal area. Incoming trucks with recyclable materials have the option of driving up to the recycling areas with their materials, which results in cost savings to the hauler.
The Bradley center contains two recycling areas. The first is for clean wood and green materials (ground in a tub grinder for soil amendments), chipped wood for particle board, and biofuel. The other area is for “dirty” mixed loads of wood roofing materials with large amounts of contaminants and tarpaper. These materials are processed by a high-capacity horizontal grinder and used for daily cover or erosion control on slopes. Inert materials are also crushed for use as daily cover or infill for Bradley’s inert disposal portion of the site (which has a mine reclamation plan for closure).
Bradley is planning to expand its mixed C&D programs in 2000 and, and the company sees this as a major opportunity for helping cities meet their diversion goals. Bradley asserts that it’s cheaper to recycle C&D materials than to dispose of them and that all uses comply with IWMA requirements. Bradley counts all materials processed at the recycling area site as recycled, including alternative daily cover (ADC), slope application, and inert fill.
Materials recycled include concrete, rock, asphalt, scrap wood, scrap metal, bricks, tree trimmings, yard trimmings, drywall, inert materials, roofing materials, clean soils, asphalt chunks and asphalt grindings, and concrete with limited rebar.
Community Recycling & Resource Recovery
Community Recycling began operations in 1974 as a permitted transfer station. The company has since expanded its Sun Valley operations to include a mixed waste processing facility, recycling facilities for source-separated commodities such as paper, wood, yard trimmings, and supermarket produce, a mixed construction and demolition processing facility, and a fully permitted compost facility in Lamont, Calif. Community Recycling also owns and operates farmland near its compost site in Lamont.
Community Recycling owns three recycling operations in Sun Valley, Calif. The Sun Valley location covers 14 acres. The total current amount of material processed, including all activities, is between 3,000 and 3,500 tons per day. Additional capacity is being developed.
One facility sorts materials from mixed construction and demolition debris using both manual and mechanical processing systems. It takes in loads from its own vehicles and it accepts all types of mixed C&D debris from other haulers for a per-ton tip fee.
Community Recycling began its mixed C&D processing operations in the wake of the Northridge Earthquake. The company set up recycling operations to process mixed earthquake debris and were able to achieve an average recovery rate of 84 percent diversion.
Since that impressive start, Community Recycling currently processes about 500 to 700 tons per day of C&D debris, and it has a capacity of about 1,000 tons per day. The facility has purchased a state-of-the-art European mechanical system that will be operating soon on the same property. This system will increase its capabilities to accept more than 2,000 tons per day. The new system will also yield higher diversion rates and higher quality end products.
Tip fees for regular customers are comparable to area transfer stations. The facility can guarantee an average of 75 to 80 percent diversion-documented monthly through a computerized reporting system-from fully mixed C&D loads. In 1999 the average facility wide diversion rate was 88 percent. Loads are weighed in at the gate, and the monthly reporting system has been accepted by both local and State agencies.
Community Recycling will accept transfer trailer loads as well as any size smaller vehicle or bin. The facility accepts loads on a 24-hour basis, 7 days a week, making it convenient for haulers battling the traffic in the Los Angeles region. Community Recycling is also in the process of opening a new C&D facility on the Carson/Long Beach border. The company will transfer loads for processing at the Sun Valley location. Rate schedules will be competitive with current area disposal tipping fees for rolloff loads. All loads delivered to Sun Valley and the new Carson/Long Beach facility are weighed in and a written diversion report provided monthly with invoices to customers upon request.
Community Recycling also serves the Los Angeles movie industry and related attractions. Studios with excellent source-separation programs use the company’s services to further divert materials from mixed loads. Community recycling is currently providing services to Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, and DreamWorks SKG Animation Studio in Glendale.
Community Recycling has recently collaborated on a pilot program to recycle municipal street sweepings in the City of Long Beach. That pilot program resulted in a diversion rate of 97 percent for all the street sweepings. The program is now being offered throughout the Los Angeles County area and now includes the cities of Carson, Santa Monica, and portions of Los Angeles and Glendale. A pilot program to recycle beach debris in Santa Monica is also being undertaken.
Community Recycling also recycles street sweepings, mixed public works debris, and bulky waste from special residential and alley and lot cleanups. Diversion rates average about 60 to 75 percent for mixed public works and bulky waste loads. These types of recycling activities are included in the company’s C&D processing operations.
Materials separated from mixed C&D debris for recycling at this location include asphalt, cardboard, concrete, concrete and clay roofing tiles, brick, plaster, gypsum, wood, yard waste, metals, and dirt.
Looney Bins
Looney Bins is a hauling service in the Los Angeles area. It services movie studios and construction and demolition accounts, many of which are tenant improvements.
Looney Bins takes mixed loads to its yard in Sun Valley for sorting when the loads have enough recyclable materials. About 50 percent of the mixed loads are taken to the yard for recycling. Looney Bins estimates that the recovery rate of those loads is 60 percent. Most of the C&D loads from which materials are recovered are mixed loads.
Materials recovered at its site include asphalt, concrete, soils, ferrous and some non-ferrous metals, wire, wood, cardboard, and gypsum drywall. The company uses 10-, 20- and 40- cubic yard rolloffs to haul materials. Sometimes it subcontracts to a hauler for low-side semi-end dumps for inert materials such as concrete. Looney Bins weighs incoming bins and reports diversion rates to accounts or municipalities when required or requested.
Zanker Road Landfill
Zanker Road Resource Management Ltd., (ZRRML) is nationally recognized for its landfill, recycling, and composting facilities in San Jose. ZRRML owns and operates three major recycling and composting facilities in the San Jose area. Its primary facility, the Zanker Road Landfill (Zanker) has had a 90 percent overall diversion rate for the past three years. Zanker currently processes and markets yard waste and compost, wood waste, cardboard, gypsum, concrete, clean and mixed demolition debris, metals, and bulky items.
Zanker began its operations in 1985 as a Class III landfill and recycling facility. Over the years, it has developed into a major full-service resource management, composting, and recycling facility, as well as a landfill. The Zanker facility currently receives up to 1,300 tons per day.
Zanker is now expanding its San Jose operations with another facility just for the recycling of construction and demolition debris and wood waste in San Jose. This Zanker Materials Recovery Facility (ZMRF) is the former Owens Corning Landfill, located near the original Zanker Road Landfill. ZMRF has been fully permitted to process up to 1,250 tons per day.
The operation at Zanker began with wood waste processing. This plant accepts clean wood loads and wood separated from mixed loads that is self-hauled by residents and businesses. The wood is ground, screened, then sold as biomass fuel, mulch, and soil amendments. The wood-processing operation will be moved to the ZMRF in the near future.
In 1988, Zanker began its mixed C&D recycling system. Most mixed C&D debris comes from construction and demolition contractors or is self-hauled by residents. Zanker uses a unique “float tank” and screening system designed specifically for these types of materials. Mixed C&D debris is crushed, screened, and fed into the “float tank,” where heavy materials sink and wood floats. Wood is skimmed off the top and combined with other wood recycling operations. Concrete, asphalt, bricks, and mortar are recovered from the bottom of the tank and then separated and processed further into usable materials.
Currently a new C&D recycling facility is being constructed at the ZMRF. After completion of the new facility, the C&D recycling operation at Zanker will be discontinued and all C&D will be processed at the ZMRF.
Zanker also operates a concrete recycling operation. Clean concrete, reinforced concrete, asphalt, bricks, and porcelain-along with concrete materials recovered from the demolition operation-are processed in this recycling operation. Materials received are screened and crushed. A magnetic belt removes steel. Wood, plastics, loose metals, and trash are removed from these materials. The crushed aggregate is screened to 3/4-inch minus and sold as a Class II base rock.
Metals are collected from several areas at the Zanker facility, including the landfill face, the demolition debris recycling plant, and the concrete recycling plant. Bulky goods are also accepted in this area. White goods are checked for CFCs and oil. The items are then dismantled, with the recycled materials being brought to the proper area at Zanker for processing and transport to market.
Yard waste received at Zanker is screened and fully composted. The composting process is approximately 12 weeks; the finished materials are then screened to remove wood and rocks. The finished compost is uniform in size and sold directly to landscapers and contractors. Additional materials recycled at Zanker and ZMRF are gypsum wallboard, asphalt roofing, wood shingle roofing, and Nylon 6 carpeting.
The material produced from the C&D processing is sold mostly to construction and paving contractors as Class II aggregate and engineered fill. Wood is sold as biomass fuel and soil amendments. Metals are separated and sold by categories, including tin, #2 unprepared steel, copper, brass, and aluminum.
Comparative Costs at Mixed C&D Debris Centers
There may be an additional cost in some cases to recycle mixed C&D at reuse, recycling, or composting facilities when compared to local landfilling options. However, if C&D costs are considered on a project basis, increased costs for mixed C&D processing may be offset through savings from the recycling of other C&D materials (for example, clean concrete and scrap metal).
High-volume prices would assure lower tipping fees. Tipping fees for clean source-separated loads are much lower for materials such as concrete, asphalt, wood, and green waste.
Communities could require their franchised haulers to use mixed C&D processing facilities, if they are available, and include whatever additional cost there may be as an “allowable cost” in the next rate review process.
From the descriptions of mixed C&D debris processing options, it is clear that C&D debris could be recycled at rates between 80 to 95 percent with the proper combination of facilities in an area. Facilities in some areas of the state are now available for haulers to achieve those levels of diversion. Some of these facilities are also working to expand their mixed C&D processing capabilities.
In other areas, communities may be able to help local businesses develop local facilities. They could attract one of the existing mixed C&D recyclers highlighted in this model study to expand to their area. When communities consider the risk of $10,000 per day fines under the IWMA, it makes sense to maximize the amount of materials diverted from C&D.
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