As the new year unfolds, one common theme I’ve heard from producers and equipment suppliers alike is the industry’s trend toward reaping the benefits of recycled materials. While certainly not a new concept, the recycled materials market is undoubtedly growing.
The impetus for this trend is likely two-fold: Producers and contractors were forced to adapt operations during a difficult stretch in which, simultaneously, the industry pushed for even more of an emphasis on sustainability.
“I think the [recycled materials market] is going to be the biggest grower because we’re running out of places to put this stuff,” says Sean O’Leary, North American CustomCare manager at CDE. “When you get into the recycling aspect of it, not only are you producing material, but you’re being paid to get it.”
Reasons to recycle
About 500 million tons of recoverable construction and demolition (C&D) materials is generated in the U.S. annually, according to the Construction & Demolition Recycling Association.
If you ask O’Leary, the C&D recycling market is one to keep an eye on in the coming years.
“Construction site waste and demolition, which is more recycling, I think that’s probably the next huge wave,” O’Leary says. “Definitely you’ll see that in your huge urban markets where there’s nowhere to put this stuff anymore.”
Not only do dense urban markets have “a huge issue of where they’re going to put their trash,” as O’Leary says, but the same problem exists for those on an island.
Arist de Wolff, owner of Alakona Corp., a Hawaii-based asphalt and paving maintenance contractor, says maximizing recycled materials is even more of a necessity due to limited resources.
“Sustainability is the key factor,” says de Wolff, whose company is featured on page 16 of this issue. “You would think that people on an island would be more aggressive into researching, testing and using recycled material, but they are hesitant in trying new things.”
While the rewards of recycling may seem obvious to O’Leary and de Wolff, there’s still ambivalence among some in the industry to adapt – even among de Wolff’s neighboring producers and contractors in Hawaii.
“It needs to be pushed more and people need to understand that this is the future,” de Wolff says. “There needs to be recycled material, especially in construction fields where we could save so much natural resources.”
Photo: Portable Plants Staff