ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS OF AMERICA

AGC Members Give Recycling a New Name 1 t’s one thing (and a very good thing at that) to do Thanks for the Memories 2 your part for the environment It’s Not Getting Older, It’s Getting Better 4 by recycling. Recycling news- papersI saves trees. Giving those alu- Recycling Goes High-Tech 7 minum cans and glass bottles

On the Road Again 8 another spin makes for some lonely landfills. Every little bit counts. Back to the Future with Wood 11 Add your recycling efforts to what some Associated General Contractors (AGC) members are All or Nothing 13 doing and you’ll discover a whole lot of recycling CONTENTS going on. The construction industry as a whole re- cycles more material than any other industry. All it takes is one major commercial construction project to generate a good hundred thousand tons of re- Anything our industry can do to help our cyclable debris. Steel, concrete, asphalt and wood are all fair game. New technology, creative “ environment will give a lasting affect for thinking, and concerns for the environment pull to- generations to come. gether to make recycling just another part of the Mark Millich, President” day on construction job sites everywhere. JM Olson Corporation Look around any construction site and you will see Greater Detroit Chapter, Inc. Board of Directors an opportunity to recycle many of the materials around you. More contractors are recycling on-site, saving money on landfill fees, new materials, and even wear and tear on trucks taking waste to the landfill. Construction recycling goes much farther and tackles much larger amounts of material than everyday recycling. AGC MEMBERS GIVE RECYCLING A NEW NAME

RECYCLING JUST MAKES SENSE. • It’s great for the environment. Recycling saves natural resources and reduces waste by as much as 75 percent per construction project.

• It’s cost effective. No landfill fees and fewer expenses for new raw materials. It pays off where any con- struction business feels it most — the bottom line.

• It creates new business. The re- cycling market can produce 10 times more jobs in the industry for the same cost as sending the waste to the landfill.

Read on to find out what an imploding football stadium, an abandoned airport, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a new twist on an old power source have in common.

PAGE 1 THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

ince 1976, Seattle’s Kingdome was ground zero for some of the area’s most exciting professional sports action. Home to both the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Mariners, the Kingdome was where thousands of loyal fans spent many a sunny spring day and crisp Sfall afternoon cheering on their favorite teams.

Nearly every nook and cranny of the Kingdome was put to good use. Stadium furnishings were either donated to local soup kitchens and other nonprofit groups or removed and auctioned off in order to raise money for the King County Parks and Recreation Department. A crew of more than 150 people spent long weeks stripping the roof (which could not be recycled because of adhesives and composite design) and gutting the interior of the building of any materials that would “contaminate” the recycling effort.

After the dust from the explosion settled, an army of massive excava- tors and bulldozers moved in to process the structure. Armed with It took less than 20 seconds for all First and Goal attachments ranging from huge of that to change. The day was breakers and shears to pulverizers March 26, 2000. It was a beauti- Long before the blast, Dallas-based and buckets, this heavy equipment ful Sunday morning. One minute Turner Construction Company, the was used to chew up the rubble the stadium was standing guard Public Stadium Authority, and the into one- to two-foot boulders and over the Seattle skyline, the next it stadium’s owner/operator First and separate incredible amounts of was reduced to a pile of nearly Goal, Inc. had teamed up to put rebar. The steel and rebar was 150,000 tons of rubble. Was it an plans for a rigorous recycling plan loaded into trucks and taken off earthquake? The act of some in motion. Their goal was to site to be processed and recycled. deranged fan? No, it was the well- recycle upwards of 85 – 90 percent The smaller, more manageable planned and successfully executed of the waste generated by the material was sorted with concrete, implosion of the largest enclosed demolition and the new construc- asphalt, and masonry which was space ever attempted. tion of the Washington State Football/Soccer Stadium. combined and ground down to one CASE STUDY FACTS Key Players The Project The Results Turner Construction Public Stadium Demolish Seattle’s 97 percent of the recycled into the Company, one of the Authority, and the Kingdome to make project waste or over new stadium and nation’s largest stadium’s owner/ room for a new a hundred thousand over $3,000,000 general building operator First and exhibition center, tons of wood, was saved in companies and long- Goal, Inc. football/soccer concrete, steel, and materials, time AGC member, stadium, and parking other construction removal, and along with Seattle’s garage. materials were landfill costs.

PAGE 2 A New Twist on Trash Some Facts About Steel... When all was said and done, a total of 128,250 tons of waste was All Steel is Recycled Steel! generated by the stadium project. Long before recycling became the “in” Of this, only 3,420 tons were sent thing to do, recycling was an integral to a landfill. The rest, a remarkable part of the steelmaking process. It 124,830 tons, was either reused in saves energy and natural resources and it lowers the cost of producing the new structures or recycled off- new steel. Concrete and rebar ready to be processed. site. As a result, Turner Construc- tion and its partners were not only Steel… and a half inches minus gravel with able to perform a great service to Strong a rock crusher and screen that had the local community of Seattle and Durable been set up on-site. the surrounding environment, but Stable The Big Crunch also saved a tremendous amount of money — an estimated $3,050,000 The building material of choice for commercial construction. The recycling process itself re- — along the way. sembled a “super-sized” curbside Did You Know… The demolition of the Kingdome recycling program. Turner Con- 1 and construction of the new Wash- Recycling steel: struction provided containers with ington State Football/Soccer • Saves enough energy annually to different labels for workers to Stadium represents a shift in electrically power 18 million deposit certain materials. The homes for an entire year. mentality to more efficient building difference was one of scale. Instead • Saves 2,500 pounds of ore, 1,400 practices that are becoming an of plastic bins, 40 cubic yard pounds of coal and 120 pounds of important focus in the construc- limestone per ton of steel. dumpsters labeled “wood,” “steel,” tion, architecture, and engineering “concrete,” “gypsum/drywall,” and • Accounted for 63 percent of the industries. There’s no two ways total amount of steel used for “trash” were set up in various about it — an environmentally construction projects in 1999. locations around the site. Crews of sound project that cuts construc- Recycled Steel is workers sorted through the rubble tion costs is a good deal all the way Everywhere! and loaded materials into appropri- around. You’ll find recycled steel in: ate containers. • Appliances Since the grade of the new stadium • Bridges had to be raised to accommodate • Cans the higher elevation of the new • Cars & Trucks playing surface, the on-site rock crushing operation proved itself to • Construction equipment be a pivotal part of the recycling • Office equipment • Fire hydrants effort. Much effort and expense The on-site rock crushing operation used in was spared by using the huge Turner’s immense recycling project. • Guard rails supply of gravel (some 90,000 • Residential and commercial tons) processed from recycled gravel About the author: Brian Polis is an as- construction materials at the project site. This strategy sistant superintendent at Turner • Road signs alone saved Seattle’s streets and Construction’s Seattle office. He’s been …and all of them can be recycled over roads upwards of 4,500 trips by assigned to the Stadium and Exhibition and over again! trucks and trailers — easing local Hall/Parking Garage Project since 1999. 1 Steel Recycling Institute. traffic congestion and helping to For more information, contact: maintain air quality, as well as Turner Construction Company cutting construction costs by 221 South King Street eliminating the need to move this Seattle, Washington 98104 material on- and off-site. 206.694.1400 (phone) [email protected] (email) PAGE 3 IT’S NOT GETTING OLDER, IT’S GETTING BETTER

enver’s Stapleton International Airport opened in 1929 and by the time it closed 66 years later it had become one of the busiest airports in the United States. In 1995, it was replaced by the new D state-of-the-art Denver International Airport.

With the new airport built in a ment of Aviation, RMC has six completely different location, years to remove concrete runways Denver officials were left with the and taxiways, averaging 24 inches challenge of revitalizing the mas- thick and covering 975 acres. sive Stapleton Airport complex. Putting this into perspective, that Plans gradually evolved to rede- is the equivalent of recycling nearly velop this valuable land into a 10,000 miles of two-lane road or “city within a city” to include highway. When the dust settles, homes, businesses, educational six million tons of aggregate (con- facilities, and beautiful open space. crete and asphalt) will be recycled, marketed and consumed. Welcome to the World’s Biggest Recycling Project Not Only Does It Work, It’s Better Before that could happen, however, something had to be done with the Products resulting from this opera- existing infrastructure. That’s tion range from sand to where Recycled Materials Com- ‘Staplestone,’ which is large pany, Inc. (RMC) came into the concrete blocks suitable for reten- picture. They were charged with tion walls, barriers, and other the task of cleaning up one of the landscaping projects. Regardless of nation’s largest brownfields and the end size of the recycled aggre- making constructive use of the gate, one truth rings clear, “we materials removed and the land left never want to produce a product RMC donated recycled asphalt from Stapleton behind. we have to apologize for,” Mark to Easter Seals Colorado to pave wheelchair trails at their summer camp as part of the Wachal, president of Recycled Since August 1999, RMC has Colorado Contractors Association’s (CCA) Materials Company, Inc. confirms. Community Project 2000/01. operated at Stapleton under a He recognizes that “many people permit that allows exclusive access consider recycled products ‘used’ and removal rights of on-site or ‘substandard’ which makes aggregates. Under terms of their quality control all the more impor- contract with the Colorado Depart- tant.”

CASE STUDY FACTS Key Players The Project The Results AGC member Removing and a project involving Everything is reused concrete aggregate Recycled Materials recycling concrete roughly the at the “world’s largest that is equal to, or Company, Inc. of runways and equivalent of 10,000 recycling project,” of higher quality Arvada, Colorado. taxiways at the now miles of two-lane including six million than, comparable defunct Stapleton highway. tons of recycled virgin aggregates. International Airport;

PAGE 4 Some Facts About Concrete... Did you know… • Approximately 200 miles of concrete pavement are recycled each year?2 • Approximately 5,996 tons of concrete can be reclaimed from every one mile of concrete pavement with an average thickness?3 • 44 states now use recycled concrete as a road base?4

Recycled Materials Company, Inc., an active member of the Colorado Contractors Association, Inc. (CCA) since Popular uses of large 1976, received CCA’s 1999 Environmental Excellence Award for their Stapleton project. blocks of recycled concrete include: This recycled product is clean, not And the Winner Is…The • Erosion control material contaminated with wood, paper, Environment • Shoreline protection material drywall or other construction/ demolition debris. In fact, studies Everything is reused at the “world’s Primary uses of recycled performed by the Colorado School largest recycling project.” For crushed concrete are: of Mines found that the recycled example, many years ago after • Base material for roads Stapleton Airport had closed, a fall concrete aggregate is equal to or of • Base material for footings and storm downed many trees and higher quality than comparable foundations virgin aggregates. Rick Givan, branches in the Denver area. • Landscaping material RMC Operations Manager, says it Because there was available space best: “We have broken the recycle at Stapleton at that time, the • Drainage material placed around underground pipes barrier. Not only does it work, it’s branches and trees were mulched better.” and stockpiled at the former • Aggregate in new asphalt or airport. RMC is now using by- concrete “Agencies are finally recognizing the product from washing the aggregate performance and use of these and mixing it with those wood Recycled concrete cuts products, and that they are not a chips to produce topsoil amend- costs! lesser quality,” Wachal explains. In ment that will be used in the No transportation fees for hauling fact, as of early 2001, RMC has Stapleton re-development. Wachal used concrete to landfills! Saves supplied recycled products from jokes, “the only things we don’t about $0.15 per ton per mile! Stapleton to the Federal Aviation market on this project are the dust No landfill disposal fees! Saves up Administration (FAA), Colorado and the noise.” to $100 per ton! Department of Transportation (CDOT), the U.S. Army Corps of The benefits of this project are 2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Engineers, and various municipali- numerous. RMC has found a way 3 U.S. Department of Transportation, ties. The primary user of this to utilize what would otherwise Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. become a waste product filling recycled concrete is Aggregate 4 Interagency Working Group on Industries of Colorado which landfills and disposal spaces. Since Industrial Ecology, Materials and Energy already operates a batch plant this operation stays on-site at the Flows. (ready-mix concrete) at Stapleton former airport (the product is and has an asphalt plant in the recycled and stockpiled on-site), works.

PAGE 5 there are minimal hauling costs added to the price of the re- cycled product. Better yet, on-site recycling saves wear on trucks and reduces time workers have to be stuck in traffic. Finally, as Wachal explains, RMC’s project at Stapleton “produces recycled aggregate that saves or extends the life of other aggregates and raw materi- als.” The Future is Now

Members of RMC have been called on to consult for other projects both nationally and internationally. In April 2000, Russian engineers visited the RMC staff at Stapleton in order to apply to operations in Russia what RMC has learned.

In another year, Recycled Mate- rials Co., Inc. staff expect projects such as this to be pretty much routine. They expect ready-mix and asphalt producers to find more uses for the recycled products. Contractors around the country will see new alterna- tives when confronted with a closed military base, warehouse The 16,000-pound weight dropped by RMC’s guillotine breaker makes the initial cracks in concrete or factory center, ship port, or runways averaging 24 inches thick. other recycling “opportunity.”

About the author: Shawna Bohan is director of communications for Colo- rado Contractors Association, Inc.

For more information, contact: Rick Givan, RMC Operations Manager, Recycled Materials Company, says it best: Inc. We have broken the recycle barrier. P.O. Box 1045 Arvada, Colorado 80001-1045 “ Not only does it work, it’s better. 303.431.3701 (phone) ” [email protected] (email)

PAGE 6 RECYCLING GOES HIGH-T ECH

The construction industry has always been challenged by design engineers and end users alike to meet a higher standard of quality and durability. When it comes to pavement, one longtime AGC member is rising to the challenge. Independence Excavating, along with its partner Carron Asphalt Paving, has formed a new company, called Flex Tech Resources, Ltd. devoted solely to providing alternative pavement solutions. This company was formed in response to growing concerns about deteriorating pavements. The goal is to recycle existing pavements in place and produce a stabilized base-course without the added costs of total removal and replacement.

Using a relatively new process known as full depth reclamation (FDR), an existing pavement along with a predetermined portion of Full depth reclamation works by bases capable of withstanding underlying materials is completely utilizing state-of-the-art, high repeated heavy loading in many blended in place to produce a long- horsepower road reclaimers with varying environments. lasting foundation for the new computerized additive systems and Currently many of the advantages pavement surface. FDR conserves new engineering technologies. FDR of the full depth reclamation previous investments of in-situ (in- differs from other methods of process are being realized in the place) materials and resolves the pavement recycling in that the private market and low to medium issue of costly and unfriendly milling drum always penetrates volume traffic roadways. Looking environmental disposal. completely through the asphalt ahead, this may well be the type of section into the underlying base exciting innovation that contrac- layers. This eliminates deep tors and tax-paying citizens can pavement cracking and other use to bring recycling to the sub base problems. FDR also forefront of the construction provides an ideal opportu- industry. nity to add stabilizing agents to further enhance About the author: Nick DiGeronimo is a the characteristics of the project manager for Independence Exca- reclaimed material. vating. Depending on the new sub For more information about in- base design, additives such place recycling, contact: as lime, cement, fly ash, Flex-Tech Resources, Ltd. asphalt emulsions or foamed 7615 Bond Street asphalt can be used. Additional Solon, Ohio 44139 granular material can also be 440.439.1515 (phone) added to improve gradation. This [email protected] (email) process results in strong flexible

PAGE 7 ON THE ROAD AGAIN

uch like other regions of the country, the Salt Lake Valley is quickly depleting its currently permitted aggregate reserves. This is a concern for companies like AGC member Granite Construction Company, and is good cause for taking action toM make the most of available resources. Since recycling asphalt and concrete products minimizes the demand for liquid asphalt and virgin aggregates, and since it is an environmentally safe and structurally sound method of rebuilding roads, it was a foregone conclusion that recycling was the way to go.

For many years now Construction City, Utah; Peter Kiewitt & Sons, former chairman of Utah AGC’s Products Company (CPC), a Inc. of Omaha, Nebraska; and Aggregates Council, “Recycled road subsidiary of Granite Construction, Washington Group International, base was an excellent product for has run a permanent recycling Inc. of Boise, Idaho. The Utah the I-15 project. It provided a facility year-round, including a Department of Transportation strong foundation for the new portable facility that can be moved (UDOT) oversaw the entire highway while making efficient use between plants as needed. Eight project. As it commenced in 1997, of previously processed construc- years ago its doors were opened to it represented the largest public tion materials.” the public as a cost-effective and project ever attempted. environmentally smart alternative Asphalt, a to dumping waste in landfills. naturally The Road to the 2002 environmen- Olympics tally safe product, When Salt Lake City was chosen as makes one of host for the 2002 Winter Olym- the best pics, efforts to get the city ready building moved into high gear. One project materials for involved completely demolishing a highway 17-mile section of Highway I-15 construction. and reconstructing it with several According to new lanes added in each direction, Tom Case, in addition to constructing 140 materials bridges. The I-15 project was a manager for I-15/I-80 Interchange known as the “Spaghetti Bowl.” joint venture involving several Granite’s AGC members — Granite Con- Utah Opera- struction Company of Salt Lake tion and

CASE STUDY FACTS Key Players The Project The Results Granite Construction One of the largest widening 17 miles Over 150,000 tons of Company, Peter Kiewitt public projects ever of interstate highway recycled asphalt and & Sons, Inc., and attempted as of 1997. and building 140 concrete road base Washington Group The project involved new bridges. was used to complete International, Inc. — reconstructing and the project. all AGC members.

PAGE 8 PAGE 9 Some Facts About Asphalt... Did You Know… • Asphalt pavement—including roads, streets, parking lots, and airport runways—is 100% recyclable? • The quality of recycled asphalt pavement is as good, or even better, than brand new pavement, even when recycled the second and third time? • The existing 4 million miles of U.S. roads hold a 270 billion-gallon petroleum reserve?5 Bridge deck construction of the I-15/I-80 Interchange. 3 Good Reasons to Recycle That’s why the I-15 project, which Asphalt to the Rescue Asphalt will be completely finished after 1 Saves money for local governments four years, used over 150,000 tons Asphalt recycling benefits and other purchasers. of recycled asphalt and concrete everyone — whether they Cities, states and counties that road base for the entire project. realize it or not. Before recy- recycle asphalt pavement save taxpayers over $300 million a year. The demand was so great that CPC cling, massive piles of asphalt 2 Conserves resources such as couldn’t recycle it fast enough! chunks would simply be buried at a landfill. Now, advance- natural aggregates and petroleum products. Asphalt Recycling 101 ments in recycling are helping to Recycling asphalt minimizes the save dwindling landfill space. The process of asphalt recycling is demand on sources of oil, a non- Recycling asphalt also saves on fairly simple. It starts when chunks renewable resource. the amount of new liquid of asphalt from demolished high- 3 Protects the environment. asphalt and aggregates needed ways or parking lots are delivered Asphalt is an environmentally safe for producing new asphalt product — so safe, in fact, that it is to an asphalt plant site. There the concrete. This helps preserve used to line water reservoirs and asphalt chunks are crushed, scarce petroleum products and pipes that provide drinking water to screened into usable products, and communities. avoids waste of these precious fed into the asphalt plant in natural resources. Not to Asphalt Never Dies, It Just regulated amounts to ensure that mention that recycling also “Re-Surfaces!” the quality of the new asphalt is as lowers the cost of producing good or better than asphalt without 5 National Asphalt Pavement Association. asphalt products — savings any recycled material. Then it’s 6 Ibid. enjoyed by contractors and time for the good-as-new product to taxpayers alike. hit the road again! About the author: Kristi Brangle is CPC’s recycled asphalt pavement, Being a leader in the recycling an employee of Granite Construction some 100,000 tons of it in the year “ effort is extremely important Company. 2000 alone, is used in all types of to preserving these much- products. It has proven itself a For more information, contact: needed natural resources. high-quality product for use in Granite Construction Company Tom Case, material manager ” everything from parking lots and P.O. Box 30429 for Granite Construction’s roadways to airport runways and Salt Lake City, Utah 84130 Utah Operation and former highways. 801.526.6000 (phone) chairman of Utah AGC’s tcase@granite_net.com (email) Aggregates Council.

PAGE 10 BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH WOOD

ast Tennessee faces the same challenges found elsewhere when it comes to electrical power — namely, limited supplies and rising prices. That’s what made the idea of constructing a unique power plant — one that generates electricity by burning recycled wood — Eso appealing to a manufacturer needing to expand its electric plating facility.

Already feeling the pinch of tight landfill space, Merit Construction, Inc., an AGC contractor based in Knoxville, Tennessee, welcomed the opportunity to create a facility that would use discarded wood waste and scraps as a fuel source. The Merit Construction team handled the construction work while sub- contractor Interstate Mechanical Contractors, Inc. took care of the intricate piping of the power plant. Knock on Wood

When up and running at full capacity, the plant can consume 200 tons of recycled wood per day, meet its current power needs, and have electricity to spare. The primary source of the plant’s recycled “fuel” comes from the An up-close look at the “walking floor machine” that controls constant feeding of wood chips to the area’s paper and pulp industries, gasifier. The wood gasification process provides fuel to a steam boiler that drives a turbine, which in turn generates electric power for the facility. with 25-ton loads of this otherwise useless waste arriving on a regular So far, a cost-effective means of present. Once sorted, transporta- basis. Since the pulp and paper sorting wood from commercial tion would be the only expense for industry’s supply of wood chips is construction sites has yet to be the wood-filled dumpster. This more costly than other fuel sources, developed. However, Merit Con- does not cost any more than it the company is looking into other struction has agreed to provide two would to haul the debris to land- areas of possible supply. dumpsters — one designated for fills and it actually eliminates the wood and one for all other con- dumpster tipping fee at the struction waste on all construction landfill. sites where sufficient wood waste is

CASE STUDY FACTS Key Players The Project The Results AGC member Merit subcontracted with Building a wood- 200 tons of wood by- gas, oil, and coal Construction, Inc., a Interstate Mechanical powered products and waste are saved and commercial and Contractors, Inc., another manufacturing are recycled every landfill dumping industrial general Knoxville, Tennessee- facility for an day, while conven- is avoided. contractor, did the based AGC member, to do electric plating tional fuels such as construction work and the mechanical work. company.

PAGE 11 In addition, Merit Construction has met with local homebuilders to Some Facts encourage them to develop pro- About Wood... grams to collect their wood scraps from large residential projects. Did you know… • When construction sites are Other industries, such as wood cleared, the trees, shrubs, and truss manufacturers, log home even the grass are recycled? suppliers, and modular home • 500 wood processing plants are manufacturers, have also indicated located in the United States?7 Wood chips are brought to the power plant by the an interest in sending their waste to truckload on a regular basis. When up and running Recycled Wood Goes a the power plant. These added at full capacity, the plant can consume 200 tons of recycled wood per day. Second Round As suppliers would help, but would • Particle board, chip core, or not eliminate the need for purchas- laminates ing pulp-industry wood chips, due About the author: Marvin House is vice • Animal bedding, mulch or to the sheer volume of material chairman of Merit Construction, Inc. decorative landscaping material needed. • Pulp and paper products For more information, contact: A Smart Move Merit Construction, Inc. Why recycle construction Merit Construction sees this project 10435 Dutchtown Road waste? as a “win – win – win” situation for Knoxville, Tennessee 37932 • Reduce disposal and landfill costs the environment, the public, and 865.966.4100 (phone) • Generate income for construction their client. The fact that a recy- [email protected] projects cling facility they built has the (email) • Reduce costs to clients potential to solve a major construc- • Creates new jobs tion site recycling problem is icing on the cake! You Do the Math! Fees for wood recycling average $40 to $60 per ton compared to regular landfill disposal prices of $70 to $84 per ton. Saving Trees Saves Money!

Wood pulp is found in ... • Rayon material • Laundry detergent • Camera film • Tires • Transmission belts

Recycled wood – it’s not just for fireplaces!

7 American Forest & Paper Association.

Wood chips are sorted by size and fed to the walking floor machine to begin the process of generating power with recycled wood.

PAGE 12 ALL OR NOTHING

Typical North American construction projects generate up to 2.5 pounds of solid construction waste per square foot of floor space. That’s 250,000 pounds or over 700 cubic yards of waste on a 100,000 square foot building. Staggering numbers, considering that the U.S. alone constructs millions and millions of square feet each year.

These recycled About the author: Tedd Thompson is construction business development manager for JM materials are made Olson Corporation. useful again in a For more information, contact: variety of ways. JM Olson Corporation For instance, the 26210 Harper Avenue concrete is typi- St. Clair Shores, Michigan 48081 cally crushed and 810.771.9330 (phone) used as aggregate [email protected] (email) for road construc- tion. Wood is chipped, dyed and As part of the Ford Field stadium project, more than 25,000 cubic yards of concrete and more than 1,000 tons of structural steel were removed used as landscaping and recycled. mulch. Cardboard is reprocessed into While the construction industry recycled paper products. Metals has made great strides in under- such as structural steel are also standing the need to recycle these reprocessed. Only after all usable wastes, each construction com- materials are reclaimed is the pany continually faces the same remaining non-recyclable construc- question: Are we part of the tion waste sent to a landfill. problem or part of the solution? One AGC member, JM Olson One Olson renovation project Corporation, has made a com- involved salvaging enormous pany-wide commitment to amounts of materials from the As more corporations make selective demolition of the historic recycling construction wastes on “ commitments to our environ- every job site. Considering that 1,000,000-square-foot Ford Field ment, more will follow. JM Olson construction projects Warehouse in Detroit. As part of produce an estimated 5,500 tons the Ford Field football stadium Mark Millich, President ” (or over 32,000 cubic yards) of project, more than 25,000 cubic JM Olson Corporation waste per year, this is no small yards of concrete and more than Greater Detroit Chapter, Inc. commitment. 1,000 tons of structural steel were Board of Directors removed and recycled. Olson’s plan calls for 60 percent of these construction wastes to be Years ago, most construction waste recycled and reused. They work would have ended up in landfills. in conjunction with their waste- With landfill space at a premium hauling contractors to sort out and the dawning realization that recyclable materials such as construction waste can be recycled concrete, wood, cardboard and into useful products, companies metal. like JM Olson are finding better ways to be part of the solution.

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