Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

One of the more interesting—and important–developments for the Construction & Demolition industry is its inclusion in the US EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management Strategic Plan (link to the plan at the bottom).

Four objectives identified in the plan are:

1. Decrease the disposal rate, which includes source reduction, reuse, recycling and prevention;
2. Reduce the environmental impacts of materials across their life cycle;
3. Increase socio-economic benefits; and,
4. Increase the capacity of state and local governments, communities and key stakeholders to adopt and implement SMM policies, practices and incentives.

Further, the EPA set “The Built Environment” as a Strategic Priority, recognizing the tremendous contributions our industry can make toward helping the EPA achieve its objectives.  In focusing on the Built Environment, the EPA has established three Action Areas that “…outline how EPA will work to implement a life cycle, systems-based approach to address the full range of impacts associated with materials management…”

With the four objectives and the Built Environment as a priority comes support and additional opportunities for C&D materials recovery.  Good plans are generally not without a means of measuring performance and progress and you’ll find that in there as well.

We are pleased to see national support of the C&D industry and an increased focus in measurement and quantifying the benefits of our industry.  Certification with the CORR Protocol will provide assurances of C&D recycling rates that will allow the US EPA to better quantify the environmental benefits of your C&D recycling contributions.

I strongly encourage you peruse the Strategic Plan and read more about how the US EPA Sustainable Materials Management Strategic Plan supports our industry.

Best regards,

Stephen

Reprinted, in part, from my prior post in the May ’16 CDRA Newsletter

Posted in Uncategorized |

The City of Austin continues to advance a variety of initiatives toward its Zero Waste Goal.  Included in this ambitious goal is the recovery and recycling of Construction & Demolition (C&D) materials. 

Late last year the Austin City Council approved the Construction and Demolition Recycling Ordinance and Administrative Rules to increase reuse and recycling of materials from construction and demolition projects.  The ordinance is modeled after the City’s Green Building efforts and is consistent with the City’s Zero Waste goal and the Austin Resource Recovery Master Plan. 

A key addition is the term “Qualified Processor”.  A Qualified Processor means a facility that has Registered with the City of Austin and has been determined to meet the qualifications listed in Section 15-6-161 Qualified Processor Requirements.  We are pleased to note that facilities certified by the Recycling Certification Institute (RCI) automatically meet the City of Austin’s requirements to be approved as a Qualified Processor. 

There is a bonus for RCI-Certified facilities, namely, LEED projects using these facilities are eligible to receive an extra Pilot Credit point.  This is important for Austin because they know RCI-Certified facilities have been audited and certified to pass the vigorous requirements of the CORR Protocol, thereby increasing the confidence in the recycling reports of these facilities.  CORR is the only ISO-level protocol for verifying C&D recycling rates to have been developed in collaboration with a cross-section of representatives from the building and construction industry, haulers, recyclers, and government under the guidance of the USGBC.

Austin’s ordinance goes into effect on October 1, 2016.  Contractors who submit a building application for more than 5,000 square feet of new, remodeled or added floor area must either 1) Reuse or recycle at least 50 percent of the construction debris from the project, or 2) Dispose of less than 2.5 pounds of material per square foot of floor area.  At the conclusion of an affected project, the contractor must report to the City the quantity of materials landfilled and the quantities reused or recycled.

There are penalties included in the ordinance for non-compliance.  Some projects may not be able to meet the ordinance requirements and they may request a waiver.  However, projects that do not meet the requirements and do not have a waiver are subject to a Class C misdemeanor. 

Questions about Austin’s C&D Ordinance may be sent to arrconstructionrecycling@austintexas.gov 

We thank the City of Austin and Austin Resource Recovery for their support of verified recycling rates and congratulate them for their leadership and accomplishments in Zero Waste.

Posted in Uncategorized |

This is a re-post of an article that ran in C&D World.

Recycling Certification Hits the Empire State

Published: Tuesday, 06 October 2015 16:57,  Written by Ray Kvedaras

Cooper Tank Recycling of Brooklyn, N.Y., has joined the nationwide list of certified C&D recycling facilities. Cooper is honored to be the first recycling facility in the state of New York to show the level of transparency required to qualify for RCI certification.

New York City is a complex, wonderful place; a world-class marvel of civil and social engineering. As one of the largest members in the city’s private waste and recycling industry, our issues fall squarely within the sustainability sphere. We spend most of our day figuring out how to recycle things, recycle them better and minimize the cost of disposal for ourselves, our customers, the community and the environment. Recycling is an important responsibility, which now has to be taken more seriously by all the stakeholders of our great city after the introduction of the Mayor’s Zero Waste goal.

That is why we chose to have our recycling rate certified by the Recycling Certification Institute, which independently verifies the USGBC-approved protocols of the CDRA-initiated process known as the Certification of Recycling Rates or CORR program. As Bill Turley will tell you (and if asked, he will tell you anything you want to know about recycling, plus a little more) there was a recognized need amongst the academics, trade associations and industry representatives that recycling had to “come clean,” to rid itself of dubious claims and statistics, and move forward with an integrity that could be relied upon.

The CORR process, developed to ISO-level standards, is not for the faint hearted. RCI and their regional audit team know their stuff and are quite thorough, but the benefits are substantial, especially the additional LEED point available under the USGBC program MRpc87, which awards an extra point if the construction and demolition material is taken to a certified recycling facility. That is even more important now that V4 of the LEED program excluded Alternate Daily Cover material from the recycling calculation making it more difficult to achieve the 2 points allocation. So the RCI certification provides some added value to our customers — architects, builders and general contractors — and the opportunity to regain a “lost” point. Indeed, the USGBC recognizes CORR as the only program that is worthy of this extra point.

In all, the process took around 12 months. After some preliminary work, we gained momentum after the recent CDRA conference in Nashville and were awarded our certification status at the end of August. In essence, the program checks all the inbound and outbound loads, verifying that they actually occurred, that the destinations and materials were recorded correctly. But it also looks at the standards of recordkeeping, the equipment installed and process flow, maintenance logs, QC procedures, personnel training and safety management, and permitting. It is more like a “business integrity” audit.

We also gained from the experience and have made a number of improvements to our internal procedures that will prove beneficial as we develop a rhythm for the monthly reporting. The RCI website,www.recyclingcertification.org/certified-facilities, provides instant online transparency for the owners, developers, architects, contractors, customers, regulators and politicians who all have a vested interest in promoting recycling.

RCI oversees a national certification program for C&D recycling facilities. RCI’s “primary focus is on accurate recycling accounting to ensure that the recovery and recycling reports issued by certified facilities are real, verifiable, reproducible and reliable.” We believe this is true, and this program will add to the professionalism of our industry.

Ray Kvedaras is the long-time general manager of Cooper Tank Recycling, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He can be reached at 718-384-7727; rkvedaras@coopertank.com.

Posted in Uncategorized |

We are pleased to announce the addition of two more Certified Mixed C&D Facilities! Cooper Tank Recycling is the first facility in the Northeast to become Certified under the CORR Protocol. Within an indoor site roughly an acre in size, Cooper processes more than 300,000 tons of Mixed C&D per year!  Visit Cooper Tank Recycling at www.coopertankrecycling.com .    Construction and Demolition Recycling, Inc. (CDR) is the first facility in Southern California to become Certified by RCI. CDR focuses on interior demolitions, recovering roughly 80% of the “30% of materials many C&D processors do not handle.”   Congratulations and welcome aboard Cooper Tank Recycling and Construction and Demolition Recycling, Inc!

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tune in tonight, Ted Roan, Green Director of YouthBuild talks about how they take “at risks” 16-24, help them get their GED’s while they work full time building affordable energy efficient homes “greening” communities across the country.

Then, Executive Director, Stephen Bantillo, of the Recycling Certification Institute takes us inside the world of C&D (construction and demolition) waste and recycling materials and how their national program ensures transparency and integrity among the facilities that handle these materials.

Don’t miss this show!

You can listen to the show live by calling directly at 917-932-1078.  Or to listen through your computer, go to www.talkwithgreenguy.com and click on the “Live” link at the top of the screen.  The talkwithgreenguy web address re-directs to Blog Talk Radio at http://www.blogtalkradio.com

Posted in Uncategorized |

Are you going to Greenbuild in New Orleans?  RCI and Green Halo Systems will be there!  Please be sure to stop by and see us in Booth 1416 in the Exhibit Hall.  We’re excited to be able to provide demonstrations on our reporting/tracking systems as well as discuss the new LEED Pilot Credit (MRpc87) for recycling your project’s C&D materials at an approved third-party Certified C&D recycling facility.

Need directions?  Check this link for a floor plan.  http://greenbuildexpo.com/Attendee/ExpoHall/Index/FloorPlan  

See you there!

Posted in Uncategorized |

Guest article in the July/Aug 2014 edition of C&D World Magazine talks about the benefits of being Certified.  The message?  Independent Third-Party Certification is a good investment.  Check it out in C&D World Magazine.

Posted in Uncategorized |

Excerpts from Recycling Product News, June 2, 2014. 

When Broad Run Recycling recently became the first C&D recycling facility certified by the Recycling Certification Institute (RCI), owner Kevin Herb saw the certification as both an honour and an indication of the challenges facing the industry. Although he is pleased to see Broad Run Recycling recognized for its diligent recycling practices, he hopes the novelty of the certification is short-lived, wanting more facilities to become certified within the near future in order to help the industry adapt and grow.

To Herb, the benchmark needs to become the norm if the C&D recycling industry is going to capitalize on the increasing demand for green construction practices, alternative energy and transparent business practices.

Ultimately, Herb sees the success of Broad Run and the recent RCI certification as a simple matter of meeting market demand.

“Recycling is not only the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do. The customers we serve want higher recycling rates. The days of landfills are coming to an end. Putting waste into a landfill is profitable, but converting the material into alternative fuel and other products has greater profit potential. It will be a slow process, but the trend is clear. The demand is only going to grow.”

Click on this link to Recycling Product News for the complete unedited article.

Posted in Uncategorized |

RCI Executive Director Stephen M Bantillo has the “Last Word”.  In an article featured in the January/February 2014 Digital Edition of Recycling Product News, Bantillo explains the importance of third-party certification of C&D facilities.  Good things happen when industry, government, and USGBC come together.  Read it at Recycling Product News or download it here (posted with permission of Recycling Product News).

Posted in Latest News, Uncategorized | Tagged Bantillo, C&D Recycling, Certification, RCI, recycling

If you have been following our progress, you’ve probably noticed the ongoing updates on our web page and, most notably, the recent changes to our Facilities page for Registered and Certified Facilities.  We are excited to announce that Broad Run Recycling in Manassas, VA and Zanker Road Resource Management in San Jose, CA have been added to the Certified Facilities page.

For Broad Run Recycling, RCI performed a Re-certification of their mixed C&D operation.  For Zanker Road Resource Management, RCI performed Certifications of their four individual lines–Wood and Yard Waste, Concrete, Sheetrock, and Shingle Recycling.  You can visit our Certified Facilities page and see how these facilities perform.

Congratulations to Broad Run Recycling and Zanker Road Resource Management!

Posted in Latest News, Uncategorized | Tagged C & D, RCI