Ken Gibson, executive director of the Alberta Construction Association, explains that because CRD waste is so high-volume, any effort to reduce it will make a big difference to landfills. “In North America, 20 to 25 per cent of all solid waste … is from construction and demolition. We believe approximately 10 per cent of building materials are being recycled right now.”
The slowdown in commercial construction may actually boost CRD recycling, Mr. Gibson said. When construction was booming and labour was in short supply, contractors were limited in how much manpower they could devote to sorting waste materials on site, Mr. Gibson said. “So the fact that things have slowed down a bit probably makes that aspect easier.”
Mr. Gibson says the construction industry has embraced the idea of CRD waste diversion, and he gives much of the credit to a desire to achieve LEED standards.
In April, Mr. Mueller's organization will introduce a LEED guideline for existing buildings that will award points for waste diversion when a building is retrofitted. “We want them to divert 70 per cent of the waste by volume, and that would include things like wall studs, insulation, doors, windows, drywall, ceiling panels, carpet and other flooring.”
However, Dan Zembal, president of waste-hauling company Alberta Waste and Recycling, says recyclers aren't accepting all materials. “We're having a bit of a challenge with plastics. I for one don't collect [construction] plastics ... because there are so many different grades and types of materials that end up in the mix. It's too difficult to separate them.”
What's needed, according to Mr. Gibson, is a government-supported infrastructure to collect, sort and recycle CRD waste. California, for example, has a number of large material recovery facilities (MRFs) that separate waste. In Canada, that “is still very much in its infancy,” he said. “What's happening, largely at the individual project level, is contractors are finding haulers who will take this material to the right recyclers.”
Processors in China were taking large amounts of CRD waste such as iron and steel, but demand has virtually collapsed, Mr. Gibson said. Some Alberta recyclers and landfill operators are stockpiling materials in the expectation that commodities prices will eventually bounce back, he added.
“The good news is if we know there is certainty in material flow over long periods of time through a legislative program, we will make the investments,” Mr. Gibson said. “I think people are poised to invest and develop MRFs for construction materials.”
Special to The Globe and Mail
