Reduce, Recycle and Still Make a Profit? It Can Be Done.

Tracy Mayor -- Expert Business Source, 2/16/2007 12:19:00 PM

Remember the days when a worksite had one huge pile of trash, which eventually got hauled off to some landfill without anyone giving it much thought?

No more. On a typical construction site these days,that single pile has been replaced with multiple mini-piles: one for asphalt, one for wood, one for scrap metal, another for drywall, one for concrete, all to be reused or recycled. And all that non-trash can take up a big chunk of a contractor’s mental time and energy, so much so that some projects now have their own dedicated “recycling coordinator.”

The good news: more small and medium-sized contractors, demolition firms and waste haulers are finding ways to go green with their trash and still make a profit. The first step is to know what regulations and guidelines you’re laboring under. Most often, construction waste disposal is influenced by three areas:

• Federal regulations, most often from the EPA and the Consumer Products Safety Commission, regarding the disposal of mercury, PCBs, lead paint and a host of other hazardous materials.

• State and municipal regulations, which may simple mimic those of the EPA or, in states like California and Massachusetts and cities like Chicago, require a much stricter regimen of recycling and disposal edicts.

• Green guidelines attached to individual projects by local governments, non-profits or activist clients. Often these follow the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, which awards points to projects that promote sustainability.

Adding to the burden, the U.S. construction industry is fragmented, highly competitive and beset by razor-thin profit margins, observes Thomas Napier, a research architect at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Construction Engineering Research Laboratory who has authored white papers on construction waste management. As a result, he says, green waste practices can be slow to evolve, because if a contractor figures out a way to recycle his concrete rubble or salvage timber for a profit, he’s not particularly likely to share that news with his competitors.

So, how to cope? Napier and other waste experts offer these tips:

• Take advantage of the waste infrastructure where it does exist.
  In Illinois, for example, it can be tough to find a buyer for used asphalt shingles; in Florida, there’s a whole aftermarket in place for such materials.

• Get help from state agencies.
  Every state has a Department of Environmental Protection or a Department of Natural Resources with workers who have access to local and regional recycling and waste disposal data, Napier points out. If you can’t find the resources you need to be in compliance, ask them for help.

• Use the Internet.
  For guidelines, advice, even databases of construction waste recyclers in your region, check out the Whole Building Design Guide’s Construction Waste Management Database; the Building Materials Reuse Association; the Green Home Building Guidelines from the National Association of Home Builders; or the Construction Materials Recycling Association, to cite just a few of the organizations offering construction waste resources online.

• Think of going green as a future investment in your business.
  Once you take the time to identify new ways to handle your construction waste, you can play up your knowledge as a benefit with future clients, and you put yourself in a better position to bid on contracts with eco requirements attached.

Long term, green waste management stands a good chance of helping not just the earth, but your bottom line as well.

Tracy Mayor is a freelance writer based in Hamilton, Mass.