Designs on construction waste
Many home builders have concrete plans for recycling

When she talks about recycling construction and demolition waste, DPR Construction project manager Whitney Dorn speaks with the fervor of a true believer.

In addition to helping the environment, she said, recycling only marginally increases the costs of building.

“On a $40 million project, it might end up costing you maybe $7,000,” the commercial builder said. “It takes some planning. When we start a project, we sit down and talk about the different wastes we will have. You prepare a waste diversion plan: drywall, concrete, metal. … It is something I feel passionate about.”

In San Diego County and across the nation, developers are increasingly aware of recycling and other “green” building techniques that help the environment. The state requires local jurisdictions to divert 50 percent of the solid waste that otherwise would fill up dwindling landfill space within the county.

Commercial and residential builders remove concrete, wood, gypsum and metal from their construction waste by sorting it into bins that typically are hauled away by local recycling companies, often at little or no cost, Dorn said.

Much of the construction debris that can’t be separated on job sites in the county is taken to EDCO waste disposal. Steve South, EDCO’s president and CEO, said the company opened mixed-waste recycling centers in San Marcos in 2005 and in Lemon Grove in 2006.

About 35 percent of the waste disposed in the city of San Diego’s Miramar Landfill is recyclable construction and demolition material, said Stephen Grealy, the city’s waste-reduction program manager.
New regulations designed to increase construction waste diversion will take effect July 1. “We anticipate that we will get over 200,000 tons a year of additional diversion,” Grealy said.

A number of organizations consider recycling programs when they rate how “green” construction projects are. Perhaps the most widely recognized is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.

A local developer who is on the cutting edge of recycling construction waste locally, Black Mountain Ranch has created a sorting facility for the Del Sur residential development in northern San Diego.

San Diego’s Environmental Services Department recognized the master developer for Del Sur with Recycler of the Year awards in 2006 and 2007. The goal when the facility opened in 2006 was to divert 75 percent of construction waste, but the number quickly surpassed 90 percent, said Fred Maas, president and CEO of Black Mountain Ranch.

Among recyclable materials, “the real weight is drywall, concrete and lumber,” he said. “We process all of our lumber. We bring in a wood chipper when we have enough volume. We invite people to use it for landscape mulch. The gypsum we process. We use that for soil additives. The concrete is used in deep fills for some of our privately owned roads.”

Recycling has increased costs only slightly for participating home builders, Maas said. Costs for other builders around the region may vary, said Bill Dumka, senior vice president at Black Mountain Ranch. “Some developers can easily accommodate these programs, and others find it difficult.”

While builders need to turn a profit, “people and companies are driven by altruistic reasons as well,” said Wayne Williams, the county’s recycling program coordinator. “There is a satisfaction in knowing you are doing the right thing.”

Emmet Pierce: (619 293-1372; emmet.pierce@uniontrib.com