SIMPLE SEPARATION
DIVERTING WOOD AND CARDBOARD AT CONSTRUCTION SITES
Wisconsin project demonstrates the ease of recovering materials generated at residential home construction sites.
Residential home construction in Wisconsin generates 128,000 tons of residuals annually, according to a 1998 study by Camp, Dresser & McKee. Ten builders are participating in a project to demonstrate how easily major components of this waste stream can be recycled. The Metropolitan Builders Association (MBA) of Greater Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative and WasteCap Wisconsin are involved in the program, which has received high marks from participants and organizers thus far.
Initial figures indicate that recycling of cardboard and wood will cost 57 percent of typical trash disposal. Those two materials were chosen after WasteCap interviewed builders, assessed markets and looked at quantities generated. Wood and cardboard comprise an average of 50 percent of residential construction residuals.
MBA and WasteCap issued a Request for Proposals answered by six haulers and selected Woodcycle, Inc. for wood recycling and The Peltz Group, Inc. for cardboard. MBA funded recycling containers for building sites in North Prairie and Delafield. The bins are present only when a majority of the targeted materials are being generated. Builders must pay for them if their recycling streams are contaminated. “The carpenters are doing a great job of keeping the wood waste separate from the trash,” says Jack Wiley, vice president of Woodcycle.
“So far, everything is going great,” adds Jenna Kunde, executive director of WasteCap. “However, it’s early in the process, and success will depend on the builders and subcontractors continuing to be as committed as they’ve been.” The contract with the recyclers includes an education component, she adds. “They have talked to all of the builders and made sure they know about segregation.” This outreach has been supplemented by WasteCap and MBA staff. “We visited sites to make sure the subcontractors and builders understood what went into the containers and what did not,” says Kunde. “We anticipated that there would be some confusion, but they looked at us like we were crazy because it’s so simple — wood goes here and the rest goes there. I’ve been struck by how clean the wood has been. There is minimal contamination.”
HANDLING WOODY MATERIALS
When the 30-cubic yard containers for wood residuals are filled or the rough framing is completed at a building site, Woodcycle removes the bins and transports them to a processing site. The wood is ground, run through magnets, and processed further, if necessary, for production of colored mulch, compost bulking agent, animal bedding or boiler fuel.
Woodcycle runs three sites that make these products, getting most of its wood from chipped pallets and roll-off containers of wood from other sources. It started experimenting with recycling wood generated at home construction sites about two years ago. The company found it had a problem with marketing pressboard used in homes because of its high adhesive content. “Even the boiler fuel people didn’t want to take it because it could gum up the boilers,” says Wiley. “Now we’re finding markets that do accept pressboard, and they are not reporting any problems.” One of the primary uses for the recycled pressboard is in solidifying biosolids for cocomposting or landfilling.
Some developers have expressed interest in receiving the recycled wood back as landscape mulch for the properties. Results of the residential construction recycling program, which also is sponsored by VerHalen/Pella Windows and Miller Brewing Company, will be made available August 19, the start of the MBA Parade of Homes. For more information, contact WasteCap Wisconsin at (414) 961-1100. — D.B.