Elizabeth A. Lohman, Environmental Program Planner Virginia Department of Environmental Quality...

Elizabeth A. Lohman, Environmental Program PlannerVirginia Department of Environmental Quality

Managing Construction & Demolition Debris

Managing Construction & Demolition Debris

• Brief overview of the DEQ• Waste Minimization• Specific target materials• Common compliance issues

DEQ Overview

• Blue Ridge Regional Office - 24 counties• Offices in Roanoke and Lynchburg• Air, Water, and Waste programs

Prevent Job Site WastesDesign to Prevent Wastes

• Create a waste management plan and include the following strategies:– Select designs that use materials

efficiently– Set waste prevention goals at the

beginning of the project and target specific waste-producing activities

– Include waste management specifications – especially with your subcontractors

Source: King County Washington Solid Waste Division

• Implement purchasing strategies that prevent waste:– Re-evaluate estimating procedures to ensure

that the correct amount of each material is delivered to the site.

– Choose materials that are delivered with minimal or no packaging.

– Purchase good-quality, previously used building materials, such as cabinets, doors, and fixtures.


Prevent Job Site WastesPurchase to Prevent Waste

• Reduce the amount of waste produced on site by…– Asking suppliers to take back or buy

substandard, rejected or unused items. – Requesting vendors deliver materials in

returnable containers. – Reviewing and modifying storage-handling

practices to reduce material loss from weather and other damage


Prevent Job Site WastesPrevent Waste On-site

• Reuse items on site or donate and/or sell salvageable items to cut waste and reduce supply costs. – Identify potentially reusable or salvageable items

before demolition. – Determine how salvaged items will be removed and

whether they will be reused, donated or sold. – Contact salvage companies and non-profit

organizations that purchase or accept donated building materials.

– Inform the demolition crew of salvage procedures and expectations.


Prevent Job Site WastesReuse and Salvage

SortingSource Separated vs. Commingled

• Construction & Demolition Debris (CDD) can be sorted to facilitate the recovery of recyclable materials such as scrap metal, plastics, and wood or for separating inert fill materials.

• Source-separated CDD :– A single kind of recyclable CDD material that has been

separated from other CDD materials at the site of remodeling, repair, construction, demolition, or land clearing before it is transported to a receiving facility.

• Commingled CDD:– Loads of recyclable CDD that contain mixed types of

recyclable materials stored in one on-site container, which is taken to a permitted sorting facility where materials are separated for recycling.

• When choosing a salvage company, be sure to ask the following questions.– What materials do you accept? – Are there minimum or maximum material volumes? – Will you pick up the materials at the job site? – Do the materials have to be source separated or can

the materials be commingled?– Is there a charge for pick-up service / transportation? – Will you provide containers for large volumes? – Do you charge a container rental fee? – Will you pay for the materials or charge a tipping fee?


Prevent Job Site WastesReuse and Salvage

Prevent Job Site WastesLocal Reuse and Salvage

• Recycling facilities: – Montgomery Regional

Solid Waste Authority• Plastics, glass, metal,

clean wood

– Blue Ridge Disposal• Plastics, metal

– Cycle Systems• Metal

• Salvage businesses:– Habitat Store– Black Dog Salvage

• Composting operations:– Poplar Manor Enterprises

(Riner)– Royal Oak (Bedford Co.)

• Many companies have success with less-formal reuse options. – Advertise reusable items in the newspaper or

Craigslist– Arrange for materials dealers to collect materials

directly from your jobsite – Conduct a "yard sale" at the job site to sell reusable

items – List items in the Reusable Building Materials

Exchange (RBME) – Allow workers to remove materials for their own use – Post signs offering free materials to the general public


Prevent Job Site WastesOther Reuse Options

• Drywall Scraps• Roofing Materials • Compact fluorescent lamps • Paint• Asbestos in demo projects• Carpet• Lead-based paint• Land clearing debris

Specific Materials

• Gypsum is composed of calcium sulfate (CaSO4) and water (H2O), and is mined from deposits formed by ancient seabeds.

• Gypsum drywall, gypsum wallboard, or sheet rock, consists of approximately 90% gypsum and 10% paper facing and backing.

• Approximately 12 percent of new construction drywall is wasted during installation.

• Type X wallboard contains fiberglass and should not be recycled on site or commingled with other gypsum products to be recycled.

Source: California Integrated Waste Management Board

Drywall Scraps

Drywall scraps• Recycling options for unpainted gypsum:

– Gunite Support: Gunite is concrete sprayed on at high pressure. Cutoff pieces of new construction drywall can be used as forms to support Gunite as it is being sprayed. Swimming pool construction companies can use new cutoffs for this purpose, in sizes from 4 x 2 ft to 4 x10 ft, and thickness of 1/2 to 3/8 in.

– Drywall scraps can be placed in the interior wall cavities during new construction for sound proofing. For guidelines, see Appendix C of A Builder’s Field Guide from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center: www.nahb.com

– Donation: Habitat Store will accept new drywall sheets of half size or larger.

– The manufacture of new drywall – Use as an ingredient in the production of cement – A major ingredient in the production of fertilizer product

Source: Drywall Recycling

http://www.nahb.com/

Drywall scraps• Gypsum Agri-cycle, Inc., Lancaster, PA• Recycles gypsum into agricultural product:

separates paper and gypsum and grinds materials to meet particle size requirements

• Fees: –Tipping fee $25/ton (negotiable)–Transportation fee $30/ton

• Can be stored in trailer or on ground (moisture can increase weight by ~ 5-10%)

• Maintain whole pieces • Transport must be in walk-in floor trailers• Contact: Don Hess, President (717)629-6677

Drywall scraps• Can new gypsum drywall scraps be used as a soil

amendment?– Unlike lime, gypsum does not raise the pH of soils and is preferred

for crops requiring calcium but where the soils are already alkaline – Adding drywall changes the mineral content of the soil it is applied

to and this can be a bad or a good thing depending on the condition of the pre-existing soil. So, test your soil.

– Wet gypsum drywall is known to release hydrogen sulfide which smells like rotten eggs and there are also concerns that hazardous heavy metals may be present in some drywall products currently on the market which could accumulate in the soils. So determine the appropriate application rate.

– The practice is not currently allowed in Virginia, but the regulations are being reviewed and are expected to change.

– Compost operations: PME and Royal Oak

Source: Drywall Recycling and DEQ

Roofing Materials• Metal

– Small sections can be used on small outbuildings • Tile and slate

– National markets for vintage tile • Asphalt

– Asphalt roofing shingles are made of a felt mat saturated with asphalt, with small rock granules added

– Keep leftovers for replacement– Donate to the Habitat Store– Recycling into road materials– Shred and use as sub-base under driveways

Roofing Materials• Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC)

– Evaluating use in hot-mixed asphalt & base/sub-base course design

– Past research evaluated rejects from manufacturing– Current study evaluating tear-off shingles– Positive results so far

• To prepare shingles for use in new products, the shingles must be ground to a specified size, and contaminants (e.g., metal, wood) removed– Recycling activity requires approval or a permit-by-rule from the

DEQ (depends on whether activity is performed for on site use or off site processing)

– One processing facility is completing the PBR process (Tidewater area)

• Asbestos containing shingles cannot be recycled or reused

Compact Fluorescent Lights(CFLs)

• Mercury is an essential element in the operation of fluorescent lighting and allows the bulbs to be an efficient light source. Less energy demand means less mercury (from coal) is emitted from power plants.

• Each lamp contains about 4 or 5 mg of mercury. (A home thermometer can contain about 500 mg of Hg.)

• Because CFLs contain trace amounts of mercury, it’s important to understand the proper use, recycling and disposal of these products

Source: Energy Star

Compact Fluorescent Lights(CFLs)

• CFLs are made of glass and are easy to break.• Always screw and unscrew the bulb by its base

and never forcefully twist the CFL into the socket.

• When the bulb burns out, take advantage of local recycling options. The Montgomery Regional Solid Waste Authority (MRSWA) accepts CFLs and lamps for recycling.

Source: Energy Star

Compact Fluorescent Lights

• What happens if you break a CFL?– Clear the room of people and pets.– Don’t let anyone walk through the affected area.– Shut off the central air system and open windows.– Scoop up the glass and powder using stiff paper.– Use sticky tape (e.g., duct tape) to pick up smaller

particles– Wipe the area clean with a damp towel

Source: Energy Star

Compact Fluorescent Lights

• What happens if you break a CFL? (continued)– For hard surfaces, do not use a vacuum cleaner. – For other surfaces (e.g., carpet), remove the vacuum cleaner

bag when done and place in a sealed plastic bag.– Place all the debris in a container that can be securely

closed.– Clothing or bedding should be thrown away.– Homeowners may discard the debris with regular trash. – Wash your hands when you finish clean up.

• If you have a box of broken bulbs/lamps, contact the supplier and ask how they manage their broken bulbs.

Source: Energy Star

Paint (Oil & Latex)• General best management practices:

– Purchase only what you need & use as much as possible– Keep excess paint for touch-up– Donate to Habitat Store, Salvation Army or local church or civic

group

• Latex (water-based) – Small amount: open container and let dry. Discard with other solid

wastes.– Large amount: mix with an absorbent such as kitty litter and discard

with other wastes.

• Oil contains solvent carriers (e.g., acetone, that may make the paint ignitable – Place in a closed, compatible container, and hire a hazardous

waste contractor to transport & dispose of waste paint.

Asbestos• Three standards apply to contractors

renovating or demolishing buildings:

– Renovations and Demolition - 61.141 (NESHAP)– Asbestos - 29 CFR 1926.1101 (Construction Industry)

– Asbestos -29 CFR 1910.1001 (General Industry)

Virginia Department of Labor & Industry

Asbestos• NESHAP applicability:

– All public, commercial, industrial, or institutional structures, ships, active or inactive waste disposal sites

– Residential buildings with more than four units– Single family homes to be burned for training

purposes– One, two or more single family homes on a single

site to be demolished or renovated for commercial purposes.

– The NESHAP regulations apply jointly to owners and operators at a facility

– Schools are subject to additional EPA requirements under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA)


Asbestos• NESHAP requirements:

– Prior to any demolition or renovation, a facility must be thoroughly inspected for the presence of asbestos-containing materials (ACM).

– All suspect ACM must be sampled and laboratory analyzed or assumed to contain asbestos and must be handled as such.

– Places where you may find suspect ACM include but are not limited to:

• floor tile, linoleum, pipe and boiler insulation, heat duct wrap and joint tape, cementitious siding and roofing, asphalt-based roofing, ceiling tiles, joint compound, and sprayed-on-texturing.


Asbestos


Asbestos


Asbestos siding materials

Asbestos• NESHAP notifications:

– Whether asbestos is present or not, the owner or operator of a facility that will be demolished must submit a NESHAP notification to VOSH and EPA 10 working days prior to any demolition (with the exception of exempt residential structures).

– Owner or operator means any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises the facility being demolished or renovated or any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises the demolition or renovation operation, or both.


Asbestos• VOSH requirements:

– Worker safety – The NESHAP definition of asbestos

containing material is any material that has >1% asbestos content

– Under VOSH, if the material contains any amount of asbestos, the worker protection requirements are triggered


Asbestos• Disposal requirements

– The landfill must be permitted to accept asbestos containing materials. Check the permit to see whether both friable and non-friable asbestos may be accepted

– Most landfills are permitted to accept only non-friable materials

– In our region, only Roanoke Valley Resource Authority and the First Piedmont Corporation are permitted to accept friable asbestos

– In either case, you must notify the landfill prior to bringing the asbestos containing material to the landfill


AsbestosQuestions?

Contact:

Doug Wiggins

Asbestos and Lead Compliance Officer


(540)562-3580 x. 131


Carpet• In 2001, used carpet and rugs

amounted to ~2.6 million tons (Source: EPA)

• Carpet consists of different types of materials. – The face fiber is usually made of

either wool, nylon, polyester, or Olefin, or a blend of these components.

– Carpet also has a backing which is made of a latex product that usually serves as the backing for residential carpets, while commercial carpets are backed with easier-to-recycle PVC.

• Few recycling options in US

Carpet• Tandus (Dalton, Georgia) takes back used vinyl-backed

carpet and recycles this waste material into a new 100% recycled content carpet backing– Tandus is the parent company of three large carpet companies– Vinyl-backed carpet typically found in commercial settings– To send old carpet back, must purchase their product for install– Old carpet has to be palletized and shrink-wrapped– No fees with recycling. Tandus pays for shipping for 3500 yards.

(Note: For smaller loads, shipper may have to pay.)– Broad loom material (rough back) can be accepted but will be

forwarded to another processing company for a fee. – Contact: Edith Beck (800)248-2878– http://www.tandus.com/sustainability/recycling.aspx

http://www.tandus.com/sustainability/recycling.aspx

http://www.tandus.com/sustainability/recycling.aspx

Carpet• RM Brokerage (Alexandria VA)

– Specialty recycling facility, e.g., metals, plastics, pallets, carpet

– Delivers containers (e.g., 20, 30, 40, or 50 cu yds) or trailers (e.g., 50, 52, or 53 foot) to site

– Fees: $0.20 / pound + transportation– Accepts commingled residential and commercial

carpets – Carpets are separated by type and exported overseas – Materials are recycled into: nylon fibers for clothes,

dashboards and PVC pipes– Contact: Ricky Tejada (703)370-3638– http://www.rmbrokerage.com/carpet.html

http://www.rmbrokerage.com/carpet.html

Carpet• Blue Ridge Recycling (Charlotte, NC)

– Accepts commingled broad loom, residential carpets: nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene

– Also accepts foam pads (no rubber or fiber pads)– Fees: No fee for carpet; shipper pays transportation– Carpet sorted by type and shipped to domestic

facilities for recycling into new carpet products– Carpets not amenable to recycling are burned for

energy recovery in a cement kiln in SC. – Contact: Robert Gleaves (704)807-3680– http://blueridgerecycling.com/default.html

http://blueridgerecycling.com/default.html

Lead-Based Paint• Residential lead-based paint (LBP) is defined as:

– waste generated as a result of lead-based paint activities (including abatement, rehabilitation, renovation, and remodeling) in homes and other residences

– the term “LBP” includes: debris, chips, dust, and sludges• LBP waste generated during residential renovations/abatement

may be taken to a permitted solid waste transfer stations or sanitary landfills. (http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/landfill/pb-paint.htm)

• The exemption covers both contractors and DIYs working on residential buildings.

• The exemption does not cover commercial projects.• For more information on LBP renovations and limiting

exposures: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadinfo.htm#remodeling http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm

http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/landfill/pb-paint.htm

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadinfo.htm#remodeling

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm

Inert materials• Inert materials: brick, block, broken pavement,

concrete• Conditionally exempted in the solid waste

management regulations when used as general fill material and provided the material does not:– create a public nuisance or safety hazard– create stormwater runoff issues (check with locality)

• Rebar must be removed (or at least cut flush to the surface of the concrete)

• Surfaces cannot be painted, treated or be coated with mastic

Land-clearing Debris

• Land-clearing debris (LCD): vegetative waste generated during land clearing activities.

• The regulations do not provide any exemptions for the management of land clearing debris generated from commercial/residential development sites.

Land-clearing Debris

Land-clearing Debris•Mulching:

– The property owner/contractor may use a tub grinder to grind the LCD into mulch

– The tub grinding can be done on site or off site at a centralized location

– Use the mulch on the project site or sold/given away to other businesses or individuals

– Sell the mulch to facilities to burn for energy recovery (i.e., boilers)

NOTE: Mulch/mulching is exempt from regulation as long as the operation doesn’t create an open dump, hazard or public nuisance.

Land-clearing Debris• Open burning on site:

– Must determine whether there is a “burn ban” in effect (because of either dry conditions or “non-attainment” area designation, e.g., Roanoke Valley)

– Must notify local fire department– Must be strictly vegetative waste - no paper, plastic, or

other solid wastes– Must be vegetative wastes generated on-site and

cannot include wastes brought from off-site– Must not create an open dump, hazard or public

nuisance

• LCD cannot be taken off site to a centralized location for open burning.

Land-clearing Debris• Land disposal/application:

– Vegetative wastes can be disposed at the local sanitary landfill or at a vegetative waste landfill.

– The vegetative waste may also be delivered to a permitted composting operation (e.g., Poplar Manor Enterprises or Royal Oak)

– Under no circumstances can LCD be buried on site or off site without a permit• Potential hazards include: fire, explosive

gases, subsidence, groundwater contamination

Common Compliance Problems

• The following activities are prohibited: – On-site disposal (burial) of solid waste

• Burial of construction/demo debris• Land application of materials

– Open burning of solid waste (with the exception of clean wood or vegetative waste and in accordance with other state and local laws)

• Spent solvents (used in clean up)

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Elizabeth A. Lohman, Environmental Program Planner Virginia Department of Environmental Quality...

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