C&D does not stand for Concrete and Dirt:

The truth behind the diversion in the City of Los Angeles

BOMA Recycling Seminar March 24, 2009

Richard A. LudtWaste Management AdministratorInterior Removal Specialist, Inc.

LEED® AP

Interior Removal Specialist, Inc.Interior demolition contractor since 1994Began hauling own debris in 1998Received California State certification as C&D

Processor in 2003Received Full Solid Waste Permit in February 2008Demolished nearly 10,000,000 square feet of

commercial interior space in 2008Produced 31,942.76 tons of debrisRecycled 24,915.37 tons (78%)Had to look at diversion differently due to waste

stream

Award winning diversion brings interesting questions

GEELA in 2006SWANA Gold and Silver in 2006WRAP of the Year in 2006CRRA Gold in 2006ISWA Innovation Award in 2007Why did we win?What are we doing differently?

Commercial Interior demolition vs. New Construction demolition

• Construction and demolition debris can and should be broken down to two or three separate waste streams

• Full building demolition creates a completely different waste stream than tenant improvement or CI debris

• CI Debris is lighter and harder to separate than full building demolition debris

• Road and Bridge work could be a category in itself, consisting of strictly concrete, asphalt, and metals

Hard vs. Soft demolitionFull building

demolition debrisCommercial Interior

demolition debris

Largest Weight FactorsNew Construction

Full Building Demolition

Commercial Interior Demolition

Most weight comes from concrete, steel, wood, dirt

Traditional demolition waste stream

Easily diverted

Most weight comes from gypsum wallboard, metal, plastic laminate cabinetry, particle board, and carpet

Many non-traditional diversion items

Fewer markets

Heaviest materials, hard vs. soft demolitionHard demo Soft demo

Difficulties in diversion in CI projects

Donation or sale of usable materials and furniture difficult if material is not removed before demolition, storage for these materials can be problematic

Ceiling tile recycling difficult if material is not saved on jobsite at time of demolition

Carpet recycling is expensive in Southern California due to cost and distance to recyclers

Plastic laminate cabinets and particle board furniture is not compostable or mulchable.

Donation possibilities

Facility AveragesThe accepted form of computing a diversion rate

is to use a facility averageFacility Average is computed as total tons inbound

minus tons sent to landfill equals diversion rateFacilities do not track hard vs. soft demolition

loadsFacilities often issue receipts that say “Mixed

C&D Debris, recycled --%” without breaking down materials

Without material breakdown, no real accounting can be achieved

Los Angeles Averages

City of Los Angeles produced over 800,000 tons of C&D debris in 2006

Metals, wood, inerts, and cardboard accounted for nearly 70% of all recycled materials

Approximately 22 % of all incoming debris was sent to landfill

Commercial Interior Demolition recycled material percentages*

Drywall- 25.82%Metals- 16.44%Wood- 12.69% (Only 2% of this material is dimensional lumber,

the remaining 98% is particle board and plastic laminate cabinetry, traditionally not captured by C&D facilities)

Interts (Tile, Granite, Marble)- 9.57%Carpet- 7.96%Ceiling Tile- 4.82%Cardboard- 1.24%

Total- 78.54%

*By weight, based on tonnage from 2008, Interior Removal Specialist, Inc. yard

Hard to recycle materials

Actual diversion at traditional facilitiesMetal, wood, inerts and cardboard account for

about 26.25% of CI demolition loads by weightThese same materials account for 75% to 90%

of full building demolition loads by weightMixed CI loads at many facilities are only

sorted for the metals, cardboard, and whatever dimensional lumber they can recover, meaning that mixed CI loads are generally recycled at a rate of far less than 50%, yet are given the Facility Average diversion rate

Commonly recycled materials

What are we really burying? The Toxic 20%

When inerts are taken out of the waste stream, only the organic, toxic and potentially toxic are left

When buried in large quantities gypsum wallboard produces greenhouse gasses

Particle board contains adhesives and chemicals that contribute to landfill leachate

Carpet and plastics may stay in landfills for centuries to come

Organics create methane gas, 23 times more harmful than Carbon Dioxide

How did this come to be?Large waste haulers approached C&D as a

waste stream, not a diversion opportunityWhen diversion became mandatory, processors

simply went after the low hanging fruitInerts were the easiest and most plentiful

materials by weightMost people not in the waste industry are not

familiar with the actual mechanics of C&D diversion and do not understand the failure of facility averages in tracking actual diversion for CI projects

Where do we go from here?Educate ourselvesLook at spaces before demolition to find

donation itemsWork with contractors to make sure that the

debris is being taken to City certified facilities

Require proof of diversion at completion of projects

Thank you.

Richard A. LudtWaste Management Administrator

LEED® APInterior Removal Specialist, Inc.

richard@irsdemo.com