Are you building or remodeling in Sacramento County or the surrounding area? Depending on the city or region where your work is taking place, you may be required to complete a Waste Management Plan in compliance with the California Green Building Code “CALGreen” Construction & Demolition Ordinance. Sierra Waste Recycling & Transfer Station (SWRTS) in Sacramento, CA offers recycling options to meet these new requirements.
Weight tickets issued by SWRTS for mixed C&D loads are noted by material type, in order to provide you with backup for reporting per C&D Ordinance requirement. This will help you receive optimum recycling credit even if your jobsite cannot accommodate at-source sorting of wood, metal and cardboard.
WHY RECYCLE C&D?
C&D materials are generated in the construction and demolition of residential and commercial buildings, roads, tenant improvements and remodels, landscaping, and site clearing activities. C&D waste makes up an increasingly-significant portion of the waste disposal stream in California: approximately 28% of the waste currently residing in landfills.
As per the EPA, recycling C&D conserves landfill space, reduces the environmental impact of producing new materials, creates jobs, and can reduce overall building project expenses by avoiding purchase/disposal costs. Recycling will create a more sustainable future for all of us. For more information, please visit CalRecycle website.
HOW DO THE MATERIALS GET RECYCLED?
Mixed C&D materials are transferred from SWRTS to a facility that sorts the materials by type for further processing and recycling. Metals, wood, plastic, concrete, asphalt and other materials are processed into various products for alternative uses.
- Metals are melted down and used to make new industrial products, including fencing, re-bar, benches and railings, among others.
- Wood is shredded into small chips or ground into fines. The wood chips can be used as a rich base for compost, spread as landscape mulch, or processed into carbon-neutral biofuel for electricity-generating power plants.
- Plastic materials are shredded, died and granulated by material for use in recycled plastic products, such as plastic benches, boxes, and planters.
- Clean concrete and asphalt is crushed and any metal is removed with magnetic separators. The crushed concrete and asphalt is used in new base rock or asphalt applications.