Asphalt Company Saves $1M by Recycling
Almond & Son’s Asphalt, based in Richland, Wash., found a way to save $1 million in difficult economic times.
The company is recycling its own asphalt into new material and is now looking to recycle other businesses’ asphalt with its new 1.5-acre facility located next to the Richland Landfill.
The raw asphalt that is recycled comes from old roads, driveways and parking lots that have been broken up during paving projects. Photo: Flickr/lissalou66
Almond recycles the asphalt by heating it to temperatures exceeding 250 degrees, creating a liquid form that can either be used by the company or sold to other businesses.
Prior to its new facility, Almond was paying a separate company to recycle the waste material and then buying it back, which cost about $1 million in 2008.
“There’s an opportunity to take that material, not put it in a landfill, but to send it to some of these other businesses at the same time,” Kip Eagles, solid waste manager for the City, told The Tacoma News-Tribune.
Almond is just one of the businesses that will occupy 50 acres of land surrounding the landfill, also called the “Eco Park.” The City is currently in talks with a wood recycling company to build a facility in the area as well, according to The Tacoma News-Tribune.
The EPA estimates that the U.S. produces 170 million tons of construction and demolition (C&D) debris each year. This is equivalent to 30 percent of our overall waste, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
C&D debris not only includes building materials such as asphalt, steel beams and windows, but also potentially products that require special disposal processes, such as paint and smoke detectors.
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John Rote
posted on September 6th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Recycling is a good way to do your part in this, the beginning of an “Environmental Watch”. As adults in this day and age, when we can now literally see our planet being affected, it is time for everyone to begin reversing the process. Anything we can do to help save our land and resources for our children, and generations to come is acting responsible. But, don’t forget about pollution prevention as the primary step. Everyone reading about recycling these days needs to also be aware of what pollution prevention is. It is “source reduction”It is “pollution reduction”. Eliminating wastes at the source will also reduce the amount of recycling and together they will help to keep our land and oceans living. The President of the United States has said many times, “Not on my Watch”. Well, how about his “Environmental Watch”. Yes, it’s that important.
The Army’s approach:
Prevent pollution from all sources to the extent practicable by:
(1) Reducing pollutants at the source.
(2) Modifying manufacturing, packaging, and shipping processes, maintenance or other industrial practices.
(3) Modifying product designs.
(4) Developing and modifying acquisition systems.
(5) Recycling/reuse (to include implementing water and energy conservation measures), especially in closed-loop processes.
(6) Preventing disposal and transfer of pollution between media.
(7) Meeting affirmative procurement requirements and promoting the acquisition and use of environmentally preferable products and services.
(8) Promoting use of nontoxic substances.
c. Use pollution prevention to complement, and where practicable, replace traditional pollution control approaches.
d. Incorporate pollution prevention planning throughout the mission, operation, or product life cycle.
Walter
posted on September 28th, 2009 at 5:08 am
Recycling makes sense from an economic and environmental (green) perspective in high volume materials such as asphalt and concrete. One factor that is especially important is the amount of trucking cost and air emissions saved by recycling vs. separate processing.