Industry News

Aggregates Maker Buys Cornejo & Sons

Summit Materials LLC, a building materials company based in Washington, D.C., has completed its acquisition of Cornejo & Sons Inc., based in Wichita, Kan.

Cornejo & Sons produces sand and gravel, asphalt and ready-mix concrete as well as providing paving, construction, recycling and C&D landfill services. The management staff of Cornejo & Sons will remain in place, according to a news release from Summit.

“We are delighted to expand our presence in Kansas with the addition of Cornejo & Sons, a first class operation,” says Tom Hill, CEO of Summit. “I look forward to working with Ron Cornejo and Marty Cornejo to grow the business and provide new opportunities for Summit and its customers.”

Sandherr adds that many construction firms are uncertain that they'll be able to add staff following a year of record layoffs. In 2009, 73 percent of firms said they laid off employees, averaging 39 layoffs per firm. For 2010, 60 percent of firms say they are unsure whether they will be able to add new staff or be forced to make further cuts.

Ron Cornejo, CEO of Cornejo & Sons notes, “We are pleased to join forces with Summit Materials so that we can continue to grow our business. Partnering with Summit Materials allows the Cornejo family and our employees the opportunity to grow dynamically as the economy improves. It also allows us to offer more products, services and value to our clients and communities.”

Cornejo & Sons is comprised of five companies: Cornejo Construction, Concrete Materials Co., Construction Demolition & Recycle and Allmetal Recycling.

Summit Materials was formed in 2009 by former Oldcastle Inc. and CRH Americas executive Tom Hill to develop and grow a business in the aggregates and building materials sector through acquisition. Cornejo & Sons represents the third acquisition for Summit. In September 2009, Summit acquired Hamm Inc., an aggregates, landfill, asphalt and construction company in Perry, Kan. In February of 2010, Summit acquired Hinkle Contracting Co., an integrated materials and construction business headquartered in Paris, Ky.

Wal-Mart Hints at Green Building Strategy

The Web site www.CNNMoney.com has reported that the board chairman of Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Ark., has commented that the company is planning to build its stores with more attention paid to recycled-content building materials.

According to a news item on the Web site, when speaking at a “Brainstorm Green” conference hosted by Fortune magazine, Wal-Mart chairman Lee Scott said the global retailer is studying ways to build stores “made of materials that easily revert back to the Earth.”

The CNNMoney.com reporter writes that Scott did not elaborate on the plan, but that a Wal-Mart spokesperson contacted later said the retailer “is also looking to use more recycled materials in the construction process.”

The corporate spokesperson cited store baseboards made partly from old diapers, steel containing recycled components and concrete composed of 20 percent fly ash as examples of recycled-content materials already being used.

The attention from Wal-Mart to recycled-content building materials would fit in with other strategies that the company has pursued, including the recycling its packaging scrap and excess inventory with a target of generating zero waste at its stores and the use of renewable energy,.

According to CNNMoney.com, in his remarks at the conference, board chairman Scott credited Wal-Mart employees for helping enact the sustainability policies, saying, “There were a lot of young people who were wondering when we were going to do things differently.”

Wal-Mart has constructed stores in McKinney, Texas, and Aurora, Colo. that have included wind turbines and included the use of materials designed to obtain LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) certification.

Conference Targets Cost-Effective C&D Recycling

A new industry event, The C&D Recycling Forum, has been announced by Construction & Demolition Recycling magazine. The event has received sponsorship support from the National Demolition Association and will be organized in coordination with that group and with consulting firm Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB), Fairfax, Va.

The event will take place Oct. 3 - 5 in Baltimore. Its organizers say it “aims to foster the profitable recycling of construction and demolition materials” and is “ideally suited to demolition contractors, general and road contractors, waste haulers, solid waste and recycling officials, scrap dealers and recyclers and those already recycling C&D materials.” More information on the conference can be found at www.cdrecycler.com/forum.

Ohio’s EPA Unveils C&D Recycling Goal

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Columbus, has finalized a new state solid waste management plan that establishes waste reduction and recycling goals for Ohio and its 52 solid waste management districts.

“I challenge all of Ohio’s residents, communities and businesses to increase recycling efforts so our state can become a leader in practices that reduce our reliance on landfills when managing solid waste,” says Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski.

The plan, developed by Ohio EPA and the state Solid Waste Management Advisory Council (SWAC), includes strategies for solid waste management intended to increase Ohio’s waste reduction and recycling efforts. The plan is focused on improving the effectiveness of community recycling and outreach programs.

The state says it also will support the development and facilitate the implementation of technology that uses waste to produce energy. To fulfill this strategy, Ohio EPA says it will “investigate developing streamlined rules to permit and operate waste-to-energy facilities.” Additionally, Ohio EPA will work to monitor and evaluate the impacts of landfills in Ohio on greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane, or to increase the recovery of landfill gas for energy.

Other major plan changes include requiring each solid waste management district to become more effective at changing recycling behavior by preparing and implementing an outreach and marketing plan targeting five audiences.

Also, all solid waste management districts are to provide four primary programs, including a Web site to inform the public about available recycling; an inventory of recycling options; a comprehensive resource guide that lists all recycling opportunities in the district by material as well as a speaker/presenter who can be invited to speak.