Industry news

// Facilities news

USA Gypsum opens new facility, headquarters

USA Gypsum recently held an executive tour and ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new corporate headquarters and recycling facility in Denver, Pennsylvania. Representatives from state and local government attended the ceremony.

During the April 17, 2015, ceremony, Terry Weaver, president and general manager of USA Gypsum, said, “The new buildings and equipment will produce better quality products, more efficiently, and position USA Gypsum to divert even more drywall from area landfills.” He also acknowledged the support the company received from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Lancaster County, and West Cocalico Township.

The new location, which consists of four buildings on about 24 acres, is approximately double the size of the company’s plant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “We outgrew that facility,” Weaver said.

The drywall USA Gypsum accepts includes material from construction sites, industrial sources as well as scrap drywall generated from the construction and demolition (C&D) sector. The $3 million facility includes a custom designed 22,000-square-foot drywall recycling plant project, including renovated buildings for packaging, storage and offices.

During the past 10 years, USA Gypsum has diverted more than 225,000 tons of drywall from area landfills, converting it to beneficial use by farmers in the form of gypsum fertilizer, soil conditioners and amendments, as well as gypsum animal bedding.

// Financing & grants

EPA invests $54 million in contaminated site cleanups

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the selection of 243 new grant investments totaling $54.3 million to 147 communities across the U.S. This investment is designed to provide communities with funding necessary to assess, clean up and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.

Recipients will each receive approximately $200,000 to $600,000 in funding toward EPA cooperative agreements.

EPA’s Brownfields grants provide resources early, which is critical for the success of communities’ abilities to leverage additional partnerships and resources, EPA says. The community leaders, represented by local governments, states, tribes, quasi-governmental organizations and nonprofit entities, have demonstrated strong partnerships and plan to leverage the EPA grants with other public-private investments. They use an inclusive process to help spur the redevelopment of vacant, former manufacturing and commercial sites for broader revitalization in their downtowns, according to EPA.

“Brownfield sites—because of their locations and associated infrastructure advantages—are community assets and a key component of the Obama Administration’s efforts to provide tools to sustainably revitalize communities and foster economic development,” says Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “These communities have demonstrated a plan to leverage their grants and partnerships to achieve economic and environmental revitalization to meet their needs for jobs. The grants will help transform brownfield sites, such as former manufacturing and mill sites, into productive end uses, which directly benefit community residents and create opportunities including increased housing options, recreational spaces and jobs,” Stanislaus continues.

Among the communities selected for funding, more than 30 percent have been affected by plant closures, 40 percent by significant economic disruptions, and 42 percent by adverse natural disasters, EPA says.

For information on brownfields grants by state: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets.

// Company news

Gold Medal Services acquires two recycling firms

Gold Medal Services LLC, a Deptford, New Jersey-based waste and recycling services company, has announced its operating subsidiaries have executed definitive purchase agreements to acquire substantially all of the assets of Casworth Enterprises Inc. and Blue River Resources LLC.

Casworth Enterprises provides commercial and residential waste collection services in southern New Jersey. The operations will be moved to Gold Medal’s Deptford hauling division. Casworth’s principal, Frank Holsworth, and his team will join the Gold Medal staff.

Blue River Resources operates a material recovery facility (MRF) in Wilmington, Delaware. The MRF currently processes commercial and residential recyclables and is permitted to process construction and demolition materials. Blue River’s management team and staff also will join the Gold Medal team.

// Asphalt shingles

Owens Corning’s shingle recycling program experiences growth

Owens Corning Roofing and Asphalt LLC, Toledo, Ohio, has released results of its expanded shingle recycling program. The company says its service diverts torn-off roofing shingles from landfills and into beneficial reuse applications such as road construction and repair.

Owens Corning launched its shingle recycling program in 2009. According to the company, it was the first roofing manufacturer to introduce a nationwide shingle recycling program.

Since introducing the recycling program, the company recognizes the following achievements:

• 2.4 billion pounds of shingles were recycled in 2014, representing a 33 percent increase from the previous year;
• the shingle recycling program is now available in 108 markets with more than 200 U.S. collection locations verified by Earth911, a national recycling resource website;
• the shingle recycling network’s nationwide coverage enables 65 percent of the country’s population to have access to a qualified shingle recycler; and
• the Owens Corning Roofing contractor network currently has 563 contractors committed to recycling shingles.
  
   

// Demolition projects

Candlestick Park demolition nears completion

Demolition of San Francisco’s Candlestick Park is almost complete, according to Bay Area media reports. Oakland, California-based Silverado Demolition is performing the demolition, which began in early February.

The stadium was originally built as the home of MLB’s San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 until 2000. It also was the home field of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers from 1971 to 2013. The 49ers moved to Levi’s Stadium, in Santa Clara, California, before the beginning of the 2014 NFL season.

In November 2014, Lennar Corp., Miami, and Macerich, Santa Monica, California, announced a joint venture partnership to develop a 500,000-square-foot urban outlet project that will anchor an entirely new community at Candlestick Point. Lennar and Macerich are 50/50 partners on the urban outlet portion of the mixed-use development. The Candlestick project is expected to create more than 3,000 permanent jobs and deliver more than 6,000 homes.

The launch of the Candlestick development will include more than $1 billion of new investment and infrastructure over the next four years. The investment will include sites for community use, including both a fire and police station.

The Candlestick Point development will be one of the largest urban mixed-use projects in the United States, according to the developers. In addition to the urban outlet component, it will feature a diversity of commercial offerings, including neighborhood retailers, a restaurant village, an African diaspora-themed marketplace, movie theaters, a performance venue and hotel. It also will include rental and for-sale homes, all anchored by a first-of-its-kind urban outlet shopping district that will feature major regional, national and international retailers.

Infrastructure work by Lennar is underway in preparation for the complete rebuilding of the nearby Alice Griffith affordable housing community. Construction of new housing is underway at The San Francisco Shipyard, north of Candlestick Point. The Shipyard will be home to an additional 6,000 homes, 3 million square feet of office and commercial space as well as more than 230 acres of parks and open space.

// Accident investigation

Washington state officials investigating fatal demolition accident

A 52-year-old man working on a demolition job was fatally crushed beneath a steel beam in Blaine, Washington, June 8. Washington state officials are investigating the cause of the accident.

According to an article in the Bellingham Herald, James Loyd Bost was helping to scrap a cyclone air separator when the accident occurred. The 30-foot-tall piece of machinery is an industrial-sized filter for dust and other small particles in the air. Four steel beams formed a square to support it, the newspaper reports.

Police say two beams buckled under the separator and knocked the other two outward. One of the beams fell onto Bost. The county medical examiner says the man died at the scene. State Department of Labor and Industries investigators are trying to determine the cause of the accident.

// Green building

Turner’s cloud-based tool tracks construction debris diversion

Turner Construction Co., New York City, has announced it has implemented TurnerTracker, a new, cloud-based tool for tracking construction debris diverted from landfills.

Turner says it formalized its commitment to sustainability in 2004, including establishing companywide goals for diverting construction debris from landfills. Since then, the company has kept from landfills a total of more than 2 million tons of construction material. In 2014 alone, Turner says its projects reported a diversion rate of 91 percent, a total of more than 446,000 tons of recycled, reused or salvaged material.

“We recognize that our responsibility includes not just what we build, but how we build it,” says Michael Deane, Turner’s chief sustainability officer.

He continues, “We are aware of the effect our operations—including job site energy and water efficiency and waste diversion. TurnerTracker is a tool that will help us monitor and report on our construction waste recycling in a much more streamlined and detailed way. We are measuring construction waste diversion as one piece of our broader effort to achieve our sustainable goals.”

TurnerTracker is integrated with the company’s enterprise software and project management system. With real-time, mobile access, the company says TurnerTracker has the capacity to store salvaged and reused material data, auto-populate LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) submittal forms, create waste management plans, which are required on all Turner jobs, and generate recycling trend reports from stored data.

It also includes detailed tracking of diverted material types, including metal, wood, paper, gypsum and concrete.

// Mixed C&D

American Fiber Green Products, Owens Corning sign deal

American Fiber Green Products Inc. (AFBG), based in Tampa, Florida, and Owens Corning, a Toledo, Ohio-based developer and manufacturer of insulation, roofing and fiberglass composites, have entered into a five-year agreement for recycling services. The deal calls for AFBG to recycle the glass-fiber-related material generated at Owens Corning’s Amarillo, Texas, plant. The material from that plant is currently being landfilled.

“The recycling plan in Amarillo represents continued progress toward Owens Corning’s 2020 environmental footprint goals,” says Doug Pontsler, Owens Corning vice president of environment, health and safety and operations sustainability. “Concurrent with our progress to reduce waste generation, we’ve made securing more reliable recycling for glass fiber waste a top priority. The solution from American Fiber Green Products, which will convert our waste into useful, marketable products, will help us achieve our sustainability goals.”

“AFBG is excited to provide recycling services to this market leader through our Amour Fiber Core subsidiary,” says AFBG Chairman Kenneth McCleave. “This contract has been in negotiations for over a year and a half and will substantially boost revenue for AFBG. The project will commence upon completion of construction of our recycling and manufacturing facility in the Amarillo area.”

McCleave continues, “Construction is expected to take about 12 months. We expect a successful recycling program in Amarillo to be the catalyst to an expanded relationship between our firms and potentially include other Owens Corning facilities around the country.”

// Demolition projects

Historic Pennsylvania bridge slated for July implosion

Pennsylvania’s Donora-Webster Bridge is in the process of being demolished. The 107-year-old span carries Route 837 over the Monongahela River between Donora and Webster, Pennsylvania, in Westmoreland County’s Rostraver Township. An implosion is scheduled for July 1.

Beech Construction Inc. of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, was awarded the $2.6 million contract to eliminate the bridge before the end of August.

According to an article in the Observer-Reporter, the contractor will use heavy equipment and cranes to remove smaller sections of the span over Norfolk Southern rail lines in Donora in preparation for the implosion that will send most of the bridge into the Monongahela River.

The bridge was closed six years ago due to its deteriorating condition. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of the way it was constructed with pins joining its steel beams. Local reports say this distinction wasn’t enough to save it from demolition. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will save small pieces of the steel and stone for Donora and Rostraver Township, according to the newspaper report.

According to an official with PennDOT, Beech employees removed the deck on the first two trusses on the Donora side of the river and removed the trusses with torches and cranes.

Before and during the blast, a 1,000-foot blasting radius will be closed off to the public, as will nearby roads. Sirens will alert the area of the impending implosion and a 10-second countdown to the implosion will be announced over a radio.

// Asphalt shingles

Ohio capital receives grant to boost asphalt shingle recycling

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the city of Columbus, Ohio, a $156,775 grant to help it recycle 3,500 tons of asphalt shingles into pavement that will be used to resurface city streets. The grant will be used to help the state’s capital pay for the recycled asphalt shingles (RAS), which will be added to the hot asphalt mix used to repave about 112 roads throughout Columbus.

The Ohio EPA says the city has not previously used RAS as part of the road surface mix.

The grant money will help Columbus to evaluate the effectiveness of adding residential RAS on a variety of road types. The grant money also will help Columbus determine whether the material is a good addition to the mixture the city uses to repair its roadways.

While currently it is more expensive to blend the RAS with the asphalt, the Ohio EPA says it expects the RAS/asphalt blend will become less expensive in the future. The grant will cover the additional amount spent during the 2015 study phase.

If the RAS asphalt mix reduces rutting and cracking, and Columbus adopts it as a permanent asphalt mix for additional areas, the city estimates it could divert 6,304 tons of roofing shingles from landfills each year.

// Green building

TOTO partners with Pine Hall Brick to recycle clay waste into building material

TOTO, a ceramic sanitary ware manufacturer based in Japan with U.S. headquarters in California, has announced that it has expanded its sustainability initiatives at its manufacturing facilities in Morrow and Lakewood, Georgia. The company has formed a cross-industrial strategic partnership with Pine Hall Brick Co., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which also practices sustainable manufacturing, says TOTO. A family-owned business that manufactures face brick, pavers and specially shaped brick, Pine Hall Brick will recycle TOTO’s high-grade clay sediment waste into premium white brick, primarily for commercial construction and specialized building projects, the company says.

As a part of its sustainable manufacturing processes, TOTO recycles the water it uses to produce vitreous china products at its Morrow and Lakewood facilities. Before returning this water to the Clayton County Water Authority, TOTO puts it through extensive treatment and purification processes, so it is in a cleaner condition than when TOTO received it.

As a part of its water treatment processes, TOTO removes high-grade white clay particulate from the water; this sediment is termed “filtercake.” By upcycling its filtercake with Pine Hall Brick, TOTO is able to prevent more than 3.8 million pounds of clay sediment from being deposited in landfills each year.

“Upcycling our high-grade filtercake to create premium commercial/specialty brick building material is another of our incremental projects and processes that combine synergistically to reduce our manufacturing facilities’ environmental impact,” says Bill Strang, TOTO’s president of operations for the Americas. “We don’t believe that there’s a ‘silver bullet’ when it comes to cutting a facility’s carbon footprint. Instead, we take a ‘silver buckshot’ approach by introducing many strategic initiatives that upcycle, recycle, reduce, reuse, repurpose and rebuy the environmental resources that we use in the production of our water- and energy-saving premium plumbing products. We have nearly attained carbon- and water-neutral status at our five North American plants.”

TOTO has received numerous awards and recognitions for its leadership in conservation and environmental sustainability. The company is the only plumbing manufacturer honored with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s prestigious Water Efficiency Leader award for its sustained efforts to promote a water efficiency ethic through outstanding leadership and innovation in water-efficient product development, sustainable manufacturing processes and water conservation advocacy.

// Legislation & regulations

Federal government issues new rules for H-2B visa workers

The Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued an interim final rule regarding processes for H-2B visa workers.

The new rule regulating the H-2B labor certification process is “virtually identical” to a similar 2012 rule, according to the departments.

Among the obligations for recycling facility operators and other companies and contractors using H-2B workers:

• if companies stop employing an H-2B worker, they must notify the DOL;
• all jobs must be at least 35 hours per week;
• workers must be provided with earnings statements, including hours worked and offered and deductions clearly specified along with copies of the job order;
• jobs must be advertised in newspapers and must be included in the new electronic job registry; there also is the possibility of required contact with community-based organizations;
• former employees with U.S. citizenship must be contacted with job opportunities;
• job offers must remain open to U.S. workers until 21 days before the employer’s start date of need;
• employers are prohibited from retaliating against workers exercising their rights under the program;
• companies are now only allowed to use the program for nine months instead of 10;
• employers must pay visa fees and other related charges;
• employers must pay inbound transportation and subsistence costs of workers who complete 50 percent of the job order period and the outbound transportation and subsistence expenses of employees who complete the entire job order period;
• employers must disclose their use of foreign labor recruiters in the solicitation of workers; and
• employers must display a poster describing employee rights and protections.
   

The DOL and DHS say they are involved in processing thousands of annual applications to the H-2B program, which grants temporary visas to seasonal workers in nonagricultural industries. One of the key areas of regulation—and contention—during the past few years has been the wage rates for seasonal workers.

However, after a challenge from Florida Rural Legal Services, a nonprofit labor rights group, the Northern Florida District Court ruled March 4, 2015, the DOL does not have the authority to issue regulations in the H-2B program.

// Association activities

Construction groups call for better safety measures at road construction sites

Forty-six percent of highway contractors reported that motor vehicles had crashed into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the results of a new highway work zone study conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Arlington, Virginia. AGC officials urge summer travel motorists to stay alert while driving through work zones, noting that drivers and passengers are more likely than highway workers to be hurt or killed in work zone accidents.

“If the thought of saving someone else’s life isn’t enough to get you to slow down, just remember that you and your passengers are more likely to suffer in a highway work zone crash than anyone else,” says Tom Foss, president of Brea, California-based Griffith Co. and chairman of the AGC’s Highway and Transportation Division. “In most work zones, there just isn’t enough margin for error for anyone to speed through or lose focus.”

Foss says 41 percent of contractors reported that motor vehicle operators or passengers were injured during work zone crashes this past year, and 16 percent of those crashes involved a driver or passenger fatality. Highway work zone crashes also pose a significant risk for construction workers, Foss notes. He says 16 percent of work zone crashes injure construction workers and 9 percent of those crashes kill them.

Work zone crashes also have a pronounced impact on construction schedules and costs, Foss says. He noted that 26 percent of contractors reported that work zone crashes during the past year have forced them to temporarily shut down construction activity. Those delays were often lengthy, as 48 percent of those project shutdowns lasted two or more days.

AGC officials say 69 percent of contractors nationwide feel that tougher laws, fines and legal penalties for moving violations in work zones would reduce injuries and fatalities. In addition, 80 percent of contractors say that an increased use of concrete barriers will help reduce injuries and fatalities. Additionally, 70 percent of contractors nationwide agree that more frequent safety training for workers could help. They add that firms and the association have crafted these types of highway safety programs.

The safety report findings are available at www.agc.org.

// Asphalt shingles

Massachusetts companies introduce additive for recycled asphalt

The Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry LLC (WBI) and Collaborative Aggregates LLC, both based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, have announced the commercial availability of Delta S, which they describe as “an easy-to-use liquid additive that reverses aging and oxidation in reclaimed asphalt for exceptional performance and longevity.” Delta S also performs as a warm-mix asphalt (WMA) additive, significantly reducing paving temperatures and minimizing energy consumption, according to the companies.

Delta S is designed for use in any traditional hot-mix, recycling, in-place recycling or WMA application. Renewably sourced, this plant-based solution is designed to reduce paving costs by increasing the amount of reclaimed asphalt that can be effectively used while reducing paving temperatures needed for optimal performance, according to the companies.

Delta S is designed to enable the use of higher ratio recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) to virgin asphalt and aggregate without affecting pavement performance, according to the companies.

// Facilities news

Advanced Disposal completes Wisconsin acquisition

Advanced Disposal Services Inc., Ponte Vedra, Florida, has completed the acquisition of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin-based waste hauling and recycling company Little Hoppers.

The acquisition includes municipal, residential and commercial customers located in Wisconsin’s Door and Kewaunee counties. The acquisition also includes a municipal solid waste, construction and demolition, and recyclable metals transfer station and trucks, containers and other equipment owned by Little Hoppers.

Advanced Disposal says 10 Little Hoppers employees are joining Advanced Disposal, including Steve Estes, the previous owner of Little Hoppers, who will serve as Advanced Disposal’s general manager for the hauling company and transfer station.

“This acquisition provides greater density and operational efficiencies within our existing Door County operations, in addition to granting the company a needed transfer station to more efficiently transport waste materials to their final disposal or recycling destination,” says Advanced Disposal Region Vice President Dan DeWaard.

Advanced Disposal also announced the addition of Alan Lovett as chief audit executive/vice president—internal audit. Lovett will oversee the company’s internal audit department and will work with management “to assess and enhance the company’s processes and internal controls for managing business risk, regulatory compliance and delivering organizational effectiveness and efficiency,” according to a news release.

“Alan’s expansive background and previous work experience make him well poised to take on his new role,” says Advanced Disposal Senior Vice President and General Counsel Michael Slattery. “His strengths and business acumen adds to our management team and will ensure we are compliant and continue to uphold our company standards.”

Advanced Disposal provides integrated, nonhazardous solid waste collection, recycling and disposal services in 17 states and the Bahamas.