Idaho recycling company finds reuse opportunities for yard and construction waste

Boise, Idaho-based Tree Top Recycling has been making the most out of housing growth opportunities in the Treasure Valley by turning an increased amount of yard and construction waste into usable products.

As reported by KTVB, the company has been collecting materials such as lumber, pallets, scrap wood, trees, branches, bushes, grass leaves, and dirt—just to name a few. Dustin Downs, the owner of Tree Top Recycling, says the company will take almost anything organic, just not metal or concrete.

Once the collected materials are screened, they are sent into a grinder to be shredded. Even if there are nails in recycled wood, for a small cost, Tree Top will take it.

“We just pull out the metal and then we take the metal to a recycling center, so even the trash we pull out, we recycle in some way,” Downs told KTVB.

The green materials are then broken down to become landscape materials, like bark, topsoil, or mulch, and even cattle bedding. The materials are also used to generate clean electricity.

“The amount of homes being built, the amount of people coming in, if I can make a dent in saving some of that material and reusing it, that's fantastic,” he said.

Downs added, his small fee is less than what the landfill charges to dump garden waste.

“You can even go to the landfills too, they're too full I mean they have a chart of expected growth, and lately it’s been astronomical, because of our growth,” he said.

Since taking over the 25-year-old recycling company created by his father eight years ago, Downs said he has seen nothing but growth and increased demand from customers.

“With the influx of people coming in, everyone is wanting to do this, I know I'm a business owner but it’s good for everyone and it helps, we are making money but also saving the environment, and on Earth Day it can’t be better than that,” he said.