Nudging end markets

Developing local end markets for recycled materials seems to be a persistent challenge in the construction and demolition (C&D) industry.

In the past, even concrete could be a tough product to find markets for, depending on local regulations for products such as road bases.

While Geno Evans, co-owner and founder of Orange City, Florida-based GEL Recycling, currently has a hard time keeping up with the demand for recycled concrete, that was not the case when he first started the business in 1984.

“We had to go through the whole process of convincing everyone that this was a good product,” he says of the company’s recycled aggregate.

GEL Recycling tries to find new markets for materials that otherwise could end up in the company’s C&D landfill in Deland, Florida. One of the firm’s challenges is gypsum, which Evans says is hard to process. The Florida market for recycled gypsum is further complicated by the large supply of virgin materials created by Florida’s gypsum mines.

Learn more about Evans’ journey with GEL Recycling in our article “Growth through necessity."

C&D fines, asphalt and treated wood are other materials that sometimes are difficult to market. Some states such as Massachusetts are forcing the issue by banning some C&D materials from disposal.

Fortunately, end markets for asphalt are getting better as states and cities increasingly permit higher percentages of recycled content.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, treated wood can be recycled for use in wood cement or composites, but the agency says sending it to waste-to-energy facilities isn’t recommended, and disposal in unlined demolition landfills is prohibited.

Hard-to-recycle C&D materials, such as gypsum and treated wood, could require a regulatory nudge to help markets develop. With extra motivation—either a carrot in the form of grant funding or a stick in the form of disposal bans—firms seem to find ways to productively reuse a wide variety of materials.

While the industry has been able to find ways to develop quality recycled materials (asphalt, for example), gypsum, asbestos, elements in carpeting, treated wood and other materials can be more challenging. This scenario often leaves the waste and recycling industry unfairly left to find ways to manage these materials. In those cases, extended producer responsibility or sustainable materials laws could be possible solutions to expanding these markets.