Optimizing plant operations

What is one piece of equipment veteran construction and demolition (C&D) recyclers wish they had implemented from the start? At a C&D World 2025 session on optimizing plant operations, the answers ranged from presizers to electric feeding machines to fire detection systems.

As part of Optimizing Plant Operations: Best Practices for Efficiency and Success, moderator Rody Taylor, owner of KC Dumpster, Kansas City, spoke with operators from across the U.S.: Rich Lodgek, president of Mercer Group, Trenton, New Jersey; Ron Tazelaar, owner of Taz Recycling, Chicago; and Terrell Garrett, founder and CEO of GreenWay Recycling, Portland, Oregon.

Lodgek, who runs a 1,500-ton-per-day operation at Mercer Group’s C&D recycling facility and transfer station, installed a Pri-Max PR6600 primary reducer from SSI Shredding Systems, Wilsonville, Oregon, to make 30-inch cuts at the front of the line.

“We don’t want to go any smaller than that because you want to be able to identify and still sort the materials that come across the belts and the lines,” Lodgek said.

A presizer also has helped tremendously when it comes to avoiding jams on the line, he added.

“We were very against it in the beginning because we just felt like we were going to lose recovery,” Lodgek said. “But when you realize how much time you were spending on the floor—when the material handlers should be feeding the system all day long, and when they’re there, chopping to break down material—that’s wasted [time].”

For Tazelaar, whose company processes 400,000 tons annually through four C&D recycling facilities, adding an electric excavator on the front end was a game-changer.

“You don’t have to do oil changes, you don’t have to blow out radiators,” he said. “Some of our facilities, we don’t have the power to do that, so it’s a bit of a challenge, and the price is quite a bit different, too, but I think you save a lot more.”

Lodgek said another recent addition he wished he had made years ago was investing in a targeted fire suppression system from Farmington Hills, Michigan-based Fire Rover. Taz Recycling also has installed a Fire Rover at an indoor facility it operates.

“Especially now with the lithium batteries in the industry, we’ve never had more fires than we’ve had in the past year and a half [to] two years, and it’s been literally a lifesaver,” Lodgek said. “Batteries are definitely an industry problem right now, but that has helped me sleep.”

As for other concerns that keep these operators up at night, Lodgek said it’s a multitude of factors, most of which involve the safety of his facility.

“I had a couple scary experiences prior to getting Fire Rover,” Lodgek said. “We have cameras that monitor basically everywhere in our facility. Every night, before I go to bed, I look at the camera.”

These cameras helped Lodgek catch a potential fire, where a leak from a broken pipe was dripping onto an open wire on the ground.

“We had a massive leak coming right down onto the floor,” Lodgek said. “So, you know, driving over the to the facility [at] 2 o’clock in the morning is always really fun.”

End market challenges & opportunities

For Mercer Group, which operates a concrete recycling facility, a wood recycling facility and a scrap metal sorting and recovery yard, the most challenging end market to navigate has been alternative daily cover, or ADC.

“Landfills want it, [then] they don’t want it, [then] they want it,” Lodgek said. “But throughout the years, we’ve always found different purposes for it, and it’s a big recycling category for us.”

In Portland, where Garrett oversees a mom-and-pop family operation that runs a home-built system, GreenWay Recycling also struggles with end markets for ADC and recycled wood. In addition to wood, Garrett said he’d like to see an increase in demand in the shingle market.

“Over the years, I cleaned up most of the shingle piles in Oregon, but we don’t have any demand in Oregon,” he said. “So, our shingles are either used beneficially in the landfill to burrito wrap asbestos areas or for roadways and landings, or we haul them clear to Tacoma, where there is demand.”

Tazelaar agreed, saying he sees far more supply than demand for shingles. However, he’s keeping an eye on gypsum as a new end market coming online in his area.

“There’s a new facility that just opened up,” Tazelaar said. “We’re starting to separate at the facility, so we’re looking forward to that. And it’s always good when a new end market comes online.”

When it comes to marketing tactics to increase tonnage into their facilities, each operator described similar methods they employ. Mercer Group has door-to-door sales representatives covering different counties and internal telemarketers who make calls to existing contacts, while Taz Recycling targets demolition contractors that often bring in loads of material high in recoverable wood scrap, aggregates and more.

Another strategy Tazelaar uses is what he calls “storm chasing.”

“Where there’s hail damage, you see all the roofers going out and you get a free roof, right?” he said. “Well, that material needs to go somewhere, and so you just canvas that neighborhood. It’s been pretty effective.”

Future of C&D recycling equipment

While none of the three operators’ facilities uses robotics or artificial intelligence (AI) technology, all three expressed interest in potentially incorporating AI in the near future.

“Over the years, we haven’t really been convinced yet to do heavy optical sorting or robotics because we just felt like it was too limited for the volume that we handle,” Lodgek said. “We just couldn’t spend that much time [fine-tuning it]. But I think it’s come a long way, and … it seems like it’s getting better and better.”

Garrett agreed that AI and robotic technologies are improving.

“We’re getting close, but we’re going to have to do a better job of prep,” he said. “I think people are asking these machines to do many things to address a mix of products that [are] too varied in size or composition. Or when they do their work, you end up doing all this QC [quality control] that negates the economics of the situation. It’s coming forward very quickly, but we’re going to have to do the other part in order for them to be able to do their part.”

The numbers game

Each operator approaches performance metrics differently. Tazelaar builds site comparisons each month for the company’s four C&D processing sites, comparing the process to “taking someone’s blood pressure.”

“If something’s running out of line at a specific location … then we’ll drill down on that particular site and look at the line item and say, ‘What’s going on here?’” Tazelaar said. “Once we have the number, [we go], ‘OK, now we have something wrong. Let’s dig in, do some bloodwork and figure out further what’s going on,’” he said.

For Mercer Group, a key metric is average inbound revenue per ton, which translates directly to outbound disposal costs.

“If it’s within a dollar or two, you’re pretty happy with that. But if there’s fluctuations, then you’ve got to look back,” Lodgek said. “Are we doing something wrong in our recycling process, or do we have something that’s not working correctly? Is the labor not picking and sorting correctly?”

Volume is the biggest factor contributing to GreenWay’s bottom line, Garett said, playing an even larger role than recovery rates. He watches seasonal changes and uses public records requests from local government agencies to compare his facility’s numbers to those of competitors.

“I compare my facility’s results to the competing facilities to make sure that the changes in my numbers are reasonable and in line with the entire marketplace,” Garrett said. “If our volume is dropping … in the marketplace, is C&D dropping in the marketplace? What’s going on? It gives me a much better feeling to make sure that we’re not missing something.”

The author is managing editor for Construction & Demolition Recycling and can be reached at smann@gie.net.