C&D World session preview: A 360-degree view of concrete recycling

At C&D World 2025 (March 11-14, Dallas), attendees will learn and share valuable knowledge during the education program featuring a range of sessions covering essential construction and demolition (C&D) recycling industry trends and topics.

In the Concrete Recycling: A 360-Degree View session on March 13 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. CT, John Thomas, president of the Construction & Demolition Recycling Association; Eric Griffith, general manager of Luck Stone, Stanardsville, Virginia; Don Marsh, editor of SEMCO Publishing, Denver; Trey Brown, vice president of Big City Crushed Concrete, Dallas; and Brian Zickafoose, vice president of USA Materials, Chester, Virginia, will provide a comprehensive overview of concrete recycling trends, challenges and opportunities.

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Construction & Demolition Recycling spoke with Thomas about the session and what attendees can expect to learn from the panelists.

Construction & Demolition Recycling (C&DR): What are some of the key challenges and opportunities faced by the aggregates recycling industry today?

John Thomas (JT): Two of the largest operational challenges faced during processing are dust control and product contamination. In this session, we will speak about different techniques used for dust suppression as well as the removal of foreign materials such as metal, wood and debris.

C&DR: Over the years, what innovations or technologies have entered the market to improve the efficiency of concrete recycling?

JT: With oscillating conveyors, drone inventory data and aggregate wash plants gaining popularity, the efficiency of concrete crushing operations has been taken to a whole new level.

C&DR: Looking at end markets, what are some potential new or growing markets for recycled concrete products?

JT: Besides the common uses of recycled concrete such as road base, parking lots, driveways and backfill material, new and emerging end market products include fine graded, engineered fill sand for environmental fill and remediation sites.

C&DR: How can the industry better address the issue of pH leaching in recycled concrete?

JT: Commonly used practices for containing pH leaching are establishing containment areas with controlled stormwater run-off catch basins, tarping stockpiles and placing containment booms to absorb the leaching material.

C&DR: How can the industry overcome barriers to using well-processed recycled materials in new concrete and asphalt?

JT: Recyclers have to continue to lobby state and federal agencies to allow the use of recycled materials. In this session, the panelists will discuss what they are doing in each of their states.

C&DR: What are the benefits of integrating recycled materials into virgin aggregate products?

JT: The benefit of using recycled aggregates is they are typically much cheaper than virgin mined materials. The other benefit of using recycled concrete CA6 is the material is consistently 15 percent lighter than virgin CA6. This means you get 15 percent more volume per ton than virgin material.

C&DR: What can attendees expect to take away from this session?

JT: This session’s panel will provide a comprehensive introduction to various concrete recycling techniques and processes based on factors such as operation size, local demand for end markets and preferred crushing equipment such as cone or jaw crushers.

Attendess also will gain valuable insights into the benefits of aggregate recycling, the challenges operators face—such as fugitive dust emissions and regulatory restraints on reuse—and the various types of equipment used for preparing and crushing concrete.