Richard A. Ludt Waste Management Administrator Interior Removal Specialist, Inc. LEED ® AP

Interior Removal Specialist, Inc. Interior demolition contractor since 1994 Began hauling own debris in 1998 Received California State certification as C&D Processor in 2003 Received Full Solid Waste Permit in February 2008 Demolished nearly 10,000,000 square feet of commercial interior space in 2008 Produced 31, tons of debris Recycled 24, tons (78%) Had to look at diversion differently due to waste stream

Award winning diversion brings interesting questions GEELA in 2006 SWANA Gold and Silver in 2006 WRAP of the Year in 2006 CRRA Gold in 2006 ISWA Innovation Award in 2007 Why did we win? What are we doing differently?

Commercial Interior demolition vs. New Construction demolition Construction and demolition debris can and should be broken down to two or three separate waste streams Full building demolition creates a completely different waste stream than tenant improvement or CI debris CI Debris is lighter and harder to separate than full building demolition debris Road and Bridge work could be a category in itself, consisting of strictly concrete, asphalt, and metals

Hard vs. Soft demolition Full building demolition debris Commercial Interior demolition debris

Largest Weight Factors New Construction Full Building Demolition Commercial Interior Demolition Most weight comes from concrete, steel, wood, dirt Traditional demolition waste stream Easily diverted Most weight comes from gypsum wallboard, metal, plastic laminate cabinetry, particle board, and carpet Many non-traditional diversion items Fewer markets

Heaviest materials, hard vs. soft demolition Hard demo Soft demo

Difficulties in diversion in CI projects Donation or sale of usable materials and furniture difficult if material is not removed before demolition, storage for these materials can be problematic Ceiling tile recycling difficult if material is not saved on jobsite at time of demolition Carpet recycling is expensive in Southern California due to cost and distance to recyclers Plastic laminate cabinets and particle board furniture is not compostable or mulchable.

Donation possibilities

Facility Averages The accepted form of computing a diversion rate is to use a facility average Facility Average is computed as total tons inbound minus tons sent to landfill equals diversion rate Facilities do not track hard vs. soft demolition loads Facilities often issue receipts that say Mixed C&D Debris, recycled --% without breaking down materials Without material breakdown, no real accounting can be achieved

Los Angeles Averages City of Los Angeles produced over 800,000 tons of C&D debris in 2006 Metals, wood, inerts, and cardboard accounted for nearly 70% of all recycled materials Approximately 22 % of all incoming debris was sent to landfill

Commercial Interior Demolition recycled material percentages* Drywall % Metals % Wood % (Only 2% of this material is dimensional lumber, the remaining 98% is particle board and plastic laminate cabinetry, traditionally not captured by C&D facilities) Interts (Tile, Granite, Marble)- 9.57% Carpet- 7.96% Ceiling Tile- 4.82% Cardboard- 1.24% Total % *By weight, based on tonnage from 2008, Interior Removal Specialist, Inc. yard

Hard to recycle materials

Actual diversion at traditional facilities Metal, wood, inerts and cardboard account for about 26.25% of CI demolition loads by weight These same materials account for 75% to 90% of full building demolition loads by weight Mixed CI loads at many facilities are only sorted for the metals, cardboard, and whatever dimensional lumber they can recover, meaning that mixed CI loads are generally recycled at a rate of far less than 50%, yet are given the Facility Average diversion rate

Commonly recycled materials

What are we really burying? The Toxic 20% When inerts are taken out of the waste stream, only the organic, toxic and potentially toxic are left When buried in large quantities gypsum wallboard produces greenhouse gasses Particle board contains adhesives and chemicals that contribute to landfill leachate Carpet and plastics may stay in landfills for centuries to come Organics create methane gas, 23 times more harmful than Carbon Dioxide

How did this come to be? Large waste haulers approached C&D as a waste stream, not a diversion opportunity When diversion became mandatory, processors simply went after the low hanging fruit Inerts were the easiest and most plentiful materials by weight Most people not in the waste industry are not familiar with the actual mechanics of C&D diversion and do not understand the failure of facility averages in tracking actual diversion for CI projects

Where do we go from here? Educate ourselves Look at spaces before demolition to find donation items Work with contractors to make sure that the debris is being taken to City certified facilities Require proof of diversion at completion of projects

Richard A. Ludt Waste Management Administrator LEED® AP Interior Removal Specialist, Inc.