A developer’s proposal to sort construction debris materials before dumping them at the landfill, in exchange for waived tipping fees, has led to a pilot program that could improve operations and increase recycling at the New Hanover County facility.
At their regular meeting this week, county commissioners approved the program, which would waive tipping fees at the landfill for patrons who source-separate debris such as sheetrock, lumber, asphalt shingles and concrete or brick.
Joe Suleyman, the county’s environmental management director, said the program is expected to significantly reduce the cost of processing debris, which is currently brought to the landfill with materials mixed together.
By encouraging companies to sort their stuff in exchange for waiving the fees—$55 per ton for general construction debris—Suleyman said both the county and customers would end up saving money, while at the same time preserving space in the landfill and facilitating recycling of debris materials.
Suleyman noted the idea was proposed by Burrows Smith, vice president and managing partner of River Bluffs, a planned residential community on the Northeast Cape Fear River. Smith said if commissioners approved the program, he could sell the concept to his builders and others, who would sort their debris before bringing them to the landfill.
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“I’ve already talked to a few of the builders, and they’re excited about it,” Burrows told the board. “They look at it as a way to save money; I look at it as a way to keep my site from having so many dumpsters and trucks going in it. And if we can save money, that would be an added bonus, too.”
Smith called the concept “one of the rare private-public opportunities,” describing the program as a benefit to all parties.
Commissioner Jonathan Barfield questioned how landfill staff would ensure the debris had been properly sorted before granting a waiver. Suleyman replied that such inspections go on now and would continue under the program.
“Every load, even without this program in place today, gets inspected,” Suleyman said, “because that information has to get radioed back to the scale house to make sure that they assign the correct tipping fee for that.
“So what we’re doing is we’re just adding three more commodities into that mix,” he said, referring to the designated waste streams for “clean” wood, sheetrock, and concrete, brick and dirt.
Suleyman noted the program could incentivize builders to sort such materials, reducing costs to the county of doing so on-site and facilitating recycling, which in turn would produce additional revenue streams.
While treated or engineered wood would not be sought for recycling, Suleyman said pieces of wood cut off from a building frame can add up quickly, taking up considerable landfill space. Asphalt shingles can be ground up and recycled for use in road asphalt, while sheetrock—rich in calcium—can be used as a soil supplement, Suleyman told the board.
Scrap metal can also be recycled, he said, noting three metal recycling firms in proximity to the landfill on U.S. 421. Concrete, brick, asphalt and cinderblocks can also be ground up and used for road applications, Suleyman said.
“So what we’ve seen over the last 10 or 15 years is, instead of just throwing that stuff away, let’s find an end-use market for it and get it out of the landfill and maybe generate some revenue from the sale of that material,” Suleyman said. “At the very least, reduce the cost of a project on down the road.”
With the board’s approval Monday, the pilot program will be in place at the landfill through June 30, 2015.
Jonathan Spiers is a reporter for Port City Daily. He can be reached at (910) 772-6313 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @jrspiers
