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Deconstruction and Building
Materials Reuse
With support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
Region 2 office, NY Wa$teMatch is promoting the recovery
and reuse of building materials in New York City. The program's
goals are to reduce the amount of landfill waste from construction
and demolition and to encourage the development of new businesses
that salvage, refurbish, and sell reusable building materials.
The program focuses on deconstruction as an environmentally
and financially preferable alternative to conventional demolition.
Deconstruction is the process of dismantling old buildings
in order to recover the materials for reuse. Real estate
developers can realize lower costs by specifying deconstruction
on their projects, and contractors can gain a competitive
edge by salvaging and selling materials rather than throwing
them away. To learn more, please read NY
Wa$teMatch's Guide to Deconstruction.
The program involves several activities. We have advised
a major commercial real estate developer on how to incorporate
deconstruction on a building project in midtown Manhattan.
Having conducted a site assessment and proposed an approach
to incorporate reuse and recycling on the project, NY
Wa$teMatch coordinated the developer's efforts to implement
the approach. Read the brochures created to showcase this
deconstruction project.
We continue to conduct outreach and education to the building
industry on the benefits of deconstruction and the practical
aspects of starting deconstruction businesses and managing
deconstruction projects. In 2003, NY Wa$teMatch held two
workshops on deconstruction. We also developed an online deconstruction
resource tool, the NY
Wa$teMatch Building Materials Reuse Calculator.
Additionally, we support efforts to recover and reuse building
materials by:
- conducting site assessments
- preparing waste management plans
- finding markets for reusable building materials
- recommending recyclers for other demolition waste
NY Wa$teMatch invites building professionals to contact
us for help with innovative and financially viable strategies
for managing construction and demolition waste. Please contact
NY Wa$teMatch at info@wastematch.org
or 212-650-5832.
Learn about Build It Green! - New York City’s only building material reuse center
Food and Organic Waste
NY Wa$teMatch is currently researching cost-effective alternatives
to landfill disposal for food and organic waste. Source
reduction is the best way for companies to reduce their
food waste disposal costs. NY Wa$teMatch can audit your
company's food waste output and recommend practices that
will reduce the amount of food waste generated. We are also
researching alternatives to traditional disposal for New
York City's food waste generators. Possible alternatives
include establishing collection routes so waste can be transported
to commercial composting facilities outside the city, expanding
small-scale nonprofit composting facilities in city parks
and community gardens, and launching a local composting
enterprise. If you would like to learn more about source
reduction, our research activities or opportunities to participate
in pilot composting programs, contact us at info@wastematch.org or 212-650-5832
Carpet Reuse and Recycling
According to the U.S. EPA website, “approximately
4.7 billion pounds of carpet were discarded in the United
States in 2002. Most years, carpet accounts for over 1 percent
of all municipal solid waste by weight or about 2 percent
by volume. The bulky nature of carpet and the variety of
materials used in its manufacture often create handling,
collection, and recycling problems for local and state governments.”
To address this issue the U.S. EPA signed a memorandum of understanding with carpet
and fiber manufacturers to reduce the amount of carpet landfilled
by 40% by 2012. The memorandum of understanding
resulted in the formation of Carpet
America Recovery Effort (CARE). NY Wa$teMatch and CarpetCycle
are joint grant winners of CARE's
2004 grant awards. NY Wa$teMatch and CarpetCycle
are working together to eliminate thousands of pounds of
used carpet from going directly to landfill. CarpetCycle,
a carpet removal firm, is collecting the carpet as it removes
old carpet in preparation for installing new carpets in
office buildings and other commercial properties in the
tri-state area. After testing the materials that are to
be disposed of, CarpetCycle makes determinations at each
job site as to whether carpet is suitable for reuse, recycling
or disposal.
If interested in receiving a free
assessment to find out if carpet recycling or reuse is appropriate
for your business, e-mail your answers to the following
questions to info@wastematch.org.
Please allow 24 to 48 hours to process your request. If
we have any questions, we will contact you as soon as possible.
- Where is the jobsite located?
- Who is the contact person for the project? Provide
the contact information (phone, fax or e-mail).
- What are the total square feet or square yards of the
project?
- How many 'Phases' in the project? i.e.: 90,000 sq.
ft. removed at once, or occupied renovation over several
weeks? (We handle both.)
What is the pedigree or the type of existing carpet? Broadloom
or carpet tiles? Installed with separate padding beneath?
Or glued down directly on concrete?
Hospital
Pollution Prevention
NY Wa$teMatch and Hospitals
for a Healthy Environment (H2E) are promoting the development of a closed-loop Materials Exchange in health care facilities. Combining H2E’s specific knowledge about hospital procurement and waste with NY Wa$teMatch’s specific knowledge of NYC waste challenges and proven hands-on technical assistance , is an ideal way to help the health care community in NYC make better purchasing decisions, reduce waste streams, and associated costs.
The concept behind developing such a tool is that there is much disparity in purchasing power within different departments/units within one organization and few organizations have centralized purchasing activities. So a well-endowed children's unit may discard equipment while performing upgrades, while an associated, under-funded clinic might not have the funds to buy that same piece of equipment. Currently, there is little way for the two departments to talk to each other. A closed-loop Materials Exchange would provide that information throughout the network/organization and identify means of transferring equipment within an organization.
We are currently seeking a participant to pilot this concept. Under this initiative, the participant would receive closed loop access to our Materials Exchange and assistance from our staff to help roll out the program and make sure the exchanges occur. Quarterly reports detailing the success of the program will be provided for a one year period.
Health care facilities interested in learning more about closed-loop Materials Exchanges should contact NY Wa$teMatch at 212-650-5832.
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