Every American business can do its own part to protect the environment. Offices can recycle paper. Landscaping companies can opt to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides. And industrial demolition contractors can follow the eco-friendly tips listed below.
1. Recycle what you can, both for the earth and for the sake of your clients’ budgets. Imagine a range of approaches to reusing materials from industrial demolition.
Montana’s Missoulian newspaper has featured The Factory, a paragon of whole-building recycling. This condominium building incorporated all kinds of repurposed construction materials, from massive steel support beams to roofing materials that have been transformed into flooring. This would be on the extreme end of the demolition reuse scale – lots of labor would be required during demolition to preserve reusable materials.
On the other end of the recycling scale, we have scrap metal and concrete recycling – processes all industrial demolition contractors should be able to achieve. The bonus comes in client satisfaction, since selling scrap metal can offset project costs while recycled crushed concrete can be used in new construction or site preparation.
We should mention here that Elder Demolition is one of the largest scrap metal recyclers on the West Coast; we also maintain mobile concrete crushers to facilitate on-site concrete recycling. The Building Materials Reuse Association estimates that renovation and demolition materials make up 90 percent of the construction debris sent to landfills every year. Do your part to limit landfill growth; recycle what you can.
2. Prevent storm water runoff during demolition. This is more than just an environmental concern – in many municipalities, it is also the law. Portland, Ore., for instance, requires industrial demolition contractors to install sediment barriers or other temporary erosion control measures to prevent storm water runoff. The dust that demolition creates turns to silt downstream, and silt can have devastating effects on water ecosystems. For instance, fish eggs that are covered in silt cannot hatch, throwing off reproduction rates and ecological balance. Preventing storm water runoff also prevents surface toxins (such as the heavy metals found in gasoline) from polluting downstream organisms.
3. Educate workers on hazardous materials. Demolition crews may come in contact with hazardous materials such as lead, asbestos and even radioactive metal. Environmentally conscious industrial demolition contractors have a duty to protect their workers and the environment through top-notch education on safe deconstruction techniques.
Here at Elder Demolition, we are proud to be one of the greenest demolition firms on the West Coast. We maintain huge crushers, enormous shears and other demolition equipment that allows us to recycle scrap metal, concrete and more. Furthermore, we provide annual asbestos, lead awareness and fall protection training for all foremen, operators and laborers. Call us if you’re looking for an earth-friendly partner in industrial demolition. Montana, Colorado and Oregon are just a few of the western states where we operate.
[Photo by: Wonderlane, via CC License]