As a design + construct firm whose mission is to create, we use a lot of material. We are thoughtful about how our projects impact the environment and we consciously incorporate existing materials where possible. In addition to reusing material, we recycle what we do not use. And Los Angeles County and the State of California ensures that we do.
I cannot think of one client who has visited their project under construction and has not expressed concern over the amount of debris that results from demolition and construction. It is alarming. It feels good to be able to reassure them that for almost 14 years now, recyclable construction and demolition debris must be diverted from the landfill. In LA County the minimum is 50% of all material must be diverted from the landfill, in Santa Monica the minimum is 70%! All debris must be hauled by permitted haulers to approved recycling facilities. All debris must be tracked and reported. And even the smallest of projects must comply.
But there is even better news, the actual diversion rates in the LA area (the percentage of material that does not go into the landfill) averages close to 85% with many facilities recycling 100% of the material they receive. Diversion rates depend on a few factors and not all material is recycled equally, but more and more material is recyclable all of the time. The more creative ways we come up with to use recyclable material, the more material can be recycled. Who would have thought that baby diapers could be made into anything, let alone roofing tile!
We're happy to share more ingenious ways construction and demolition debris is being repurposed, just email us.
If you want to recycle as much as possible on your next home renovation, consider deconstruction instead of demolition. Deconstruction is a more expensive and time consuming careful dismantling of items so that more material can be salvaged and reused. Also, help encourage recycling by buying products made from recycled materials. In the meantime, ask us to show you some of the finishes made from recycled material that we have used in projects; we’d love to share!
