Managing C&D Debris for the Future
Today's guest blog is co-authored by Cynthia Mormile of MSW Consultants and Melissa Wenzel of Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The original post can be read here.
Architecture 2030 has stated that a third of existing US buildings will be demolished by 2050—waste that, in large part, goes straight to landfills. In Minnesota, a staggering 90 percent of construction and demolition (C&D) debris is generated by demolition activity related to commercial and residential redevelopment.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) hired MSW Consultants through a competitive procurement process to determine where C&D materials come from and where they are brought to for disposal, to work towards changing current practices for C&D disposal and diversion. Our team conducted a statewide study, sampling the composition of the state’s C&D waste and estimating the percentages of major material groups and categories present using our proprietary app that incorporates material densities with volumes observed…