CMRA Responds to Proposed C&D Burning Ban in New Hampshire

The Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), through its Issues and Education Fund, has partnered with the University of New Hampshire to address a proposed ban on burning construction and demolition material in New Hampshire.

UNH will begin conducting research on the life cycle costs and benefits of burning C&D material for energy recovery on behalf of the CMRA, according to William Turley, executive director of the CMRA.

The association is responding to the introduction of New Hampshire’s House Bill 428, which would permanently ban the burning of wood derived from the C&D material stream as fuel as of Jan. 1, 2008, effectively replacing a current moratorium that expires Dec. 31, 2007.

The bill has been gaining support among state officials. New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch released a statement earlier in March applauding members of the state House Science, Technology and Energy Committee for recommending approval of the proposed legislation in a 13-1 vote.

Turley says the ban could slam the door shut on an important market for recycled C&D debris in New England. “Currently, there are no wood fuel power plants, except for some that use residues from the logging industry, in New Hampshire, so there is nobody using C&D wood fuel now in the state, although a couple such facilities have been proposed,” says Turley. “We might see these ideas that C&D wood is in some way unsafe spread to other states, and we don’t want this untrue concept to take hold.”

Through its partnership with UNH, the CMRA hopes to provide data to New Hampshire lawmakers that proves the material can be used as wood fuel with comparable environmental impacts to other fuel products. The research will take place in several phases, according to Dr. Jenna Jambeck, research assistant professor, the Environmental Research Group of the Department of Civil/Environmental Engineering University of New Hampshire.

According to Jambeck, UNH will first conduct a review of published articles and reports that address the combustion of C&D wood with energy recovery. Then, UNH will conduct a life-cycle analysis (LCA) of various management options for C&D wood using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool (MSW DST). The MSW DST contains life-cycle environmental data for transporting, combusting with energy recovery and landfilling C&D wood debris. “An LCA provides a holistic method of analysis that illustrates environmental benefits and trade-offs. Information from the LCA can be used alone or in further structured decision making,” Jambeck says.

Jambeck adds that a precedent for the safe use of C&D wood in wood fuel applications has already been set in the state of Maine. “Currently, permitted facilities in Maine combust C&D wood with energy recovery,” she says. “The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) published a report that reviewed available emissions data from Maine showing that ‘the use of appropriately processed C&D wood is similar in its emissions profile to that of virgin wood.’” Additionally, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) compared emissions results to ambient concentrations, and the impacts were below the state air quality guidelines, even using worst-case assumptions.

Jambeck says that scientific evidence suggests the combustion of C&D wood can be conducted with air pollution technologies that are currently available that comply with state and federal emissions regulations.

Keeping the avenue to burning C&D wood open is not only important to New England’s C&D recycling industry, but to the country as a whole as it tries to find alternative ways to meet energy demands, says Turley. “These plants are the future—a way to wean ourselves from dependence on coal and foreign oil,” he says. “Emissions from these stacks can be much cleaner than coal. We are looking for a way to get our message out there, and we’re hoping that the science will carry the day.”

More information on the CMRA is available at www.cdrecycling.org. More information about HB 428 is available at www.nh.gov.