Legislators in Texas have passed a bill banning the high-output operation of several types of portable crushing plants within one quarter-mile of any homes, churches or schools. “In essence, that kills portable crushing in Texas,” says Leonard Cherry, the owner of a Houston-based demolition and recycling company and current president of the National Association of Demolition Contractors (NADC).
The NADC, the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) and other groups are trying to work with state regulators to develop “more common sense rules,” in the words of CMRA executive director William Turley.
Critics of the Texas legislation are pointing to a suspicious loophole: owners of licensed landfills and transfer stations are exempt from the ban, leading one observer to comment, “It sounds like the legislation was tailored by the solid waste industry.”
The Texas law also imposes stricter rules on mixed C&D recyclers, including a tougher permitting process.
Troubling proposals are also facing C&D recyclers in California, where the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) is developing new regulations for C&D recyclers.
Much of the increased regulation there is focusing on mixed C&D processors, where larger processors of materials may soon have to acquire solid waste permits, which are more expensive and difficult to obtain. There is also concern that the new regulations, as written, would require C&D recyclers to landfill many loads rather than process them and remove contaminants.
As in Texas, recyclers in California believe the push for the new regulations is coming from the solid waste industry, which sees the growing C&D recycling industry as one that is diverting material (and revenue) from the solid waste stream.
“C&D recyclers in both states are rumbling that many of the distasteful parts of the mixed waste regulations are being pushed by the big waste companies, who are beginning to realize C&D recycling is here to stay,” says the CMRA’s Turley. “So now, some say, they are trying to control the business through regulations that favor their positions in the industry.”Latest from Recycling Today
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