Title: Solid waste management strategies and global sustainability of deconstruction

Authors: Bill Boone, Manar Shami, Howard Weinick

Addresses: Program Manager, SWS Program, Concurrent Technologies Corp., Largo, FL 33773, USA. ' Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95211, USA. ' Chemical Engineer, Concurrent Technologies, Corp., Largo, FL 33773, USA

Abstract: This paper provides a proof that higher diversion rates of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste from the US landfill sites are not only good from a sustainability standpoint but also an achievable goal. When deconstruction occurs, proper planning should start to take advantage of all technologies and processes available for recycling and reuse along with the emerging markets for transformed C&D materials. In that regard, the mission of the Defence Base Closure and Realignment Commission and its impacts on community and the environment has been discussed and deconstruction projects of Department of Defence (DoD) military installations were analysed in detail in this paper. Although DoD has been pioneering a lot of C&D solid waste management projects to reap the benefits of higher diversion rates from landfill, there have been discernible efforts by the industry to attain diversion rates as high as 90% in many instances.

Keywords: base realignment and closure; BRAC; building codes; C&D diversion rate; composting; deconstruction technologies; construction; demolition; embodied energy; recycling; sustainability; tipping fees; sustainable development; solid waste; waste management; military installations; USA; United States; environmental management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2008.017333

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2008 Vol.8 No.2/3, pp.229 - 260

Published online: 27 Feb 2008 *

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