I am considering submitting a Pilot LEED Credit for verifying (or certifying) the actual recycling of building waste materials, whether it is from construction or an EBOM operation. I am curious what LEEDusers think about developing an independent third-party verification system for the landfill diversion documentation that is currently being used to obtain LEED credits? Our company does this for no fee in the Mid-Atlantic region. I recently attended a USGBC event, which a premiere developer exclaimed that 96% of a former large commercial building was "recycled." I happen to know where most of this material went, and I can safely say that was not the case. The Construction Materials Recycling Association, is trying to weed out some of the worst offenders, but their CORE proposal stops at the outbound gates of a recycling facility, and does not follow the materials to the next point(s) in the chain of becoming a recycled product. As a consulting firm, we follow the chain of material recycling or disposal to obtain real recycling rates for our clients. We also believe those recycling facilities that are real deals, should be rewarded for their efforts. Also, obtaining real recycling rates (many are in the 20-50% range), gives the industry much more room to improve for decades to come. Rates of 96% leave little room to improve the industry's performance. I do applaud CMRA for its CORE proposal as a first step.
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Jeff Jones
OwnerAccountable Recycling Options
42 thumbs up
July 25, 2011 - 6:17 pm
I would like to stand CORRected, much thanks to the CMRA. Here is what I understand, and anyone from CMRA is willing to add on if they would like:
The CORR proposal is in late development stages, and is intended to improve accountability for facilities which are reporting recycling rates. Part of the goal is to improve the accuracy of the reported rates. One of the methods to do this is follow the flow of materials going to a recycling facility, and then following the complete logistical chain of the materials until they are in fact recycled. The most important part, which I stand corrected from my statement above, is the CORR proposal will go beyond the gates of the "recycling" facility to check the next point in the chain to verify the material is in fact being recycled (or not). As I stated above, I applaud CMRA for this proposal, and I stand corrected on my statement above.