Hard Hat Recycling Program

Theresa Lehman

Director of Sustainable Services

Miron Construction Co., Inc.

LEEDuser Premium Member

40 thumbs up

January 8, 2024

Hi,

I believe a while back there was communication about a hard hat recycling program. Does anyone have any information about a hard hat recycling program? The contractors in the midwest have finally switched to the new style of hard hats with the chin strap and are requiring all subcontactors to comply by July 1, 2024. I'd like to implement the hard hat recycling program and divert all of the hard hats from the landfill. If anyone has any information, could you please share it?

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Laura Soma

Sustainability Manager

GLY Construction, Inc

LEEDuser Premium Member

3 thumbs up

Mon, 01/08/2024 - 16:50

When we switched over to the new hats, our recycler accepted the hard hat shell (just remove the interior framework). You may want to check with whoever handles your co-mingle waste.

Steven Burke

Senior Director, Sustainability

Suffolk Construction

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Tue, 01/09/2024 - 14:19

If you go into the SCL forum and search for “Hard hat” or something along those lines the post should still be available. That is the resource I first turned to when Consigli was interested in doing hard hat recycling. Since moving companies, I no longer have the emails that had all the pricing info we collected on that, but Liz Allen at Consigli should still have access to it if she can share it. We ended finding a plastic recycler that was taking plastic waste and turning it into things like composite blocks for building materials and plastic Adirondak chairs and such. You may be able to find a plastic recycler or plastic waste upcycler in your area that could do something similar for you. There was a wide range in pricing of the vendors we looked at. Good luck! Steven Burke Senior Director, Sustainability D | +1 (617) 654 0691 C | +1 (617) 581 3644 suffolk.com Fro

Elizabeth Allen

Sustainability Manager

Consigli Construction

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Tue, 01/09/2024 - 15:28

Theresa and all - here is what we had found at Consigli with our initial research (I believe this is the same as what Ryan Hughes at Structure Tone had mentioned in the original discussion from 2021 that Steve mentioned) Options with TerraCycle and Rubicon/g² revolution:

Hardhat Recycling Pricing:
1. TerraCycle: Zero Waste Pallet Bag (35"x35"x55") = $2,200.00 for 150 hard hats
2. Rubicon & g² revolution: relies on waste-to-energy method of disposal
  1. PPE Collection Box (13"x13"x29") = under $100/box and estimated 20 boxes needed for 150 items (flat rate includes S&H)
  2. Bulk shipments using gayloard boxes = $0.30/lb for processing (transportation not included in price)

As Steve mentioned we ended up partnering with a plastic recycler near us - EvolveRM, we're early partners here and we're still trying to figure out pricing and final repurposing for our hard hats, but they're very willing to work with us on these things - hope that helps.