Interview

Interview with AECOM Construction Company worker Garrett Perdick

• How big of construction sites do you remove materials from

  • We remove materials from sites of varying sizes. Anything from sidewalk construction all the way up to large interchange construction.

• How do you remove materials

  • Materials are removed using many methods depending on the nature of the material. Concrete is broken up then scooped into dump trucks using different kinds of loaders.

• Do you sort any of the materials

  • Yes, concrete, hot-mix, earth are all separated. The earth is broken down into topsoil and the different classes of fill.

• Any materials you don’t take

  • Any hazardous or contaminated soils are taken to special sites by special haulers to be dealt with.

• Cost to remove materials

  • Depends on the materials. Earth is a lot cheaper to remove than concrete. Cost increases depending on the amount of labor needed to remove material.

• What do you do after you collect the construction materials

  • Reuse as much as we can, concrete is broken down and reused for fill, hot-mix is broken down and used as road base. Earth is reused for different jobs.

• Do you work with any recycling companies

  • Yes, it depends on materials and which company has a need to recycle it.

• Challenges

  • Always challenges, condition of materials, construction location and which recycling company is closest, etc.

Interview with Henan Jinghong Construction Co., Ltd Hongtao Hao

• How big of construction sites do you remove materials from

  • Generally, recycling is carried out according to the unit of construction area, such as square meters, or according to the number of slag recycling vehicles.

• How do you remove materials

  • There is no uniform way of enforcement, which varies according to the requirements of municipalities in different regions. In some areas, all construction waste can be directly removed and even there will be vegetation in the mixed waste.

• Do you sort any of the materials

  • In some areas, all construction waste can be directly transported to a waste treatment plant without sorting waste, and they will sort the waste. However, in some areas, construction waste needs to be classified, mainly divided into waste soil, demolition waste, construction waste and decoration waste..

• Any materials you don’t take

  • I have not dealt with any construction waste that requires special handling..

• Cost to remove materials

  • The disposal price of a truck of garbage is 500 RMB (about one hundred US dollars), and the length and width of the garbage truck are about 320 cm and 180 cm. One truck can handle about six cubic meters of construction waste. This disposal price includes waste transportation and disposal costs.

• What do you do after you collect the construction materials

  • Reuse will be attempted in individual aspects, such as sorted concrete blocks, which can be used as cement additions after crushing.

• Do you work with any recycling companies

  • There is no fixed partner, usually the company cooperates with the waste disposal company in the area wherever its project is located.

• Challenges

  • The main challenge is to control the processing time of construction waste. For example, some regions have introduced relevant laws to control the time period that garbage trucks can drive in the city. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that each garbage truck has completed the solid coverage of the construction waste in the garbage truck on the construction site, as well as the washing of the garbage truck to ensure that the garbage truck will not damage the environment when it appears on the road.

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