Manufacturing Methods and Processes

If you run your own construction or excavation business, then you may run into a situation where you need to get rid of large piles of broken concrete so a new build can begin. A concrete disposal dumpster is often required for this. However, you have the option of going through a concrete salvage company that will recycle the concrete for you. Keep reading to learn about the benefits of this.

It Is Cheaper

Recycling concrete through a concrete salvage company is often quite a bit cheaper than using a dumpster to throw the concrete away. A typical dumpster rental company will allow you to get rid of several tons of concrete at once. The weight of the concrete is used to determine the load in terms of safety and practicality for the dumpster removal truck. A cubic yard of concrete weighs about two tons, and this means that only a few cubic yards of concrete can be placed in a single dumpster. The dumpster cost will reflect the heavy debris and can cost over $500 per load, depending on where you live. If you happen to go over the heavy debris weight limit, then you will be charged an overage fee. The fee may be as high as $100 per extra ton of debris. This depends on the overage charges set by the landfill facility.

While commercial construction dumpsters may be larger and can often accept more weight, you may still be limited in the amount of heavy waste material, like concrete, bricks, and soil that can be placed in the dumpster. The same sorts of costs are associated with the wastes. While it may be cheaper to rent your own clean fill dumpster, you will need to go to the trouble to make sure that all concrete is clean and free of other wastes and organic debris. 

With these costs considered, recycling is far cheaper than waste removal. Recycling services like concrete salvage businesses will charge you to haul the concrete away and to actively crush it so it can be recycled. While the hauling can cost several hundred dollars, the crushing is usually only about a few dollars a ton. You can sometimes skip the sorting process as well as the salvage company will do this and they will use large magnets as well to remove rebar before the concrete is crushed. Crushed concrete is then used to create cement for new concrete or it is used as a construction or fill material. 

It is Environmentally Friendly

Concrete recycling is environmentally friendly. The recycling keeps waste out of landfills. This is particularly important because about 25% of all solid waste is made up of construction materials. Of this construction material, upwards of 50% is made up of concrete. This means that a large volume of waste can be removed from landfills by simply cutting down on the amount of concrete that is thrown away. 

When crushed and recycled concrete is used in place of aggregate gravel materials, this reduces the need for the mining of gravel materials used as road, concrete, and asphalt bases. The weight of the concrete fill material is also advantageous when it comes to stabilizing the soil that sits underneath it. This reduces erosion concerns and issues with failing constructions.

Concrete recycling also reduces the need for new cement manufacturing. Cement manufacturers are large polluters of the environment. In fact, they are the third largest polluter and release large volumes or carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide into the environment. When old concrete is crushed and used in place of new cement, then this can reduce pollution concerns substantially.