How to Choose types of scrap shredder?

Unwanted material produced directly or incidentally by the construction industries

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Construction waste causing substantial fugitive dust emission in a densely populated area in Hong Kong

Construction waste or debris is any kind of debris from the construction process. Different government agencies have clear definitions. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA defines construction and demolition materials as 'debris generated during the construction, renovation and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges.' Additionally, the EPA has categorized Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste into three categories:  non-dangerous, hazardous, and semi-hazardous.[1]

Of total construction and demolition (C&D) waste in the United States, 90% comes from the demolition of structures, while waste generated during construction accounts for less than 10%.[2] Construction waste frequently includes materials that are hazardous if disposed of in landfills. Such items include fluorescent lights, batteries, and other electrical equipment.[3]

When waste is created, options of disposal include exportation to a landfill, incineration, direct site reuse through integration into construction or as fill dirt, and recycling for a new use if applicable. In dealing with construction and demolition waste products, it is often hard to recycle and repurpose because of the cost of processing. Businesses recycling materials must compete with often the low cost of landfills and new construction commodities.[4] Data provided by 24 states reported that solid waste from construction and demolition (C&D) accounts for 23% of total waste in the U.S.[5] This is almost a quarter of the total solid waste produced by the United States. During construction a lot of this waste spends in a landfill leaching toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment. Results of a recent questionnaire demonstrate that although 95.71% of construction projects indicate that construction waste is problematic, only 57.14% of those companies collect any relevant data.[6]

Types of waste

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C&D Materials, construction and demolition materials, are materials used in and harvested from new building and civil engineer structures.[3] Much building waste is made up of materials such as bricks, concrete and wood damaged or unused during construction. Observational research has shown that this can be as high as 10 to 15% of the materials that go into a building, a much higher percentage than the 2.5-5% usually assumed by quantity surveyors and the construction industry. Since considerable variability exists between construction sites, there is much opportunity for reducing this waste.[7]

There has been a massive increase in construction and demolition waste created over the last 30 years in the United States. In , 135 million tons of construction and demolition debris by weight were created and had risen to 600 million tons by the year . This is a 300% increase, but it is important to note that since the EPA has kept records of how the waste is disposed of. In , 600 million tons of waste was created due to construction and demolition, and 143 million tons of it resides in landfills.[2] This means that about 76% of waste is now retained and repurposed in the industry, but there is still more waste being exported to landfills than the entire amount of waste created in .

This unsustainable consumption of raw materials creates increasing business risks. This includes higher material costs or disruptions in the supply chains.[8] In , the EPA created the Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Program Strategic Plan which marked a strategic shift by the EPA to move emphasis from broad resource recovery initiative to sustainable materials management. Since material management regulations largely exist at a state and local level, this is no real standard practice across the nation for responsible waste mitigation strategies for construction materials. The EPA aims to increase access to collection, processing, and recycling infrastructure in order to meet this issue head on.

Main causes of waste

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Construction waste can be categorized as follows: Design, Handling, Worker, Management, Site condition, Procurement and External.  These categories were derived from data collected from past research concerning the frequency of different types of waste noted during each type of these activities.[9] Examples of this type of waste are as follows:

Steel reinforcement

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Construction site in Amsterdam

Steel is used as reinforcement and structural integrity in the vast majority of construction projects. The main reasons steel is wasted on a site is due to irresponsible beam cutting and fabrication issues. The worst sites usually end up being the ones that do not have adequate design details and standards, which can result in waste due to short ends of bars being discarded due to improper planning of cuts.[10] Many companies now choose to purchase preassembled steel reinforcement pieces. This reduces waste by outsourcing the bar cutting to companies that prioritize responsible material use.

Concrete Mixer

Premixed concrete

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Premixed concrete has one of the lowest waste indices when compared to other building materials. Many site managers site the difficulties controlling concrete delivery amounts as a major issue in accurately quantifying concrete needed for a site. The deviations from actually constructed concrete slabs and beams and the design amounts necessary were found to be 5.4% and 2.7% larger than expected, respectively, when comparing the data from 30 Brazilian sites. Many of these issues were attributed to inadequate form layout or lack of precision in excavation for foundation piles. Additionally, site managers know that additional concrete may be needed, and they will often order excess material to not interrupt the concrete pouring.[10]

Pipes and wires

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It is often difficult to plan and keep track of all the pipes and wires on a site as they are used in so many different areas of a project, especially when electrical and plumbing services are routinely subcontracted. Many issues of waste arise in this area of the construction process because of poorly designed details and irresponsible cutting of pipes and wires leaving short, wasted pipes and wires.[10]

Improper material storage

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The second leading cause of construction waste production is improper material storage. Exposure to the elements and miss handling by persons are due to human error.[10] Part of this human error can lead to illegal dumping and illegal transportation volume of waste from a jobsite.[11]

Recycling, disposal and environmental impact

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Recycling and reuse of material

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Recycling Trucks

Most guidelines on C&D waste management follows the waste managing hierarchy framework. This framework involves a set of alternatives for dealing with waste arranged in descending order of preference. The waste hierarchy is a nationally and internationally accepted concept used to priorities and guide efforts to manage waste. Under the idea of Waste Hierarchy, there is the concept of the "3R's," often known as "reduce, reuse, recycle." Certain countries adopt different numbers of "R's." The European Union, for example, puts principal to the "4R" system which includes "Recovery" in order to reduce waste of materials.[12] Alternatives include prevention, energy recovery, (treatment) and disposal.

It is possible to recycle many elements of construction waste. Often roll-off containers are used to transport the waste. Rubble can be crushed and reused in construction projects. Waste wood can also be recovered and recycled.

Landfilling

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Some certain components of construction waste such as plasterboard are hazardous once landfilled. Plasterboard is broken down in landfill conditions releasing hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas. Once broken down, Plasterboard poses a threat for increases Arsenic concentration Levels in its toxic inorganic form.[13] The traditional disposal way for construction waste is to send it to landfill sites. In the U.S., federal regulations now require groundwater monitoring, waste screening, and operator training, due to the environmental impact of waste in C&D landfills (CFR ).[14] Sending the waste directly to a landfill causes many problems:

Landfill

Incineration and health risks

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Where recycling is not an option, the disposal of construction waste and hazardous materials must be carried out according to legislation of relevant councils and regulatory bodies. The penalties for improper disposal of construction waste and hazardous waste, including asbestos, can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars for businesses and individuals.

Waste Incinerator

Waste-to-energy facilities burn more than 13% of solid municipal waste. The toxic fumes emitted by WTE plants can contain harmful chemicals such as mercury and other heavy metals, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and dioxins.

Dioxin was used as a waste oil in Times Beach, Missouri. Days after the chemicals were introduced to the community animals began dying. By the time the EPA deemed dioxins to be highly toxic in the s, the CDC recommended the town be abandoned entirely due to contaminated waste products in the area. By , the entire population of Times Beach had been relocated, prompting Missouri to build a new incinerator on the contaminated land. They continued to burn 265,000 tons of dioxin-contaminated waste until .

Dioxins are a family of chemicals produced as a byproduct during the manufacturing of many pesticides and construction materials like carpeting and PVC. These chemicals exist in the environment attached to soil or dust particles that are invisible to the naked eye.

Dioxins break down slowly. It still threatens public health at low levels. Since industry has mostly stopped producing dioxins, one of the largest contributors releasing harmful dioxins left in the United States is waste incineration. Dioxins have been proven to cause cancer, reproductive and developmental issues, and immune system damage. Rates of cancer such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and soft tissue sarcoma rise significantly the closer one lives to the pollutants' source.[17]

Management strategies

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Waste management fees

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For more types of scrap shredderinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

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Waste management fees, under the 'polluter pays principle', can help mitigate levels of construction waste.[18] There is very little information on determining a waste management fee for construction waste created. Many models for this have been created in the past, but they are subjective and flawed. In , a study method was proposed to optimize the construction waste management fee. The new model expands on previous ones by considering life-cycle costs of construction waste and weighs it against the willingness to improve construction waste management. The study was based out of China. China has a large waste management issue, and their landfills are mostly filled in urban areas. The results of the study indicated different waste management fees for metal, wood, and masonry waste as $9.30, $5.92, and $4.25, respectively. The cost of waste management per square meter, or just under 11 square feet, on average was found to be $0.12.[19] This type of waste management system requires top-down legislative action. It is not a choice the contractor has the luxury of making on his/her own.

Europe

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In the European Union (EU), there is now significant emphasis on recycling building materials and adopting a cradle-to-grave ideology when it comes to building design, construction, and demolition. Their suggestions are much clearer and easier at the local or regional level, depending on government structure. In the EU Construction & Demolition Waste Management Protocol, they emphasize the benefits beyond financial gains for recycling such as job creation and reduced landfilling. They also emphasize the consideration of supply and demand geography; if the recycling plants are closer to urban areas than the aggregate quarries this can incentivize companies to use this recycled product even if it is not initially cheaper. In Austria, there are new improvements in the recycling of unusable wood products to be burnt in the creation of cement which offsets the carbon footprint of both products.[20]

The EU urges local authorities who issue demolition and renovation permits to ensure that a high-quality waste management plan is being followed, and they emphasize the need for post-demolition follow-ups in order to determine if the implemented plans are being followed. They also suggest the use of taxation to reduce the economic advantage of the landfills to create a situation where recycling becomes a reasonable choice financially. However, they do include the fact that the tax should only apply to recyclable waste materials. The main points of how the Europeans choose to address this issue of waste management is through the utilization of the tools given to a governing body to keep its people safe. Unlike in the United States, the EU's philosophy on waste management is not that it is an optional good thing to do when you can but a mandatory part of construction in the 21st century to ensure a healthy future for generations to follow.

Taxing landfill has been most effective in Belgium, Denmark and Austria, which have all decreased their landfill disposal by over 30% since introducing the tax. Denmark successfully cut its landfill use by over 80%, reaching a recycling rate over 60%. In the United Kingdom, all personnel performing builders or construction waste clearance are required by law to be working for a CIS registered business.[21] However, the waste generation in the UK continues to grow, but the rate of increase has slowed.[22]

A panorama of construction waste in Horton, Norway

United States

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The United States has no national landfill tax or fee, but many states and local governments collect taxes and fees on the disposal of solid waste. The California Department of Resource Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) was created in to address the growing C&D waste problem in the United States. CalRecycle aids in the creation of C&D waste diversion model ordinance in local jurisdictions. They also provide information and other educational material on alternative C&D waste facilities. They promote these ordinances by creating incentive programs to encourage companies to participate in the waste diversion practices. There are also available grants and loans to aid organizations in their waste reduction strategies.[22] According to a survey, financially incentivizing stakeholders to reduce construction waste demonstrates favorable results.  This information provides an alternative way to reduce the cost so that the industry is more careful in their project decisions from beginning to end.[23]

See also

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References

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• Construction Waste Management Database from the Whole Building Design Guide of the National Institute of Building Sciences

Have you been thinking about how to deal with all of your metal waste? Have you considered a metal shredder as an option?

A metal shredder can help improve business efficiency, as it will allow you safely dispose of waste, clearing up time and space for you to proceed with other activities of your business.

However, there are a number of different factors that go into choosing the right shredder for your needs. Here are the seven questions you need to ask when choosing a metal shredder.

1. What Does A Metal Shredder Do?

While you might already know a thing or two about metal shredding, it's good to be clear on what these devices can be used for so you get the most out of your shredder.

A metal shredder can be used in the following applications:

• Reducing your business' metal waste to more movable material (e.g. strips or small particles)
• Destroying sensitive information stored on electronic devices
• Assisting with recycling
• Allowing metal to be reused or repurposed

Disposing of metal properly is important to not only make your business more efficient, but also to protect the environment and safeguard your investments. The importance of each factor may vary depending on your business, but regardless, you should consider each of them before committing to a particular metal shredder.

2. What Will You Be Shredding?

Next, determine what exactly you will be shredding. This takes into account the following components:

• The type of metal
• The type of objects and their shape
• Whether the metal contains sensitive information

Certain shredders are more appropriate for different types of materials. For example, if the metal being fed into the machine is a hard alloy, a stronger shredder will be needed. On the other hand, a standard metal shredder can handle items such as thin strips of aluminum.

3. What Shredding Capacity Do You Need?

There are two sub-questions to be asked in regards to metal shredder capacity:

• Will you be shredding a lot or a little?
• How often will you be shredding?

If your business produces large amounts of metal waste on a daily basis, you'll want a machine with a higher capacity, meaning you will be able to feed more metal into the machine at a higher rate.

You should also check out the cool-down time of the shredder. Shredders use a lot of energy as they heat up very quickly. Make sure that the shredder you want is going to be able to be used as often as you want.

4. What Safety Features Do You Need?

The safety features you need will likely depend on who will be using the machine and what is being shredded.

If the people using the machine are inexperienced, it's a good idea to get one that can be used easily. However, if you are shredding large or complex items, this may not be possible.

Safe metal shredders will have features such as protective screens and auto-shutdowns.

5. What Are Your Space Constraints?

This one might seem obvious, but it's an essential factor to consider. If you are operating a small warehouse, you may only have room for a small shredder. If that's the case, hopefully, you aren't shredding bulk materials.

Before you purchase a shredder, do an audit of your current business space, and see how your available space can be optimized. Once you've worked out how much space you have to spare, you will know the maximum shredder size you can get.

6. How Do You Want Your Metal to Be Shredded?

There are four main ways that a metal shredder will cut:

• Grind
• Strip-cut
• Cross-cut
• Particle-cut

A metal grinder will destroy the metal completely and transform it into dust.

A strip-cut shredder reduces the metal into strips, much like a standard paper shredder.

A cross-cut shredder works by making two separate cuts. It will make one cut one way (e.g. vertical) and then cut again the other way (e.g. horizontal). As a result, the pieces coming out on the other side will be small pieces, often in the shape of squares or diamonds.

The particle-cut shredder uses multiple cuts to create a more specific shape than the cross-cut shredder.

Deciding which of these shredding methods is best for you will have a lot to do with the type of metal you are cutting, as well as how you plan to transport it once it's been cut.

If you are dealing with sensitive information on electronics, you may want a shredder that cuts the metal into smaller pieces so that nothing slips through.

7. What Extra Features Do You Need?

There are a lot of different metal shredder features that go beyond the considerations outlined above. For example, some metal shredders will also work with other materials, such as wood and plastic.

Other metal shredders will come with features that impact the ease of use, or give you greater control over its operation.

To determine which extra features you might want, it's best to look at the available shredders and see what they offer. They might have features you didn't know existed or could have a use for. Often, these features will provide a lot of added value, so take the time to review them.

Get Shredding

A metal shredder provides an excellent solution for those dealing with business waste. It can improve efficiency in your workplace by quickly destroying materials that are no longer needed.

It also makes it easier to remove this waste from the building or worksite. Additional benefits include assisting with recycling, destroying sensitive electronic information, and helping to reuse metal waste for other purposes.

It's important to consider all the different ways that a metal shredder can work for your business before choosing one. By answering the questions above, you should be able to choose a shredder that maximizes your business' efficiency.

So, now that you've worked out everything you need to know about how to choose the right shredder, the only question that remains is where to find it?

Don't wait around ' check out our range of industrial shredders and get shredding today!

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