Turner Construction tallies recycled material volumes on cloud platform

Sources: Turner Construction Co., New York; CP staff

The top gun in general contracting has deployed a real time, mobile device-ready tool, TurnerTracker, measuring the amount of demolition concrete and other site waste diverted from landfills. “[It] will help us monitor and report on our construction waste recycling in a much more streamlined and detailed way,” affirms Turner Construction Chief Sustainability Officer Michael Deane.

Integrated with the company’s enterprise software and project management system, TurnerTracker has the capacity to store salvaged and re-used material data; auto-populate LEED submittal forms; create waste management plans required on all Turner jobs; and, generate recycling trend reports from stored data, including specifics on concrete, gypsum, metal, wood and paper waste volumes.

Diverted material is sorted by type and prepared for new function or service, i.e. concrete crushed for aggregate or fill, or demolition rebar returned to steel mills, where it is readily recycled. In some cases, waste is re-used on the same contract. At the Sacramento Entertainment and Sports Center in California’s capital city, the project team is recycling more than 90 percent of demolition waste, estimated at 96,000 tons. Abundant concrete is being crushed to serve as part of the project’s foundation.

“We recognize that our responsibility includes not just what we build, but how we build it [and] are aware of the effect our operations—including jobsite energy and water efficiency, and waste diversion,” notes Deane, who was named Recycler of the Year in 2012 by the Construction Materials Recycling Association. Since 2004, he adds, Turner Construction has diverted more than 2 million tons of construction material from landfills, and in 2014 attained a diversion rate of 91 percent—representing nearly 450,000 tons of recycled, re-used or salvaged material.

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