Title
Construction and Demolition Material Recovery Facility at the Resource Innovation Campus
Description
This report provides information to the Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee regarding a Request for Proposals for leasing and development of a Construction and Demolition Material Recovery Facility at the Resource Innovation Campus located at 27th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY.
Report
Summary
Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste is generated during construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings and other types of infrastructure. C&D materials include inert material, dimensional lumber, pallets, crates, treated wood, contaminated wood, new gypsum scrap, demo gypsum scrap, insulation, rock, concrete, brick, roofing, cardboard, drywall, composite wood and other construction debris.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that in 2018, over 600 million tons of C&D debris were generated across the United States, which is more than twice the amount of generated municipal solid waste. At the regional level, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council reported 221 new businesses locating to the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area between Fiscal Years (FYs) 2016-17 through 2020-21, contributing to more than 17.3 million square-feet of new construction within the region. On a more local scale, the City of Phoenix Planning and Development Department reported 29,499 new construction applications and 8,716 demolition permit applications between FY's 2009-10 through 2017-18.
There are many benefits to reducing disposal of C&D materials, as most of the materials can be reused or recycled. According to the EPA, reducing the amount of C&D waste going to landfills or incinerators can provide increased business opportunities in the local community, reduce overall building projects expenses and transportation costs, offset environmental impacts associated with extraction and consumption of virgin resources and production of new materials, conserve landfill space, and create employment and economic activities in the recycling and circular economy industries. The EPA’s 2016 Recycling Economic Information Report showed upwards of 175,000 jobs created from the recycling of C&D materials.
C&D materials have been challenging for the City to divert from the landfill through existing recycling and composting programs due to Chapter 27 of Phoenix City Code that prohibits the City from providing solid waste collection services to commercial or industrial establishments or to any building with more than 30 multi-family dwelling units. Despite the City not being able to provide services to these sectors, a considerable amount of C&D waste materials comes through the City’s transfer stations and is sent to the landfill. With increased population growth comes increased construction and development to meet the population needs in terms of housing, office space, retail space, and more. As of July 1, 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the Phoenix metro area population grew by an average of 291 people per day, with Maricopa County's population climbing by 85,820, which is more than any other U.S. county. Additionally, the entire Phoenix metropolitan area population grew by an estimated 106,008 to 5.1 million people, which is the fastest pace of the top ten metro areas. The amount of C&D waste materials is anticipated to increase significantly over the coming years with the rate of growth in our region.
The Request for Proposals will seek one or more entities for a general diversion solution for C&D materials currently in the City’s waste and recycling streams and other construction, renovation, and demolition projects, to be located at the City’s Resource Innovation Campus (RIC).
The City will identify the primary C&D Material Recovery Facility site on the RIC. The RIC is the City’s regional circular economy hub with approximately 40 acres of lease-ready land for innovators with market-ready technologies and manufacturing processes that reuse or repurpose waste materials to advance the City’s circular economy initiatives and waste diversion goals of 50 percent waste diverted from landfill by 2030 and zero waste by 2050. By seeing waste materials like C&D materials as a resource, Phoenix has made the paradigm shift from a linear to a circular model of waste management. By having a circular model focus, materials are diverted from the landfill and redistributed to create economic activity.
Location
27th Avenue Transfer Station - 3060 S. 27th Ave.
Council District: 7
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Karen Peters and the Public Works Department.