Builders and environmentalists may at times be at odds. But when it comes to the issue of recycling responsibly, they can find enough common ground.
By Kish Rajan
It is no secret that construction is extremelyhard on the environment, so it comes as no surprise that builders and environmentalists have perennially been at odds in the state of California. By looking at California as a battleground where high demand for housing and deep environmental interests have continually collided, there is no question that the recycling industry plays an absolutely critical role in mitigating some of that tension.
Milestones
California has been at the forefront of environmental stewardship since not long after it officially gained statehood on September 9, 1850. One watershed moment dates back to about 50 years later when the Sierra Club was founded by John Muir based on his deep conviction that wild spaces should be preserved for all to enjoy, a move that was, for obvious reasons, extremely unpopular with logging companies eager to harvest as much old growth redwood as they could for building material. Other milestones like setting emissions standards for motor vehicles in 1964 and becoming the first state to enact automotive emissions regulations in 1967 kept this momentum going. Soon after, the first coastal protection agency in the country was established to protect San Francisco Bay. More significant moves followed such as instituting the first energy efficiency standards for appliances in the seventies and founding the California Environmental Protection Agency in the 1990s. Then in the early 2000s California set an aggressive milestone to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 with the Global Warming Solutions Act. Now the state is committed to achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.
While the environmental movement gained an unshakeable foothold in the state, other opposing interests were rising up to meet the growing demand for housing and infrastructure that came with massive waves of population growth. The most successful survivors of the gold rush, those who developed goods and services to support the fortune seekers, firmly established their businesses and built on that growth in San Francisco and elsewhere. WWII and the boom times in the 1950s led to major changes in the state鈥檚 demographics and building needs. Industries like aerospace, oil and gas, and technology requiring massive manufacturing footprints and large workforces led to suburban sprawl in the South Bay, Sacramento, and the Inland Empire. Naturally, construction companies proliferated to support this rapid expansion.
It鈥檚 mind-boggling to consider how these wide-ranging and consequential environmental protections have coexisted with the massive spikes in population growth that have occurred throughout the course of the state鈥檚 history, especially within the context of today鈥檚 unprecedented housing crisis. According to a recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California, 1 in 8 US residents call the state home. With more than 39 million people and the fifth largest economy in the world, in many ways California is more like a country than a state. All of these people need places to live, and someone needs to build those homes.
Photos courtesy of MDRR.
Building Requirements
Companies that do construction in California鈥攔egardless of how dedicated they are to following eco-conscious practices鈥攄o not have an easy task. They are required to contend with a panoply of stringent state and federal environmental laws before ever breaking ground on a job site. Even after projects are in the late stages of construction California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) claims can halt progress for months or sometimes years. And builders devoted to going the extra mile in reducing their carbon footprint or achieving net zero face even steeper challenges. Working to meet or exceed Leadership in Engineering and Design (LEED) standards requires painstaking consideration during every step of the process from site planning and materials selection to environmental mitigation and debris disposal. Here is where recycling companies play an unmistakably essential role. How and where builders discard their construction debris truly matters.
An Essential Role
One of the ways Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery (MDRR) helps construction companies exceed their environmental quality goals is by keeping over 90 percent of the 1.6 million daily pounds of discarded material we process at our state-of-the-art recycling center out of landfills. For demonstrating such a high diversion rate with our Construction & Demolition line at our Material Recovery Facility (MRF), MDRR has achieved certification from the Recycling Certification Institute (RCI). This certification further demonstrates MDRR鈥檚 ongoing commitment to keeping material out of landfills and keeps Contra Costa County in a leadership position on the critical issue of environmental stewardship. Another reason builders and their crews gain an advantage when they bring construction debris to MDRR is through direct reporting to Green Halo, which California cities now require for construction projects. By taking their waste to MDRR, eco-conscious builders can earn Green Halo credits that count toward obtaining LEED certification.
Builders and environmentalists may at times be at odds. But when it comes to the issue of recycling responsibly, they can find enough common ground to cover the entire Golden State. | WA
Kish Rajan is the forward-thinking, data-driven, and tech-minded CEO at Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery. Under Kish鈥檚 leadership and guided by a philosophy called Community Resource Optimization, MDRR is committed to increasing the value of every type of material the company collects and processes. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support renewable energy production, create new products from reclaimed materials, and improve the quality of the communities it serves, MDRR works tirelessly to develop and implement innovative solutions for diverting organic material and useful commodities away from landfills. From the time Kish first joined MDRR in 2019 as Chief Administrative Officer, Kish has leveraged his long track record of success in the private and public sectors to help his co-workers identify and pursue new growth opportunities that benefit both business and community. Using his unique background in both the public and private sectors, Kish is adept at solving big problems, increasing efficiencies, and gaining consensus across disparate constituencies to get the highest impact projects done.
For more information, visit mdrr.com or contact Nicole Impagliazzo at [email protected].