Missoula Contractors: Hold the Bulldozer, Try Recycling

By Dana Green, 4-21-06

When Frank Scariano, a Missoula general contractor, began renovations on the H.O. Bell building on 4th Street, he didn’t just ring up a demolition crew and bring in the bulldozers.

Instead, after weighing the costs, he hired Gary Delp, a salvage contractor, to “deconstruct” the historic commercial building in the heart of Missoula’s bustling hip strip – the commercial district south of the river.

Delp systematically took apart the interior of the old structure, salvaging thousands of 2x4s and other wood, which he sold at the building site. Scariano saved money by salvaging and selling parts, primarily because the building was a goldmine of wood, steel, carpeting, and other usable materials.

“It was probably one-third the cost of taking it to the landfill,” said Scariano. “Because there was so much good material, we were able to get that out and sell it.”

Far more often, Missoula contractors are taking the opposite approach – hiring a demolition team to bulldoze old buildings and take them directly to the landfill north of town.

Scariano, and architect Jeff Crouch of Kibo Group, had a “green” building in mind from the beginning – they are hoping the building will eventually receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification, Scariano said.

But in this case, they also saved money on the salvaging process, while keeping waste out of the landfill.

Scariano doesn’t think that cost is the primary obstacle for Missoula contractors to recycle and salvage materials. Instead, education and awareness is the key, he believes.

Delp agrees – while time can be an issue, mostly it is a matter of habit among local contractors.

“It’s outside of the box – having someone come in to a job and sort through all the wood and other materials,” he said. “They’re just used to calling in a demolition company and hauling it to the dump.”

Lauren Varney of Home Resource, a local nonprofit organization which resells used building materials and other goods, hopes to make salvaging and recycling a standard practice on Missoula construction sites.

Varney, a former carpenter who now runs Home Resource with his partner, Matt Hisel, believes that contractors take usable materials straight to the dump because that’s how they’ve always done it. Worried about time delays and cost, they call in the demolition crew without contacting them to get a salvage bid, Varney said.

“There’s a preconceived notion it’s going to be more time-consuming and expensive,” he said.

Salvage contractors like Delp can deconstruct a site, bringing the materials to Home Resource or selling it for profit. It does take more time – two to three weeks, versus two days to bulldoze a building – but contractors usually have a wait before building permits are approved, Varney said.

“Usually they don’t move on a project for a couple of weeks,” Varney said. “If they lined us up beforehand, just like any sub-contractor, it wouldn’t affect their timeline.”

Home Resource also offers a tax deduction for donated materials, along with the reduction in dump fees.

Jim Pelger, who is developing Regent Place, a mixed-use commercial building off South Avenue, salvaged more than 2,000 studs from the old building site, along with a wealth of trusses, doors, windows, insulation, concrete, and blacktop. Damaged wood went to Johnson Brothers, where workers grind up old wood and pallets into “hog fuel,” feeding the machines at Stone Container and other industrial sites.

Pelger figured that it probably cost about the same or a little more, with extra labor costs, to salvage the old materials as it would have been to have someone haul it away and dump it. But it was the right thing to do, he said.

“We got a tax break, and we saved on dump fees,” he said. “There (can) be an economic benefit for builders to be salvaging a lot more material.”

Scariano acknowledged that cost has to be a consideration when deciding whether to hire a salvage or demolition contractor.

“In this case it was cheaper,” Scariano said of the H.O. Building renovation project. “Often, it is not.”

Max Bauer, general manager of Allied Waste Services (formerly BFI) in Montana, would like to see salvaging be a voluntary step by contractors – rather than raising dump fees to encourage it, as other cities have done.

Bauer noted that the company does provide a recycling center, located on West Broadway, to encourage recycling rather than dumping.

Opened in 1968, the 56-acre Missoula landfill holds more than 3.9 million tons of waste, with 233,000 tons added per year, according to 2003 figures. With about 15 years of life left in the landfill before they have to find a new site, Bauer doesn’t see any urgency in forcing contractors to salvage or recycle.

“Some people would like to see us ban (recyclable) items like tires and lumber, and in some area they’ve raised fees,” Bauer said. “We encourage people to take their materials to Home Resources or recycle … we’re not going to force them to make that choice.”

Raising dump fees would affect every citizen hauling goods to the dump, not just contractors, in Bauer’s view.

“If we quadruple our dump fees, that would affect everyone in the county,” he said.

Varney hopes contractors will voluntarily salvage material – if they are willing to learn more about it.

Varney is also hoping to encourage contractors to recycle on site when they build a new home. Drywall Recycling of Montana will take drywall scraps from new construction, cardboard can go to the recycling center, and pallets and wood scraps can go to Johnson Brothers. Pacific Steel will haul away tin and steel, according to Varney.

Home Resource is currently applying for an EPA grant to fund a construction site recycling coordinator, to help educate contractors about what materials could be recycled – as well as coordinating pick-ups to remove recyclable materials.

“People think of us as recycling, but we are re-use,” Varney said. “But there are so many places in town that are taking recycling materials.”

With a little education, the Missoula landfill might last a little longer – and items could be re-used that would otherwise be destined for the dump. Contractor Scariano believes it isn’t a difficult step – it just requires that local contractors know all the options.

“Whether it’s Home Resource or (Allied Waste) doing it, it comes down to awareness,” Scariano said. “It really doesn’t take that big of an effort. For recycling, it just takes starting a small pile and telling your workers to use it. It’s really a shame to throw it all in the dumpster.”

For more information, contact Home Resource at 541-8300 or online at http://www.homeresource.org.
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