Concrete Recycling

Building crews will find that the cost of concrete can be quite high and when their need for concrete is large that translates into a major concrete bill.  One way crews can save a large amount of money is through concrete recycling. 

Concrete recycling is also a big money saver for demolition crews.  Recycling the concrete from a site is far cheaper than transporting it to the landfill.  Additionally, keeping concrete out of the landfill is a good way to keep landfill size manageable.

A Couple Recycling Options

Concrete recycling can be done in one of two ways.  It can be recycled from the site or it can be taken to a disposal center where it is then recycled into new material.

Recycling from the site means that someone has to be able to use the broken and used concrete as is without a need for turning it into new material.  Sometimes this is a viable option and this is the biggest money saver for all involved.  The people taking the recycled material will get a nice discount price and the demolition or construction crew that own the concrete will not have to pay to haul it away and may even make money from reselling it.

Uses for Recycled Concrete

When concrete is taken to a disposal center it has to be processed.  The processing will break down the concrete and remove any foreign particles.  It will also sort the concrete pieces according to size and quality.  The concrete is then crushed to be used again.  Crushed concrete can be used to make aggregate. 

How Concrete is Recycled

Concrete is usually just torn out of an existing site and then taken to be recycled or picked up at the site to use again.  However, there are some newer technological advances that help make the process easier these include:

• Equipment for breaking up used concrete
• New techniques for removal of foreign particles
• Stronger crushing equipment that is more efficient

The whole point of recycling concrete is to help save energy.  A lot of energy goes into producing new concrete.  This is from the process of mining the materials, processing and transportation.  When concrete is recycled all of these areas is conserved.  This greatly helps to save on energy costs and preserve the resources that make energy which are greatly threatened.  Additionally, concrete recycling helps to free up landfill space for trash that will disincarnate quickly and not cause need for new landfills.