Your Complete Guide to Concrete & Asphalt Recycling
Turn your inert materials into money!
Concrete & asphalt recycling turns a liability into money!
Many new developments require the demolition of old structures generating massive amounts of waste. Concrete recycling is a process to collect and crush concrete to a recycled concrete aggregate product for reuse or sale. The newly produced recycled commodity is much cheaper in cost than comparable virgin aggregates.
Recycle &
Reuse On-Site
Mobile recycling plants allow contractors to process materials where they are generated.
Instant Cost Savings
Traditional methods of disposal are costly and time consuming. Produce your own material at a much lower cost than purchasing your aggregates from a quarry or recycle yard.
Create New Markets
Generate new sources of income for your business. Aggregates are the new gold.
You are bleeding money if you send materials to the dump.
Without concrete & asphalt recycling you lose money to expensive trucking and tipping fees, you waste time waiting for the trucks to show up, and get frustrated with the ever increasing hassle to dispose of materials.
Improve your bottom line and produce your own recycled concrete aggregate for a $1 per ton*
Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is crushed concrete product that meets a specific spec to reuse it on projects. Common specs are ¾“- (19 mm-) base or 2"- subbase materials. The crushing process liberates and segreagates encapsulated rebar. Thus, recycled materials meet the requirements of most projects.
* actual production costs depend on feed material, contaminants, fines, moisture, and many more factors. More cost factors apply. Consult your material processing specialist.
Disposal Cost
You won't get rid of your disposal cost unless you start recycling.
Hauling Cost
Trucking costs from the job to the recycling center and picking up new material can be reduced significantly.
Recycled Aggregate Value
You turn something that is worth nothing into a valuable commodity.
The concrete & asphalt recycling business model is a simple debit & credit calculation
First you need to understand your current costs for disposal of the various materials you generate in the construction and demolition process. Second, you need to gauge how much material it actually is. Third, you need put a price tag on the value of the material once it is processed.
Disposal costs | |||
| Round-trip trucking time (job site - recycle yard - job site) | 1 | hour | |
| Cost for a tri-axle dump truck per hour | 90 | $ / hour | |
| Trucking cost per load | 90 | $ / load | |
| Disposal costs tipping fees | |||
| Tipping fees | 50 | $ / load | |
| Material value market price | |||
| Cost of recycled concrete aggregate (F.O.B. recycle yard) | 7 | $ / ton | |
| Tri-axle capacity (haulage capacity of broken concrete) | 15 | tons | |
| Material value saved | 105 | $ / load | |
| Material value inbound trucking | |||
| Round-trip trucking time (job site - recycle yard - job site) | 1 | hour | |
| Cost for a tri-axle dump truck per hour | 90 | $ / hour | |
| Trucking cost per load | 90 | $ / load | |
| Traditional disposal costs | 335 | $ / load | |
| Crushing costs $1 per ton @ 15 tons | 15 | $ / load | |
| Savings potential to cover financing, mobilization, overhead | 320 | $ / load | |
“I started crushing because I believed there is a
future in that to get rid of the product. It is getting
more costly to dispose of it. It is getting more expensive
to truck it over the road with DOT and what
not.”
Mike Reilly, F.P. Reilly & Sons Inc.
The Multiple Uses of Recycled Aggregates
- Base and subbase material for walkways, driveways, parking lots, and roads.
- Gravel roads and pathways
- Construction roads (construction entrances, and temp roads)
- Fill material / U filler
- Landscaping (substitute for landscaping mulch/stone)
- Backfill material and shoulder stone
- Riprap revetments for controlling streambank erosion
What is the process of recycling concrete?
Jaw vs Impact Crusher
At the heart of every concrete recycling operation is either a jaw crusher and/or an impact crusher. What's the best crushing setup depends on your finished material spec. Typically, contractors go for an impact crusher first because this type machine provides the widest application range from a ¾“- DOT spec material to a 3"- non-spec fill material. Plus, contrary to jaw crushers an impact crusher works well with asphalt recycling.
Jaw crushers are primary crushers and are unbeatable in taking large material and producing a coarse non-spec material (e.g. 3"- fill). If this is all you need, don't waste money on an impact crusher. Many contractors who start out with an impact crusher and who run into larger jobs run a jaw crusher in front of their impact crusher to maximize production and minimize wear costs. In this case, the jaw crusher takes the brunt and liberates the steel and the impact crusher produces the final spec product at a high rate.
The most important part of concrete crushing is prep
Before starting up your crusher you want to make sure the material is sized correctly. As a rule of thumb the material should be sized to 80% of the inlet opening of your crusher to avoid any blockages and loss in production. A concrete pulverizer or hydraulic hammer can be used to size the material. Set any large uncrushables aside. Cut and remove long strands of rebar and wire mesh. Without the prep you are losing money to downtime, create premature wear, and possibly damage your machine.
The right jobsite logistics save Dollars
Every time you touch and move material you are losing money. The pile should be prepped and ready to crush before you start-up your crusher. Your concrete recycling operation will be much smoother if you can maintain a constant feed. This means also feeding with an excavator than a wheel loader for a better control of your material. Also read the article on how to get the most out of your impact crusher.
C&D Waste
Dense graded aggregate produced by a RUBBLE MASTER impact crusher.
RUBBLE MASTER Compact Crushers and Scalping Screens make you more money
Go Anywhere, Anytime
Aggregate equipment is bulky, heavy, and difficult to move. RUBBLE MASTER machines are designed from scratch with mobility in mind, so you get the freedom to move anywhere and save transport costs.
Operate with Ease
Heavy equipment is hard to work on and getting more and more complex. RUBBLE MASTER builds crushers & screens that make material processing easier than ever. You can put any operator on your RUBBLE MASTER with confidence.
Get More Done in A Day
Downtime means crew down. RUBBLE MASTER makes material processing more efficient and provides a plan if shit hits the fan so that you can reduce unplanned downtime and keep crushing.
Select your RUBBLE MASTER
RUBBLE MASTER offers a large range of mobile crushers and screens that meet the demands of any size contractor and material producer.
Talk to an Expert
Since 1991, RUBBLE MASTER has brought numerous innovations to the market. We’re crushing & screening experts and work closely with contractors and aggregate producers world-wide.
