Our Burlington Quarry Reduces, Reuses and Recycles In the last 4 years, Nelson Aggregate Co. has diverted over 800,000 metric tons (tonnes) of used materials (Nov,2007)
Recycling and Reuse at Nelson Aggregate Co.
Nelson Aggregate Co. at its Burlington property has been recycling and reusing materials coming from construction sites for many years. In the last 4 years alone, we have diverted over 800,000 metric tons (tonnes) of used materials that might otherwise have taken up valuable space in the Regional landfill site.
In the past four years, the quarry has allowed contractors to bring in 155,000 tonnes of used asphalt. This is equal to the weight of more than 2,600 Boeing 747 airplanes. The asphalt is crushed and blended with quarry rock to produce construction grade road and sub-base aggregate, thereby reducing the amount of virgin rock needed to make the finished product. It is also crushed in its pure state and re-melted and reused in our on-site asphalt plant to provide new asphalt pavement materials.
BEFORE
A pile of 20,000 tonnes of broken asphalt slabs on October 16th……..
After
..…was recycled into 20,000 tonnes of valuable asphalt plant feed by October 30th!!!
A further 91,000 tonnes of used concrete materials such as sidewalks, blocks, paving stones, curbs, and precast slabs have been reprocessed at the Burlington quarry site. This is the equivalent of more than 1,500 Boeing 747 airplanes by weight. The concrete materials coming into the quarry are separately stockpiled and special crushing equipment is used to magnetically separate any reinforcing steel from the crushed product. The steel materials are returned to steel plants for re-smelting. The crushed concrete aggregate is resold for use as pavement base.
Over 580,000 tonnes of surplus clean, inert fill has been brought into the quarry from construction sites. This is the weight of 10,000 Boeing 747 airplanes. Before any fill from a construction site is accepted, the fill material is chemically analyzed and the construction site is physically evaluated to ensure that the fill material taken from it will be inert. It must meet Ministry of Environment guidelines for inert fill requirements. The fill material is then put to good use in the quarry to slope the walls of the quarry. This assists in the progressive rehabilitation of the quarry property.
The Halton Regional landfill has recently stopped accepting earth fill materials. If the fill material that was taken by Nelson Aggregate over the past four years for the rehabilitation of its Burlington quarry had not been diverted from the Regional landfill, it would have significantly reduced the anticipated life of the landfill site.
Nelson Aggregate Co. also recycles used materials that are generated by its own operations. Paper materials from the office facility are collected monthly and sent for recycling. All used motor oils and lubricants are picked up and recycled into useable hydrocarbon based products. Scrap steel from fabricating operations is collected in scrap bins and taken away for re-smelting into new steel products.
Nelson Aggregate has been at the leading edge of recycling and reusing construction materials for many years. Our efforts have diverted thousands of tonnes of materials from taking up valuable space in the Halton Regional landfill and we have contributed to significantly extending the life of the landfill.
At Nelson Aggregate we encourage area contractors to bring as many acceptable used construction materials as possible to the quarry for recycling. At the same time we apply a strict testing protocol to ensure that all materials brought in will meet MOE guidelines and can be 100% recycled or reused in the operations. While recycled construction materials can only replace a fraction of the aggregate needs of Ontario, we believe that every bit of recycling helps to sustain the Province’s resources.
