Qualifications

Brandenburg has been practicing “Green” demolition techniques since the company was established. Brandenburg immediately recognized the environmental, social, and economical value driven from the proper remediation, segregation, and recycling of all debris generated from demolition projects long before the recent trends.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that America generates over 135 million tons of construction and demolition debris annually; approximately 70% is demolition debris. Brandenburg makes every effort to remediate, salvage, and recycle as much material as possible from project sites. The company’s focus is to remediate environmental contamination of materials to minimize the quantity sent to landfills. During this process, materials are salvaged for reuse and processed for recycling. The land is also restored and returned to its closest possible natural state.

Brandenburg’s innovative demolition practices and procedures are designed to produce the optimal dismantling methods for segregation of materials. Prior to a project start, an engineering survey is conducted and a site-specific plan is developed. This plan addresses all known environmental, social, and safety related elements and assists to determine the appropriate demolition means and methods to employ.

The first step in a typical demolition process is to implement environmental and safety control methods. These methods are designed to ensure the safety of the workers, the public, and the environment. The next step is to abate all environmental hazards. Once that has been completed, items and equipment that can be reused or have historical value are salvaged in an asset recovery effort. The next step is to remove all general construction debris that cannot be salvaged for reuse or recycling. The structure is then dismantled following optimal methods to segregate the materials. Once the materials have been segregated, they are processed and diverted to the appropriate reuse/recycling destinations.

Although these efforts may seem extraordinary, Brandenburg acknowledges the benefits of these “Green” demolition practices. The majority of people have an impression that demolition is done by the methods of either implosion or “smash and bash” which reduces structures into huge piles of debris. It is then assumed that the debris is sent to landfills. Brandenburg defies these perceptions and typically exceeds the requirements of many “Green” efforts. Brandenburg will continue to develop new markets, equipment, and methods to assist in achieving the maximum level of “green” demolition.
 

Major Recycling Accomplishments

Of the 62,850 tons of material generated during the demolition of the Chicago Sun-Times building, 55,000 tons or 78% was recycled.

During the Veterans Stadium demolition project, nearly 85,000 cubic yards of concrete was processed and reused onsite. There were also several architectural elements that were salvaged and reused during construction of the new baseball stadium.

Over 12 million board feet of 300-year old heart pine and 23 million bricks were salvaged and recycled during the demolition of the Sears Warehouse structure.

West End (Sands Casino), located in Bethlehem, PA, produced more than 276,000 net tons of concrete, which was processed onsite. 90% of all materials were recycled. This was a LEED certified project.

 
Common Items Salvaged and Recycled