Developing Re-Use Applications and Improving the Economic Benefits of Florida’s Waste Materials

1. Developing Re-Use Applications and Improving the Economic Benefits of Florida’s Waste Materials By Paul J. Cosentino, Ph.D., P.E. Howell H. Heck, III, Ph.D., P.E.

2. Background • Florida stockpiles large volumes of waste or recyclable materials • Examples: • Waste Glass • RAP • Concrete Rubble and Dust • Waste-to-Energy Ash • Engineering characteristics of these materials may be improved by adding common fill

3. Background (Cont.) • Proper re-use would produce savings for Florida’s construction and landfill industries • Florida’s construction boom has caused a large demand for quality fill • Engineering properties of RAP improved by adding sand • Blending is common practice and often economical

4. Objective • Evaluate Florida’s candidate waste materials and improve their engineering behavior by adding conventional fill to make them economically attractive

5. Approach • Two year project • Nine Tasks to Accomplish Objectives

6. Flow Chart Identify Re-Usable Waste Streams Identify Engineering Environmental and Economic Conditions Reject Sample Waste Materials Accept Dry Rodded Unit Weight Evaluation Reject g Mix % Accept Fundamental Geotechnical Testing and Analysis of Blends Reject Consistency and Economic Impact Reject Accept Landfill Applications

7. Explanation of Tasks • 1 – Identify Candidate Waste Materials • 2 – Sampling • 3 – Fundamental Geotechnical Testing • 4 – Analysis of Testing • 5 – Waste-Soil Mixing Program • 6 – Waste-Soil Geotechnical Testing • 7 – Analysis of Mixing Results • 8 – Economic Impact of Re-Usable Materials • 9 – Reporting, TAG Meetings & Specifications

8. Major Tasks • Year 1 • Select candidate materials from facilities statewide • Perform fundamental geotechnical testing • Choose materials with minimal environmental concerns • RAP, waste glass and concrete rubble and dust • Year 2 • Perform Mixing Analysis • Evaluate Economics • Complete specifications describing proper use

9. Proposed Schedule

10. Expected Technical Results • Geotechnical engineering data base • Summary of economic impact for re-using these materials • Specifications

11. Anticipated Benefits • Two end users groups will benefit: • Contractors who use soils and borrow materials in highway construction • Landfill operators at solid waste or construction and demolition landfills • Suitable fill is becoming costly. Providing more choices, will control costs and save money. • Re-use of waste materials diverts them from the waste stream, and reduces landfilling costs & increases landfill space.

12. Related Work • A significant database of information exists to expedite the proposed work • Waste products have engineering properties that fall short of those needed for re-use in highways • Waste-to-energy ash • Waste-glass • RAP

13. Follow-up • FDOT has funded over a decade work in this area without concentrating on economics. • A $261,000 24-month proposal has been funded to continue work on RAP and RAP-soil mixes. • The funding request to the FCSHWM is considered a supplement to the FDOT work.

14. Year 1 Budget

15. Year 2 Budget

16. Technical Awareness Group & Peer Reviewers • David Horhota, Ph.D., P.E. State Geotechnical Materials Engineer, FDOT, david.horhota@dot.state.fl.us • John Shoucair Geotechnical Materials Engineer, FDOT, john.shoucair@dot.state.fl.us • David Westcott, Technical Service Manager Florida Region, CEMEX Corp., david.westcott@cemexusa.com • Chris Brunais, Area Manager, APAC-Florida Melbourne Div. clbrunais@ashland.com • Suzanne Boroff FDEP suzanne.boroff@dep.state.fl.us • Jim Langenbach, P.E. Senior Engineer, GeoSyntec Consultants, jlangenbach@geosyntec.com

17. Summary • Waste Materials can be re-used in Highways • Economic Benefits to Construction Industry • Economic Benefits to the Solid Waste Industry • Environmental Benefits to the Public

18. Questions?