City of Raleigh Recycles Old Police Station

When you think of recycling, the first thing that might come to mind is tossing an aluminum can in a bin. But, we just finished recycling on a grand scale!

Remember the old Police headquarters that just came down to make way for the new Raleigh City Hall? Well, most of that rubble- 97%- was recycled. We are talking 2,739 tons of steel, concrete, and brick!

Brasfield and Gorrie, our construction contractor, separated steel and concrete from the rubble loaded it up into trucks and brought the recyclable debris different specialized recycling sites.

The construction industry is striving to be more sustainable. Recycling construction waste poses many cost-saving benefits for companies, and it's good for the environment since it diverts large amounts of materials from landfills and puts it back into other projects, not to mention the energy and resources it saves.

Recycling Steel

Did you know that steel can be recycled repeatedly without losing its strength? More than 90% of all steel used in construction projects is recycled. Steel is an iron alloy, meaning it's made up of a combination of metals and non-metals, including carbon, iron, and tin. Other metals that can also be continuously recycled are aluminum, copper, and brass.

Another significant benefit of reusing steel is that beams, columns, and other structural pieces can be used without having to be re-melted or processed. Scrap steel, on the other hand, can be melted down and made into something new.

Recycling Concrete

Concrete recycling also involves reprocessing concrete rubble from demolished structures into usable materials. Concrete is broken up, unwanted materials such as dirt are removed, and the remaining mixture is crushed into different sizes to be used for different purposes.

Recycled concrete is used in various construction projects, ranging from road gravel to new building materials. Despite its slightly lower strength than traditional concrete, innovations in recycling processes have enhanced its quality, making it a viable alternative for numerous structural applications.

The City is working towards a greener and more sustainable future. So, in addition to recycling the materials from the old building, the new City Hall will have many sustainability features and will be a Silver LEED certified building.

Visit the East Civic Tower Project page to lean more about this exciting project.