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AUGUSTA, Maine -- Over the years, the pile kept growing. By 1994, the pile of pavement dug up from Augusta’s streets had amassed to become 100,000 tons of unwanted waste material.

And there it sat, looming large and unsightly in the yard at Augusta Public Works. The State did not allow it to be used as clean fill, so another option had to be found.

John Charest, the director of the city’s Bureau of Public Works, searched for the solution. He wondered if in today’s age of reuse a different approach might work? Talking with longtime vendor CPRC Group, Charest learned they would make the 100,000 tons disappear – for free. And with every four truckloads hauled out, CPRC Group would give Charest one truckload of road base material, free as well. It’s all part of the company’s Material Exchange Program that is helping many municipalities recycle – saving natural resources as well as money.

"In the past ten years they hauled out 57,000 tons and have given me 14,000 tons of 1" and 3" road base material that cost me nothing. Using this recycled road gravel means I don’t have to dig out virgin material from the city’s gravel pit," said Charest.

At its Scarborough processing facility, CPRC Group reclaims Augusta’s asphalt material. Through a proprietary system off crushing, screening and blending the material, a gravel substitute is created called C&R.

Charest uses C&R as road base and shoulder material and believes it compacts better than traditional gravel. And even though the city’s pavement waste pile still grows at a manageable 1,000 tons per year, Charest looks forward to the day when the massive pile fades into memory.

Once the asphalt recovery process was underway, it was time for Augusta to tackle another waste stream opportunity – residential roof shingles. The director of the city’s Bureau of Solid Waste, Lesley Jones, estimates that shingles represent about 3% of the waste stream handled at Hatch Hill, the regional landfill managed by Jones.

"The shingles program allowed us to expand our recycling without a huge capital cost. That’s because shingles are dropped off by contractors or homeowners at our landfill site. Ninety percent are free of contamination with wood, flashing, insulation or paper. And since they are heavy, they help the city get closer to the mandated goal of recycling 50% of waste stream tonnage processed at Hatch Hill," said Jones.

Contractors or homeowners who drop off shingles at Hatch Hill have a choice. They can pay $58 per ton to landfill them or $45 per ton to have them converted into usable products. For a contractor who drops off 200 tons of shingles per year, this process saves them about $2,600 annually in disposal fees.

"For many citizens, recycling is too much effort, but when there is a financial incentive, they do it. The process we established provides that incentive," said Jones.

CPRC Group picks up the shingles at Hatch Hill. Jones pays the company $40 per ton to dispose of the shingles, plus the cost of transportation.

"The cost about equals the cost to landfill the shingles, but we get gravel products back in return at no charge to us. Plus we’re reusing a waste material and saving valuable landfill space. So that makes the effort worth it," said Jones.

As part of CPRC Group's Material Exchange Program, the shingles are converted into a variety of usable products. Each year Jones provides about 1,000 tons of shingles for conversion and gets in return 250 tons of Hot De-Icer and 750 tons of C&R, both delivered to the Augusta Public Works yard.

The Hot De-Icer is used as a cover on the city’s winter sand pile. It makes a protective layer that keeps water from penetrating the pile so that the sand doesn’t freeze together into clumps and clog the spinner in the plow/sand trucks.

Jones estimates that for every 10 years of recycling, the life of the Hatch Hill landfill is extended by one year. And since siting new landfills is an expensive and lengthy process, the focus on converting waste material is critical.

"Over time, the effects of recycling add up and since landfill is a finite resource, we need to search for ways to expand recycling programs," said Jones.

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