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Recycling and Waste Diversion

Issues dealing with the environment have come to the forefront in the U.S. and more specifically Indiana in the past few years. Waste diversion and recycling are terms that have become mainstream concerns with many companies with respect to the bottom line as well as it being the "right thing to do". The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is no exception, and for the past few years has been a leading government agency in Indiana in efforts to minimize the amount of waste discarded from our State facilities. This in turn has resulted in conservation of the state's landfill space and the nation's resources increased the amount of renewable resources recovered at the state level and significantly reduced the expenditures related to the cost of disposal.

INDOT has targeted specific waste streams as particularly important. These waste streams deal more with what are known as Special, Universal and Construction/Demolition Wastes. These categories include such materials as concrete/asphalt, light bulbs, oil, antifreeze, filters, tires, hazardous wastes, etc.

Concrete and asphalt recycling, which has been a practice of INDOT for the past 15 to 20 years, is the largest waste stream produced. When the roads and highways are milled or removed before resurfacing or reconstruction, a certain percentage of the reclaimed material is recovered and reused in the production of the new road surface. This practice is and has been utilized for the approximate 20 thousand miles of state roads and highways under the jurisdiction of the INDOT. Each year INDOT reuses approximately one million tons of reclaimed material for road construction projects in the State of Indiana.

Tire recycling is another significant waste stream produced by INDOT. Since we operate and maintain hundreds of vehicles of many types, tires are a major source of waste that can be a difficult disposal problem. Waste tires have the potential to create a variety of health and safety hazards; tire fires are very difficult to extinguish, and stockpiles of waste tires are prime breeding habitats for certain rodents and insects. Whole tires of concern for the agency are ones removed from INDOT vehicles and tires recovered on our roadways. We collect them at our facilities through State approved companies which use them for multiple applications such as Tire Derived Fuel (TDF) for the purpose of producing electricity or grind them into smaller pieces for use as daily cover at State approved landfills.

Along with the whole tires, scrap tires compose another waste stream of concern. Scrap tires are the tire pieces that are collected off of the state roads and highways by our maintenance crews. The tire scraps, which are stored in roll-off containers, are utilized in the same manner as the whole tires as a Tire Derive Fuel (TDF) or as daily cover in State approved landfills. Each year INDOT diverts well over 300 tons of scrap tires from Indiana highways and State Roads.

Light Bulb Recycling has also moved to the forefront of the INDOT facilities waste diversion efforts. Many of the bulbs that are utilized by state facilities have components that contain hazardous materials such as mercury that can contaminate our environment unless dealt with properly. All components of fluorescent bulbs (glass, aluminum and mercury) are segregated in the recovery process and manufactured into new products. The recovered glass is crushed, cleaned and containerized. From there the material is shipped to a company that produces fiberglass insulation. The recovered aluminum is separated into storage drums and then shipped to aluminum reclamation facilities for manufacturing into aluminum feedstock. The recovered mercury is stored in drums and utilized in the dental industry as an alloy (amalgam). The Indiana Department of Transportation recycles thousands of pounds of light bulbs from its state facilities each year. With the start of the new century, INDOT has stepped up its efforts to Greening the Government by incorporating household batteries, PCB and non-PCB containing ballasts and mercury containing devices to aid in the effort of waste diversion as well as improving of the environment.

Shop waste is another prominent waste stream that is produced by INDOT facilities. Shop waste is comprised of vehicle maintenance materials such as waste oil, oil filters, antifreeze and clay based oil absorbents. INDOT annually diverts well over 50,000 gallons of waste oil from its fleet of vehicles and variety of equipment. Once it is collected the material is rerefined meeting American Petroleum Institute (API) Standards and then sold back to the department for use once again to maintain that same equipment. For 2003, INDOT recycled a total of 4,345 gallons of oil filters, 3,520 gallons of used oil absorbents and 1,100 gallons of used antifreeze. The steel recovered from the oil filters is used to produce new steel for fence posts, rebar and other applications. Recovered antifreeze is re-refined and resold and the clay based oil absorbent is used as aggregate substitute where appropriate.

The Department's waste diversion and recycling efforts have not solely been centered on the previously discussed wastes. Tons of steel and aluminum scrap recovered from guardrails, sign posts and signs from INDOT construction projects are sold to scrap metal dealers each year. The funds raised through the sale of the steel scrap are invested back into the General Fund to aid in department operations.

For more than ten years, INDOT has also taken part in the recycling program operated in all State Government facilities within Marion County. Through INDOT's collaborative efforts with other state agencies state government has been able to save in excess of $40,000 in waste disposal fees and divert approximately 1,000 tons of office paper, newspaper and magazines to paper recyclers. This in turn has earned revenue on average of $20,000 per year to help fund state government. INDOT and our fellow agencies also recycled a significant amount of aluminum, steel, plastic and glass beverage containers.

The Indiana Department of Transportation continues to research other ways to deal with its different waste streams. This includes the utilization of fly ash, foundry sand and coal combustion waste as possible fill materials in construction projects and the use waste tires and crushed glass in the construction of roads.

Furthermore, with the guidance of the Greening the Government Taskforce established through Executive Order 99-07 issued on April 22, 1999, INDOT has dedicated steps to improve the environmental performance of its state operations. Specifically, the taskforce guidelines have helped the department:

  1. Establish recycling collection at all state facilities.

  2. Purchasing energy efficient and recycled content items.

  3. Enhance pollution prevention, energy efficiency and source reduction activities in government operations.

  4. Establish employee transportation options.

The guidelines were established in May of 2000, and INDOT as well as all other state agencies are now required to follow the guidelines and report the progress of associated activities to the Indiana Department of Administration (IDOA) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).

For more information, please call 317-233-0582.