In 1997, Salem cleared seven buildings to make way for a new courthouse square; Marion County diverted 13,726 tons of demolition debris and separately salvaged 661 tons of bricks for local reuse

Many people assume a demolition site is a noisy mess headed for the landfill. Marion County, Oregon, showed otherwise in 1997, and its construction and demolition debris recycling numbers still appear in federal waste reports today. That year, the county demolished seven buildings at the Senator Block in downtown Salem, including a parking garage, retail storefronts, and an apartment building to make way for a new courthouse square and transit station. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the county and Salem Area Transit set a goal of diverting 90 percent of the demolition debris from landfills after researching similar projects elsewhere. What followed became one of the most detailed public records of a demolition site doubling as a recycling operation.

The numbers behind the courthouse square

The demolition produced 16,649 tons of debris, according to the EPA. The county's contractor, Staton Companies, diverted 13,726, or around 82 percent, through recycling and reuse efforts. Concrete was the largest portion at 11,571 tons, with 845 tons of asphalt and asphalt roofing and 590 tons of scrap metal close behind. Local companies recycled it into new metal, roadbed mix, and slope stabilization products. Before any heavy equipment arrived, Marion County's Facility Management Department salvaged over 20 categories of items for future use, including light fixtures, air conditioners, and fire prevention equipment. Workers pulled metal pipes, HVAC ducts, asphalt roofing, and old-growth timbers by hand before the wrecking ball and excavator showed up. Workers chipped an additional 1,578 tons of wood and used it as fuel for industrial boilers. 1,345 tons of mixed material went into a landfill. Because federal guidelines treat burning material for fuel as disposal rather than recycling, the EPA counts it as disposal, giving the county a diversion rate of 82 percent, even though the county's broader total, including the fuel, came out closer to 92 percent.

The 661 tons of bricks that never left town

One of the project's most memorable details was not the tonnage totals. As word spread of the demolition, residents called to check whether bricks were available for salvage. The contractors' crews responded by hand-sorting 661 tons of bricks into a single pile, then fencing it off for safety. The county launched the Great Brick Giveaway, offering the salvaged bricks to residents free of charge for their own projects. The detail reflects Marion County's emphasis on reuse and recovery. Materials recovery was central to the demolition process. Marion County's Solid Waste Management Department used the demolition as an opportunity to educate the public, promoting its achievements through television and radio features and putting up banners at the demolition site that tracked the county's recycling rate.

The dollars behind the diversion

Recycling and reuse saved Marion County and Salem Area Transit more than $165,000, according to the EPA report. An extra $58,000 in labor and equipment costs went into sorting and separating materials on site, but that was more than offset by $188,000 in avoided hauling and landfill tip fees, plus $36,000 in revenue from selling recovered metal and timber. Overall, the county cut demolition costs by roughly 5 percent while walking away with a stockpile of reusable building components for future projects.

Construction and demolition debris at the national scale

Salem's courthouse project was far from alone, which may be one reason the EPA chose it. Based on the latest EPA figures on construction and demolition, demolition produces over 90 percent of all C&D debris, while new construction contributes less than 10 percent of total C&D waste. Their most recent national estimate for 2018 comes to about 600 million tons of C&D debris generated annually, more than double the amount of household waste generated per year. In that context, a county-level initiative that tracks every ton with such specificity is an exceptional example, which is why the EPA highlighted it as a model project. According to the EPA's description of its process for studying the C&D waste stream as outlined in the EPA's C&D materials management guidance, it evaluated it separately from municipal waste because of its higher concentration of heavy materials and its greater potential to separate various materials, which is less common in household trash.

How other local governments can apply the lesson

For cities deciding what to do with an aging building, Salem offers a practical example of how demolition and waste reduction can be combined. With a clear target, a contractor willing to hand-sort materials, and residents invited to participate, the project saved money, kept usable brick and concrete out of the landfill, and gave the community a direct role in what happened to the materials.