A Guide to Recycling Disaster Debris
FEMA Debris Recycling Guidelines
Lawnmower debris from Hurricane Rita that have had fluids and other contaminants removed sit at a temporary staging site in Cameron, Louisiana, awaiting transportation to a recycling Facility. Photo courtesy of FEMA.
This guide provides an overview as well as best practices and tips for managing disaster debris recycling. It is intended as an introduction for local government leaders and department staff who are either new to or not fully comfortable with FEMA disaster debris recycling guidelines, however the tips and best practices described can also provide new insight for those who have already taken advantage of FEMA’s debris recycling incentive. State agencies can also use this to distribute to local governments.
Importance of Recycling
Local governments have several incentives to recycle as much disaster debris as is cost-effectively possible. These include:
- Reducing landfill capacity utilization
- Reducing tipping fees
- Creating recycled products to aid in economic recovery
- Meeting the legal requirements of some localities
SRIA Pilot Program
The Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 (SRIA), a massive overhaul of the Stafford Act designed to lower the cost and increase the effectiveness of disaster recovery, amends 17 new pilot programs. Four of these pilot programs create alternative procedures for debris removal, including one that specifically promotes debris recycling. The measure allows for any local community to keep revenue generated by debris recycling as long as those revenues are applied to approved uses. FEMA’s rules and approved uses for recycling debris within the program are outlined in the breakout box at the end of this article.
Cost-Benefit Decisions – Recycling vs landfill
Recycling versus landfilling requires cost/benefit analysis. Benefits to recycling include:
- FEMA’s new Alternative Procedures Pilot Program allows applicants to retain revenues from approved debris recycling, creating an incentive for localities to recycle.
- After a major disaster, the market for some recycled materials may be at over-capacity. Pre-planning and creative marketing can help find end uses that are more productive and less costly than the landfill.
Potential costs and barriers to recycling include:
- Hauling costs to recycling centers may be prohibitive, especially in rural areas.
- Debris may be too co-mingled to economically recycle.
- Debris removal contractors haul by the cubic yard. Recycling centers pay by the ton. This adds complexity to record-keeping and reimbursement, which may be challenging for some smaller local communities.
Debris Segregation – Types of Debris Recycling
Emergency managers can provide this infographic on segregating debris removal to residents. Published with permission of the Tuscaloosa News.
Debris segregation is an important tool to increase the effectiveness of any recycling effort. It allows debris removal crews to work more efficiently and allows communities to realize greater recycled value within the debris stream.
Property owners are responsible for segregating debris before it is removed to the debris management site (DMS). As the crews collect material, clearing the streets quickly takes priority over stopping to segregate debris into different types. Public service announcements (PSAs) are widely used to instruct property owners in debris segregation. (see FEMA PSA above).
The following list shows the types of debris that FEMA classifies as eligible for reimbursement.
Vegetative Debris
- Large piles of tree limbs, branches, shrubs and logs piled on the public rights-of-way
Construction and Demolition (C&D) Debris
- Damaged components of buildings and structures — wood, glass, metal, roofing material, tile, carpeting, concrete, equipment
Hazardous Waste
- Waste with properties that make it potentially harmful to human health or the environment (e.g., oil, pesticides, paint, cleaners)
White Goods
- Household appliances
Electronics (E-waste)
- Electronics that contain hazardous materials, such as cathode ray tubes (e.g.,computer monitors, TV’s)
Soil, Mud, Sand
- Deposits on improved public property and rights-of-way from floods, landslides and storm surges
Vehicles and Vessels
- Abandoned vehicles or vessels blocking ingress/egress in public-use areas
Putrescent Debris
- Decomposed animal carcasses
Infectious Waste
- Contaminated animal waste, human blood, pathological waste, discarded medical instruments
General Challenges and Tips
The EPA lists the following major challenges for disaster debris recycling, strongly recommending that local communities plan ahead to address them before disaster strikes:
- Permitting
- Enforcement/Monitoring
- Collection
- Processing
- Marketing
Likewise, small jurisdictions face their own challenges when getting reimbursed for debris removal and recycling by FEMA. IBTS spoke with Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, assistant secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) from 2004-2008, who notes that small localities often struggle to meet FEMA’s stringent documentation requirements for debris recycling. For example, localities must record the time and location of debris collection, in addition to the type and volume of debris collected. Brown also notes that localities can fail to meet FEMA guidelines, such as the requirement that landfills must be permitted by state environmental agencies to handle the specific type of debris.
Experiences Gained: Cost-Saving Benefits of Recycling Debris
New Orleans, La., July, 29, 2008 — This boulevard in the Lakeview area served as a staging area for debris collection following Hurricane Katrina. In nearly three after the hurricane hit, approximately 58.8 million cubic yards of debris had been collected in Louisiana. Photo courtesy of FEMA.
Over 20,000 Tons of Debris Recycled in New Orleans, Louisiana
Under the guidance of Brown, the city of New Orleans worked diligently to make disaster debris recycling a priority after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. According to Brown:
“Of the 55 million cubic yards [of debris removed after Katrina], 39 percent was recycled. We recycled almost 100 percent of the wood waste generated. We recycled electronics for the first time in the history of a recovery effort. We recycled the vehicles that were impacted, roughly 30,000 [of them]. We towed them to a facility. We removed the antifreeze and the oil. We took the tires off, and then we crushed the cars for metal.”
Resource Recycling estimates that combined recycling efforts from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Louisiana and Mississippi included:
- 950,000 white goods
- 26,000 pounds of refrigerant
- 12,500 tons of electronics
See more tips on managing debris removal from Brown, in addition to best practices based on his experiences managing debris removal after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Pre-Planning Leads to Debris Recycling Success in Houston, Texas
Galveston Island, TX, September 17, 2008–Boats damaged by Hurricane Ike and other debris line the causeway going into Galveston Island, Texas. Photo courtesy of FEMA.
The city of Houston continues to benefit from pre-planning before Hurricane Ike. The city identified twelve strategically located debris management sites throughout the area, pre-positioned the contract with its primary contractor and identified a private-sector partner to process the vegetative debris into mulch. Their pre-positioned debris removal contracts prepared for a storm with roughly the size and intensity that arrived with Hurricane Ike in 2008. The plan was based on a category 3 hurricane debris field of 5 million cubic yards. Although Ike was slightly more intense — a category 4 hurricane that generated 6 million cubic yards of debris — Houston was well-prepared and executed its plan with a great deal of success.
The city recycled over 265,000 chipped tons of vegetation at 12 pre-planned collection sites, leading to the launch of a mutually-beneficial partnership that continues to this day. The city’s partner composts the waste and sells it back to the public as mulch. Ten cents for every bag sold and 50 cents for every bulk yard sold are donated to the city of Houston. The donated funds are then used to promote city recycling programs.
See more tips from IBTS on debris recycling, and check out IBTS’s tips on accelerating debris removal, debris removal in rural communities and developing a debris removal communications plan.
Relevant legislation, policy or regulation:
Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013. Pub. L. 113-2, div. B, Jan. 29, 2013
According to FEMA, subrecipients may retain revenues received through recycling eligible disaster debris. However, the subrecipient must provide the recipient written notification of the revenue received as part of its final accounting of actual costs, including:
- The completion date of the debris removal operations
- A brief description of the quantity and types of debris recycled
- The cost for processing debris for recycling
The recipient will then forward this information to FEMA in the accounting of the final project costs. The cost of establishing and managing the recycling program or process and additional sorting and processing of the debris for recycling purposes cannot be claimed as a direct project cost on the debris removal subaward. This alternative procedure can be used in combination with any other alternative procedure or on its own. If revenues are not used for an authorized purpose, subaward funding will be reduced by the amount of that revenue as program income.
Subrecipients can use revenues from debris recycling only for the following approved purposes:
- To meet the cost sharing requirements of Public Assistance subaward funding for debris removal;
- To develop comprehensive disaster preparedness and assistance plans, programs and capabilities;
- To conduct activities that reduce the risk of future damage, hardship or suffering from a major disaster
- To improve future debris removal operations or planning.
Examples of approved activities that improve future debris removal operations and planning may include:
- Developing disaster debris management plans.
- Updating or revising existing plans.
- Enhancing subrecipient landfill-management sites.
- Installing mechanisms such as debris trash racks, K-Rail debris guards and silt fences to control the flow of disaster debris in future events.
- Buying equipment such as street sweepers, shredders, backhoes, balers and sorting conveyors that would facilitate sorting, volume reduction, or removing disaster debris.
- Purchasing debris recycling equipment.
- Purchasing software and hardware products to facilitate quantifying disaster debris.
- Buying onboard weight measurement systems for debris-collection trucks.
- Purchasing software systems for debris load management to assist in tracking trucks, drivers and routes.
For additional information, see FEMA’s “Alternative Procedures Pilot Program Guide for Debris Removal.”