Sacramento is doing plenty in terms of recycling paper, plastic, glass and especially metals. Metal recycling in Sacramento being very popular today, there are hundreds of scrap metal recycling companies all over Sacramento, one of which is the rather popular Sims Metal Management, the largest metal recycling company in the world. With over 2500 locations across 5 continents, Sims has already become everyone’s go-to recycler.
There is widespread awareness among the citizens of Sacramento about the benefits of recycling. So much so that the California State University Environment Students Organization, Sacramento organizes regular events to encourage recycling and inform people about the harmful effects of improper waste management.
Sacramento’s New Project
The city of Sacramento has taken on a new project—the construction of a new sports arena. This project has been taken over by a company called Turner Construction. The new arena is going to be built at the site of what was formerly a men’s Macy’s store. It is hoping to receive the Leed Gold certification, which is one of the highest designations a green building can receive. The mall will be completely demolished by the end of September says Gary Ralls, the project executive; after which they will start digging the foundation for the new arena.
The most amazing part of this construction is that every single bit of debris from the construction site is being recycled. Ralls says that recycling and reuse is the main part of their company’s culture and they aim to recycle at least 90% of the debris from the demolition. Reports have come in that one can already see trucks filled with debris including bits of concrete, steel, other metals as well as drywall, leaving the site and going to various recycling centers.
The debris is being sorted and taken to recycling centers to be recycled. But it is not just the debris that is being recycled. Turner Construction has already donated thousands of LED lights to the city to be re-used as they are still completely functional. A lot of the debris is hoping to be reused in the construction of the new Kings Arena once the old building is completely torn down. The new building is going to be constructed using recycled aluminum and precast concrete among other things. This is truly a huge indicator of scrap metal recycling being taken very seriously in Sacramento.
We commend Sacramento and all who are involved in the construction of the Downtown Plaza for the passion they are showing towards recycling. This is proof that construction of new buildings does not have to be harmful to our environment. With a little bit of organizing and the right contacts, we can transform constructions of any kind from a menace to citizens to a delightful project that benefits us all. Let this be an example to all other projects taken on by Sacramento and an encouragement to construction sites in other cities of the United States of America.