Steel from Sinclair Plant getting recycled

Getting rid of the old Sinclair Meatpacking Plant is getting a little bit cheaper, and a whole lot more environmentally friendly.

“We are definitely ahead of schedule for where we first thought we would be here on Sinclair,” said John Riggs, Cedar Rapids Flood Demolitions Project Manager.

There's no doubt the old plant is full of toxic debris.  The trucks hauling that debris have to get sprayed off with water when they leave to prevent toxic chemicals from falling off of tires.

Some of the material is so toxic, it has to be taken straight to the landfill and be wrapped in plastic for the ride.

But among all this toxic mess, Riggs and other city workers found a way to make the demolition less of a drain on the environment.  Every bit counts considering the entire site has about 125,000 tons of debris.  Riggs said that's almost the  same as 1,500 residential homes.

“There's approximately 2,500 tons of steel that is in condition to be recycled,” said Riggs.

The steel goes from to Alter Metal Recycling in Cedar Rapids, the city gets market price for each ton.  Riggs estimated that to be around $100 to $120 a ton.

Riggs said after they take out the costs of transportation and labor, he figured the total savings are roughly$150,000.

That pales in comparison to the bill for the entire demolition, which is more than $15-million.

But, it's also an environmental savings and saves space in the landfill.  One reason the steel makes more difference than any other rubble is the steel doesn't compact like the concrete and wood.  It doesn't crumble so it would take up as much space in the landfill that it does sitting on the property.

“The landfill would look like swiss cheese inside because it would have holes everywhere and the voids and it wouldn't be using the landfill efficiently,” said Riggs.

Riggs said when he presented the idea to FEMA and the DNR, both agencies praised the effort.

“It does reduce the cost of the overall demolition because this is not going to the landfill, and taxpayers aren't paying for it's elimination,” said Riggs.