Concrete recycling is precisely what the name says: demolishing and using again old concrete. It is getting acceptance due to many advantages: soaring landfill expenses; high expense of transporting old concrete to the landfill; ecological friendliness; and the arrival of equipments that helps recycling concrete much easier than it used to be. Removal process includes options for concrete recycling more commonly now than it used to. The advantages of recycling concrete are more than the demerits, and it seems as if the process will go on to become more and more popular in the coming days.

Concrete recycling involves some fairly large machinery. The main piece of machinery is a crusher that crushes up large blocks of unwanted concrete into small pieces, which will fall onto a screen. Pieces that are small enough to be “harvested” fall through the screen mesh, and larger pieces are re-routed back to the crusher to crush them into smaller pieces. The other main piece of machinery is basically a big magnet to remove rebar and other metal gridwork that may be inside the concrete. Concrete that is free of foreign objects is easy to recycle, and having large magnets to remove the rebar is safer and easier than doing it by hand.

Crushers and magnets may be mobile or stationary. With the popularity of concrete recycling and re-use on-site, mobile crusher systems are becoming more common. Some can crush up to 600 tons of concrete per hour. Mini-crushers are self-contained units that can crush up to 150 tons of concrete per hour while fitting into a much smaller area. Crusher attachments, such as conveyors and magnets, are making the popularity of mini-crushers increase rapidly. While they can “only” handle 150 tons per hour, for concrete that is to be recycled on-site, they’re perfect.

Recycled concrete is suitably used in new construction projects as sub-base gravel. This is the bottom most layers placed when a new road is constructed and new concrete or asphalt is put down on top of it. Crushed concrete also can be used as dry compound for fresh concrete. As far as smashed concrete does not contain any foreign objects, it can be very well useful as dry aggregate. Sometimes, however, fresh aggregate is joined with crushed and recycled concrete for getting virgin concrete. Big sized crushed concrete is useful in controlling erosion, and small sized concrete can often be used as landscaping stone. Fences and retaining walls can be built from piled cages made out of crushed concrete.

As the disposal of concretes fro filling the land is very expensive, recycling of the concretes should be encouraged. On top if it, replacing the virgin aggregate with the smashed concrete as aggregate on-site can help to reduce the cost by 50 to 60%. Demerits of recycling concrete are very less. One of the concerns raised is the effects of lead in painted concrete. The Army Corps of Engineers concluded after a detailed study that crushed concrete consisting of lead-based paint could serve as fresh fill if it had a minimum soil covering. Resistant cover over crushed concrete is far better.

Recycling concrete is a procedure and practice that has been growing attractive all through the years. If the crusher is available, this process can be used very profitably. Using the recycled concrete helps to save a lot in your wallet. The finely ground recycled concrete can be used as sub-base gravel under new roads, can be used as landscaping stones and comparing with the cost incurred in taking out the old concrete for landfill, this is very cost effective.

Even concrete containing lead-based paint can be re-used as long as it has soil or impervious covering over it. Recycling old concrete on-site during demolition/rebuilding projects cuts costs even further. Concrete recycling from small DIY projects is gaining popularity too. The cost of either hauling the old concrete to the recycling facility or having the recycling company collect the old concrete will often be significantly less than the cost of landfill fees. The cost savings and lower environmental impact of recycling concrete over putting it in a landfill (then starting over with brand new concrete on-site) are causing the feasibility and popularity of concrete recycling to increase greatly, and the practice is expected to be adopted widely in coming years.

Looking to find the reasons for concrete recycling, then visit www.meet-mr-concrete.com to find the best advice on recycling concrete.