Energy & Environmental Conservation

Office Recycling

1. Containers arrive at Capital's Recycling Facility in a multitude of containers (open-tops compactors, front-end trucks, flatbeds and more).

2. Dumpsters containing recyclable materials (white paper, cardboard, wood, tin, plastic, steel/metals, concrete, wire, ....) are dumped onto the floor.

3. Office Paper, cardboard and commingled waste is placed onto the conveyor line and hand sorted.

4. Cardboard is removed and dropped onto another conveyor below through chutes. Free of plastic, waste or contaminants the cardboard is baled, placed onto a truck and shipped out to desired markets. Each bale weighs up to 1,400 pounds.

5. Employees sorting materials pull mixed office paper off the conveyor from the waste stream. When enough material has been stockpiled it is sent along the conveyor to be baled. The 1,200 pound paper bales must also be free of cardboard, trash, plastics or other contaminants. (Please find a list of recyclable paper products and non-recyclable products on the attached pages.)

6. Wood and Metal are frequently found during the sorting process. Wood pallets, metal light fixtures and other materials are pulled from the conveyor and separated into bins, further increasing the recycling process.

7. Wire and aluminum cans are removed, sorted and recycled.

8. Remaining trash continues along the conveyor line and is placed in a pile of material that is sent to Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Authority (GDRRA) and incinerated. The steam generated produces electricity and is sold to Detroit Edison. This process completes the recycling chain and ensures that 100% of your waste is recycled.

Results

Capital Waste currently produces 55 bales of cardboard and 10 bales of paper daily
Each ton of paper recycled saves 22 trees, 462 gallons of oil, 4100 kilowatts of energy, 7000 gallons of H2O and 33 cubic yards of landfill space.
Our facility runs six days a week, but these weights are based on a normal five day work week; Monday through Friday
In an average week Capital Waste saves 85,800 trees, 180,180 gallons of oil, 1,599,000 kilowatts of energy, 2,730,000 gallons of H2O and 12,870 cubic yards of landfill space.

Construction Recycling

1. 40-50 open top loads of "trash" are dumped onto the sorting floor daily.

2. Materials are hand sorted and separated into the following categories: Cardboard, Metal, Wood, Concrete and Wire.

3. Clean cardboard is pulled from loads and delivered to the office recycling line where it is run across a conveyor and baled. Once baled, it is loaded onto a truck and sent to be processed

4. Metals are pulled from the loads and sorted into multiple categories as well. Heavy Metal, Scrap, Copper and Aluminum. These materials are delivered to many different scrap facilities in the Detroit Area.

5. Wood is contained and crushed in order to maximize the amount of space that may otherwise be taken up during transportation. Wood is either turned into decorative wood chips or incinerated to produce energy.

6. Large pieces of concrete are reloaded into containers and taken to a crusher to be processed and reused as road base.

Results

Capital Waste removes enough wood (pallets and lumber) a day to fill one 90 cubic-yard container (average weight is 16 tons per container).
Two 90 cubic yard containers of scrap metal are removed from the waste stream every day (average weight per container is 18 tons). Up to 30 cubic yards of heavy metal is separated daily and removed from the waste stream (average weight is 12 tons).
60 Cubic yards of aluminum is removed weekly (weights vary).
That is a minimum total of 300 tons pulled from our construction recycling process that would have otherwise been sent to the landfill as "waste" on a weekly basis. This does not include cardboard.
Our process is growing and improving daily and we look forward to the time you might be able to visit our facility. Our facility runs six days a week, but these weights are based on normal weekday loads from Monday through Friday
Our process makes us a necessity for ISO 14001 companies!

Additional Benefits...

24 Hour Service allows for a more fluid service schedule on containers that require timed stops, emergency service or containers that might be obstructed during normal workday hours.
Detroit Based & Centrally Located allows for rapid service, ability to switch multiple containers and respond to the changing needs of our customers.
Multiple Container Sizes: 2, 4, 6, and 8 cubic yard front-end containers; 10, 20, 30, 40, 60 and 90 cubic yard open-top containers and stationary, self-contained and vertical compactors.
Compactor Sales, leasing, rental and maintenance.
A personal touch. Our goal is to meet and exceed your needs through constant communication, feedback and involvement to make sure you are satisfied. We believe that there can always be improvements to current processes and look for ways to evolve in order to better service you.

Why Do We Recycle?

Recycling is the right thing to do for ourselves and our children.
Recycling saves the environment and our natural resources
Our recycling program keeps waste from going to area landfills, saves money and allows us to hold your costs down in this competitive market.
With the insurgence of Canadian Waste coming into Michigan over the years our area landfills are filling up at record rates.

Office Recycling Programs for First Time Participants

Containers we can provide:

Front-End Containers can be utilized to isolate paper and cardboard
Roll-Off Containers
Compactors
Curby Carts/Office Containers

Capital Waste Recycles!

Many companies are apprehensive or chose not to recycle because they feel that there may be additional effort or cost. Cleaning crews and office personnel are able to dispose of waste in their normal fashion. Additional services normally mean additional cost, but not at Capital Waste. We simplify the process!

Capital Waste, Inc.'s recovery facility moves selected waste streams across a conveyor enabling sorters to pull recyclable waste such as paper, cardboard, wood or metal from the waste stream. The Benefit: Capital Waste is able to recycle materials, avoid landfill cost, reduce transportation costs, provide stable pricing to customers in these tight economic times and provide added benefits to our customers.

Separating Waste at the Office:

Co-mingled: If companies choose to separate materials at their facility, they can designate common areas in the building as collection sites for materials. There is still no need for an additional container because materials sorted from normal trash such as food waste can be placed in a blue or green bag. This bag alerts our sorters that the material is uncontaminated and ready for recycling. The Benefit: Minimal effort results in a better work environment and no additional costs to you.

Separate Containers: If companies have enough recyclable material coming from their facility to increase the number of containers, they may designate one container for trash and another for recycling. Recycling containers normally have a decreased rate because there are no additional fees for disposing of the materials at the landfill and we don't have to perform separation at our site. Recycling materials are placed on a separate route and picked up along with other similar materials.

The Benefit: Cost reductions, an increase in the amount of recycled material, a full fledged office recycling program and increased employee moral.