Demolition team expects to recycle 90% of Parrish and Heinbecker buildings
The Parrish and Heinbecker buildings, currently being torn down in Saskatoon, won't go to waste, according to the wrecking company doing the work.
Rakowksi and Cartage Wrecking estimates that well over 90 per cent of the Parrish and Heimbecker grain mill and elevator will be recycled. They figure 45,000 tonnes of material will be generated from the tear-down and only 500 tonnes of that is expected to end up in the landfill.
"We're really taking the time to pull apart and process as much as we can," Tristan Rakowski said Wednesday.
The most sought after material from the century-old complex is lumber, especially Douglas fir from the early 1900s.
Rakowski estimates the building holds 800 to 1,000 tonnes and roughly half of that timber will be reusable.
He noted that Douglas fir from that era is next to impossible to find.
"The growth rings are incredibly tight," he said. "It has a unique grain."
Wood that can not be reused is chopped up into chips to become a biomass fuel. Industrial-sized buyers burn that fuel as an alternative to coal. Rakowski says biomass fuels are economical options, especially in jurisdictions (such as Manitoba) where there is an 18 per cent carbon tax on coal-fired furnaces.
New life for concrete and metal
Rakowski also figures 40,000 tonnes of concrete will be sold to recyclers in Saskatoon for use in a variety of ways.
As well, a good amount of metal can be separated from the tear down rubble and sold.
Rakowski said the wrecking business has changed into a recycling business in the last few years out of necessity.
Landfill costs are about $100 per tonne and when you have 45,000 tonnes of material, it makes hauling demolition material straight to the dump expensive.
"Change happens when costs get out of control," he said. "Landfill costs are so expensive it makes other alternatives viable."
The tear down will continue for several more weeks. Around the end of June the company plans to use explosives to bring down the tallest building in the Parrish and Heimbecker complex.
