NC_SWMMAR_FY2023-2024_NC_DOT-Annual Recycling and Solid Waste Management Report

North Carolina Department of Transportation
Materials and Tests Unit
Resource Conservation Program

For more information regarding this report, please contact:
Daniel Snoke at 919-329-4004 or [e-mail]

Recycling and Solid Waste Management Report
For Highway Construction, Maintenance Projects, and
Office Products

State Fiscal Year 2023-2024

North Carolina Department of Transportation
Materials and Tests Unit
Resource Conservation Program

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INTRODUCTION
This report is a summary of the recycling and solid waste management efforts on
highway construction and maintenance projects within the North Carolina Department of
Transportation (NCDOT) for State Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 (July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024)
as required by NC General Statute (G.S.) 136-28.8(g) and G.S. 130A-309.14(3). These
statutes mandate that the Department prepare an annual report on the amounts and
types of recycled materials specified or used in construction and maintenance projects
during the previous state fiscal year and review of bid procedures, respectively. The
types of recycled materials incorporated into this report would routinely contribute to the
consumer and industrial waste streams if not reused/recycled, compounding the
problem of declining space in landfills, and resources.

Efforts to utilize recycled and solid waste materials are in response to the requirements
of G.S 136-28.8(b) which mandates the Department use recycled materials in highway
projects, where possible. All applications of recycled materials are to be consistent with
economic feasibility, applicable engineering, and environmental quality standards. In
addition, the Department continues to comply with Chapter 136 of the General Statutes
to encourage the purchase or use of reusable, refillable, repairable, more durable, and
less toxic supplies, and products.

In addition to recycled/recyclable materials from Department construction and
maintenance activities, this report also contains information regarding common
recyclable items such as glass, plastics, aluminum cans, office paper, etc. that were
previously reported separately. Requirements for the submission of this office and rest
area data are required by G.S. 130A-309.07 through 309.14, G.S. 143-58.2(f), and
Executive Order 156.

BID PROCEDURE REVIEW
The Department continues to review bidding procedures and processes yearly to
encourage the purchase and use of recycled and reusable products and practices in
construction and maintenance projects. Section 104-13 of the NCDOT Standard
Specifications for Roads and Structures encourages Contractors to not only use
recycled or solid waste materials in their projects, but also allows them the opportunity
to initiate and develop the use of recycled products and construction methods that
promotes sustainability. Furthermore, the contractor is required to report the use of
recycled materials by July 1st each year.

DATA COLLECTION
All offices submitted data for this report via an online webform. The online webform is
separated into two sections, one for the “construction and maintenance” data, and one
for “DOT/DMV Offices and Rest Areas” data (formerly the “3R Report”).

The totality of data included in this report comes from three separate sources:
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Materials and Tests Unit
Resource Conservation Program

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1. HiCAMS (Highway Construction and Materials System) database,
2. Various NCDOT Offices (entered in a SharePoint form), and
3. NCDOT Roadside Environmental Unit’s Litter Cleanup Programs

The data reported in Table 1 from HiCAMS is denoted by an asterisk (*). HiCAMS is
NCDOT’s main repository of project and material level information. The HiCAMS
information, however, is not conclusive, as many county maintenance project materials
are not included. NCDOT Standard Specification Section 104-13 states that contractors
are to report the quantities of reused or recycled materials for each contract and any
practice that minimized the environmental impacts by July 1st each year, but the
reporting response rate remains low.

The data reported in Table 1 are all rounded down to the nearest whole number for
each item. Several important points regarding data collection need to be made for
clarification and consistency purposes:
1. Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) quantities and Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles
(RAS) quantities are being reported as one item. This is necessary since
changes were made to NCDOT’s HiCAMS database that now require the
combined reporting of these two constituents.
2. The glass beads (Section 5) contained in pavement markings can come from
recycled sources, however the exact percentage and quantity is not completely
known. Therefore, the entire quantity of glass beads is currently listed as a
recycled/recyclable product.
3. The Plastics section (Section 6) includes products that contain recycled
components and products that could be recycled in the future. The plastic pipe
component is composed of all dimensions and compositions of plastic pipe. The
exact amount of recycled plastic and recyclable plastic cannot be determined
given the limited amount of data present. Therefore, all plastic pipe types and
sizes were combined in a single category.
4. The Metals section (Section 8) is presumed to be composed of steel. However,
various grades and types of steels are included, and our office cannot verify that
this section does not include other metals such as Aluminum. Furthermore, the
materials listed do not specify a recycled content amount. The materials are
included as a product that will be, or could be recycled in the future, and one that
contains an unknown quantity of recycled metals presently. It is therefore
included as both a recyclable product and a recycled product.
5. Scrap metal is listed as one line item in Section 8; some of the scraps are
presumed to be recycled guardrail, sheet piles, and pipes, but their individual
quantities cannot be determined at this time.

North Carolina Department of Transportation
Materials and Tests Unit
Resource Conservation Program

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Table 1: NCDOT Recycled Products & Solid Waste Utilization in Construction &
Maintenance Projects

(*) Data pulled from HiCAMS as of 9/9/2024
(^) Data pulled from HiCAMS and combined with data reported by
NCDOT field offices on 9/9/2024

The data reported in Table 2 are all rounded down to the nearest whole number for each
item. Several offices and rest areas report their recycling report data as commingled
recycling. As such, it is not possible to determine the quantities of each constituent
material, and therefore a “commingled” product line is listed in Table 2.
Product Category / Description Quantity Unit of
Measure
1-Asphalt:
Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) 2,042,976* Tons Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles (RAS)
2-Organics:
Mulch (wood) 3,380 Cubic Yards
Mulch (hydromulch) 84 Bales
Earth/Soil Fill (not for compost) 19,567 Tons
Vegetative Debris (not for compost) 364 Tons
Silt Fence Posts 2,420 Each
Scrap Wood/Lumber/Piles/Posts 475 Tons
Wood Pallets 0 Each
Sign Posts 3,040 Each
3-Coal Combustion Products:
Fly Ash 23,536* Tons
4-Concrete:
Recycled Concrete 772,939 Tons
5-Glass:
Glass Beads 12,615^ Tons
6-Plastics:
Plastic Guardrail Offset Blocks 294,725* Each
Plastic Pipe (All Types and Sizes) 159,884* Linear Feet
Type III Barricades 36,098* Linear Feet
7-Rubber:
Tire Sidewalls 88,841^ Each
Miscellaneous Rubber 0 Tons
8-Metals:
Steel Beams 336 Each
Signal Heads 512 Each
Scrap Metal 871 Tons
Cable Guiderail 648,578^ Linear Feet
Guardrail 399,888^ Linear Feet
Signposts 39,620 Each
Signs 19 Tons
Sheet Piles 21.45 Tons
9-Other:
Commingled Items 300 Tons
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Materials and Tests Unit
Resource Conservation Program

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Table 2: NCDOT Recycled Materials from NCDOT Offices and Rest Areas
(formerly the “3R Report” data)

The total weight of office and rest area recycling is 425,652 pounds. This total does not
include items for which the unit of measure for a recycled item was listed as each or
gallon. Table 3 contains the reported recycling data from the NCDOT Roadside
Environmental Unit’s various litter cleanup programs.

Table 3: Comingled Recycling from NCDOT Roadside Environmental Unit’s Litter
Cleanup Programs

Product Category Quantity Unit of
Measure
Office Paper 57,936 Pounds
Aluminum Cans 10,476 Pounds
Plastic - Soda/Drink Bottles 33,789 Pounds
Plastic - Other than Bottles 7,696 Pounds
Glass Bottles 7,294 Pounds
Cardboard 58,818 Pounds
Fluorescent Light Bulbs 142 Each
Appliances (Various) 12 Each
Toner Cartridges 498 Each
Petroleum Products 16,338 Gallons
Pesticide Containers 1,154 Each
Batteries 68,592 Pounds
Commingled Recycling 56,719 Pounds
REU Program Quantity
(lbs.)
Adopt-A-Highway 91,710
Contracted Removal 349,500
NCDOT Personnel 18,615
Sponsor-A-Highway 228,060
Other 1,140
Total 689,025