A heavy civil contractor firm headquartered in Fortuna, California, the Mercer Fraser Co., furnishes construction materials and carries out frequent public works projects. An environmentally conscious company, the Mercer Fraser Co. practices concrete recycling.

Concrete is an ubiquitous construction material with a simple recipe. The two main ingredients are the aggregate (usually rock or sand) and water. The final ingredient, powder cement, serves to bind the water with the aggregate. Once mixed, concrete forms a kind of liquid slurry that can be easily poured. With time, however, it hardens into a durable material fit for a variety of construction projects.

During demolition, contractors usually end up with a significant amount of cement rubble. Contractors can dispose of the rubble cement, though transporting cement to the landfill and the resulting disposal fees can be quite expensive.

Concrete recycling is another option that involves removing and crushing appropriate concrete rubble. The crushed material can then be used as an aggregate when mixing concrete. It’s also useful in other ways, like being employed as a fill or a drainage layer.

Many types of concrete, including those used in paving, are 100 percent recyclable. Concrete recycling has numerous positive environmental impacts. For instance, recycling reduces the need to mine materials for new concrete, saving energy. Moreover, concrete recycling reduces traffic at construction sites, and reduces demand for landfills.