Demolished but not dumped

• Colorful Seasons

Echo Press photo by Lowell Anderson A backhoe ripped into the old Colorful Seasons building on Dakota Street in Alexandria. The building was demolished, and materials recycled, to make way for a new 8,100-square-foot facility that's expected to open in April.

Talk about it

An Alexandria business has stepped up its recycling efforts – with the help of other local businesses.

ORB Management, a construction management firm headquartered in the lakes area, recently began recycling at demolition job sites.

The company’s new recycling efforts began at the recent demolition site of Colorful Seasons, a long-time Alexandria business, according to Lois Sinn Lindquist, ORB business development.

Sinn Lindquist explained that ORB adopted a policy for all upcoming construction sites where, at a minimum, it will recycle 50 percent of all job site materials, measured by weight. The “stretch goal,” she said, is to recycle at least 75 percent of all job site materials.

At the Colorful Season demolition, materials were separated into bins – 30-yard dumpsters for metal and wood and a 12-yard dumpster for concrete.

Once the materials were separated – either by machine or by hand – they were taken off site and brought to different businesses for recycling.

Sinn Lindquist said the concrete went to Central Specialities, metals were brought to Phillips Recycling, the wood was sent to Glenwood Demolition Disposal and all corrugated and cardboard were brought to Waste Management.

She explained that eventually, ORB Management would likely recycle insulation and sheetrock, but that currently, those materials are not recyclable in Minnesota.

“Being good stewards of the Earth is important,” said Sinn Lindquist, who added that not only is recycling good for the environment, but it’s good for the businesses.

She said there is a dollar value to the owners from the sale of the recycled materials.

“When you’re recycling, you are doing the right thing,” said Sinn Lindquist. “Plus it’s really fun and good for all generations.”

Recycling isn’t new to ORB Management, she added. The office does its fair share of recycling. In fact, Sinn Lindquist noted that the roof of the ORB Management office on 3rd Avenue is made out of recycled tires.

In addition, instead of printing off large-scale copies of plans for whatever building project the firm is working on, Sinn Lindquist said it posts plans to its website for contractors to view. For those who may not have access to a computer or the capabilities to open the plans online, she said plans can be viewed at the ORB office or they can be printed.

Sinn Lindquist credited ORB Management’s president and owner, Tom Wacholz, for taking the lead on this project and for the recycling efforts of ORB.

“ORB wants to take care of the environment as best it can,” she said, adding that Wacholz said, “It’s about tomorrow.”

Tags: local news, orb management, colorful seasons, news, recycling, alexandria, orb