Reuse + Recycling of City Hall Materials Making Great Strides

Retrieving the Western red cedar slats for reuse in the new building.

NEWS RELEASE

October 16, 2014
Contact:    Jan Bohman, Community Relations Director, 541-682-5587

Reuse + Recycling of City Hall Materials Making Great Strides  

The City Hall project team has set a goal of reusing or recycling 95% of the existing building’s materials.  Great strides are already being made toward this goal.

Materials to be reused include concrete pavers, casework and furniture, plants and the transformation of materials such as the exterior cedar slats into elements in the new Eugene City Hall. The artworks commissioned with the 1964 building are also important elements that will be incorporated into the new design. Materials that will be recycled include concrete, metal, drywall and glass.

Concrete pavers - The City of Eugene’s partnership with BRING Recycling to reuse the concrete pavers from City Hall has been even more successful than anticipated. Approximately 3,800 concrete pavers were salvaged from the plaza level of City Hall by BRING staff. This process saved the City resources because BRING removed them at no charge to the City. This also made the pavers available to the community for reuse.  All 3,800 pavers have already been sold and the interest in them made for some busy days at BRING.

Environmental benefits of paver reuse - Each paver weighs close to 100 lbs., so BRING hauled off approximately 380,000 lbs., or 190 tons of material. The production of cement in the pavers generates Co2 gases associated with climate change. BRING estimates that by people buying used pavers rather than new, they collectively saved the production of 17 tons of Co2. 

Cedar Slats – McKenzie Commercial has completed the process of removing the cedar slats from the exterior of the building.  The painted wood will be cleaned, re-sawn and milled into sizes and shapes that are appropriate for reuse in the interior of the building such as wall paneling or trim.  Additional options are being explored such as using the cedar as the base material for new artwork and for exterior site elements such as benches and tables.

Plants – Many of the highest value plants that were able to be relocated were moved earlier this year to other City facilities to fill gaps in existing landscaping.  The rest of the plants were offered to Master Gardeners and other local gardening groups and those groups have removed plants from the plaza level and the beds surrounding the perimeter of City Hall.   

Metals – Metal recycling is an important part of the project’s recycling goal, and recycling metal will reduce project costs.  Metals (aluminum, copper, steel, etc.) will be salvaged and delivered to recycling centers, with any economic value of the recycled material resulting in a financial credit to the City.

For more information, please visit the project website at www.eugenecityhall.com for more information.