Diverting 65% of Demolition Debris in Long Beach: Planning for the CDMP

Demolition produces a lot of material, and in Long Beach a large share of it is expected to stay out of the landfill. City guidance has pointed to a Construction and Demolition Management Plan, often shortened to CDMP, and a 65 percent diversion goal for demolition projects. State green building rules and the City's own program both feed into this. Details such as deposits, forms and thresholds change, so verify the present requirements with the City before you finalize a budget.

What diversion actually means

Diversion is the portion of project debris, by weight, that is reused, recycled or otherwise kept from disposal. It is measured on paper: tons that left the site, where they went, and how they were handled. Good intentions on site do not count unless a receipt backs them up.

How the plan works in practice

• Plan before you start: A management plan identifies the materials you expect, such as concrete, asphalt, metal, clean wood and drywall, and the facilities that will take them.
• Possible deposit: The City program has used a refundable performance deposit tied to meeting the target. Ask what the amount and refund conditions are for your project.
• Weigh and record: Each load needs a weight ticket or receipt from the facility. Mixed loads to a facility that reports its recovery rate are treated differently from loads to a plain landfill.
• Close out with a report: A final summary, with the tickets attached, is generally what releases the deposit and closes the requirement.

Which materials carry the number

Weight is dominated by heavy, recyclable material. Slab, footings, block and asphalt are crushed and reused as aggregate at suitable processors, and steel is sold as scrap. On a typical teardown those two streams can be the difference between meeting the target and missing it. Wood, drywall and roofing are lighter and harder to sort, so they matter less to the percentage but more to your labor and hauling plan.

Things that quietly lower your percentage

• Contaminated or asbestos-containing material that must go to a permitted disposal site.
• Concrete mixed with trash so it can no longer be accepted for crushing.
• Loads without a ticket, which cannot be counted at all.
• Soil that is not clean enough for reuse.

Questions to put to your contractor

Which facilities will take each material, and will you give me the tickets? Who prepares and submits the plan and the final report? If the project falls short of the target, who bears the cost of the lost deposit?

We plan the sort and keep the receipts so the numbers can be shown. Call Long Beach Demolition Co at (562) 210-0343 to discuss your debris plan.