SPONSORED: Unlocking the potential of recycled building materials

Discover how Ontario can transform construction with Recycled Crushed Aggregates–saving taxpayer dollars, protecting the environment, and delivering high-quality infrastructure.

Boarding a plane in Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson Airport, you may not realize what’s beneath you was built using a sustainable approach that set the standard for material reuse, recycling, and remediation: Recycled Crushed Aggregates (RCA). 263,000 tonnes of concrete and asphalt from the old building were recycled on-site and repurposed as sub-base materials for the new apron.

The success of RCA use in Terminal 1, and later on as part of the rehabilitation of Pearson’s second-busiest runway, underscores the potential for RCA to reshape Ontario’s construction landscape, blending sustainability with reliable performance and taxpayer savings. It sets the stage for the future of recycled materials in Ontario infrastructure—a future that contributes to a circular economy without slowing down the development our province needs.

UNDERSTANDING RCA

Asphalt and concrete are 100% recyclable and can be reused as valuable construction materials. Every year, tens of millions of tonnes of asphalt and concrete are removed from construction sites across Ontario as roads are repaired, bridges are maintained, and other critical infrastructure is replaced. If not recycled and reused, these valuable materials will end up in landfills.

Recycled Crushed Aggregate (RCA) is asphalt and/or concrete reclaimed from those demolished roads, sidewalks, and other structures. The material undergoes a rigorous process of crushing, screening, testing, and quality control to be repurposed as construction material for new projects.

Stringent provincial standards (OPSS1010) ensure that RCA meets physical properties and gradation requirements that are equivalent to, and sometimes exceed, that of primary aggregates. Extensive testing has shown that when RCA conforms to OPSS1010, project owners can be confident that these materials will meet all performance requirements and quality expectations.

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Stringent provincial standards (OPSS1010) ensure that RCA meets physical properties and gradation requirements.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF RCA

RCA is a sustainable, high-performing material that offers some of the greatest environmental benefits at a low cost. 

The Greater Toronto Area alone is projected to consume more than 1.5 billion tonnes of aggregate by 2041 to deliver the housing, transportation, and other critical infrastructure our growing communities need. At the same time, it’s expected to exhaust all close-to-market aggregate production supply. Transportation is up to 60% of the cost of aggregates – this means that every extra kilometer aggregate has to be trucked to a job site increases the overall building costs and carbon emissions.

Since RCA is available at a fraction of the distance to new construction sites, the need for long-haul heavy truck transport is reduced, along with carbon emissions, project costs, traffic congestion, and wear and tear on roads. 

In fact, if Ontario municipalities adopt just a 20 per cent recycling rate, this could avoid extracting up to 33 million tonnes of new aggregate per year in Ontario, cost savings of $264 million, and greenhouse gas emission reduction equivalent to taking 15 million gas cars off the road for a year.

THE RCA PROCESS

There are already numerous recycling plants that can turn rubble into RCA for use in new construction projects, with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation being the top customer for the maintenance and expansion of its 400-series highways. The process starts with material collection, where concrete and asphalt rubble is diverted from landfills and delivered to a recycling plant. Upon arrival, the material undergoes visual inspection to ensure it’s free from contaminants such as organics, wood, plastics, and rebar. 

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Then, approved materials are off-loaded at designated areas where a wheel loader transfers the rubble into a two-stage crusher to achieve gradation requirements. Magnets remove rebar and other metallic materials during crushing, while plant personnel manually eliminate any other present contaminants. The material undergoes a final screening to ensure the RCA is suitable for its intended application. This process ensures compliance with OPSS1010 standards.

The Toronto Area Road Builder Association (TARBA) has developed a Quality Control Plan that provides detailed guidance and best practices on producing RCA, offering a valuable resource for producers, contractors, and project owners. 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAXIMIZING RCA USE

Despite its advantages and proven performance globally, RCA adoption remains limited in Ontario, especially at the municipal level. Despite Ontario’s provincial standards, municipalities have discretion in implementing these standards and their local policies. As a result, practices can vary widely by municipality, even in an economically significant region like the Greater Toronto Area. For example, most municipalities have specifications requiring “primary-aggregate only” as part of their tenders, missing out on the benefits RCA use offers to both municipal capital budgets and their net-zero targets. 

To tap into the benefits of RCA, three main recommendations will eliminate existing barriers:

  1. Policy Incentives: Municipalities should include the use of RCA in their tenders for linear construction projects such as roads, subdivisions, highways, bridges, and tunnels to allow contractors to use this high-performing material. A step further would be to designate a mandate for a minimum recycling rate for those construction projects.
  2. Standardization: Aligning municipal standards with OPSS1010 can reduce administrative burden, ensure quality and compliance, and encourage wider adoption.
  3. Education and Awareness: Sharing the extensive research, quality control measures, and the increasing number of applications for RCA with project owners and contractors can build further capacity and confidence in using recycled materials.
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If Ontario municipalities adopt just a 20 per cent recycling rate, this could avoid extracting up to 33 million tonnes of new aggregate per year in Ontario.

DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION FORWARD

RCA represents an undeniable opportunity to align environmental stewardship, fiscal accountability, and industry innovation. As evidenced from international jurisdictions, and as demand for construction project environmental sustainability increases, RCA will become the norm – it’s just a matter of how fast we adopt it.

Ontario’s municipalities own and manage more public infrastructure than the federal and provincial governments combined. They are the largest consumers of aggregates with more than 50 percent of their budgets allocated to construction and infrastructure. As a result, increasing the use of RCA in municipal projects holds the greatest opportunity to maximize its economic and environmental benefits.

By embracing RCA, municipalities can build a sustainable future where taxpayer dollars go further, natural resources are conserved, and the construction industry remains competitive and innovative. It’s a solution where everyone benefits. The time is now to unlock the full potential of RCA and build a future where growth doesn’t come at the cost of our planet.

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