MassDEP webinar spotlights workforce, apprenticeship and local resources for building deconstruction

Kathy Mirza, branch chief for municipal waste reduction programs at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, opened a MassDEP Deconstruction Workgroup webinar that brought national and regional practitioners together to discuss workforce development and how deconstruction can keep building materials in circulation.

The panel argued deconstruction produces environmental, economic and preservation benefits and requires coordinated training, infrastructure and incentives. Michael Orbank of Structure Tone set the scene by defining construction and demolition (C&D) waste and deconstruction. Presenters stressed that deconstruction can reduce embodied carbon, create resale markets for historic materials and generate jobs if there is policy and market support.

MassDEP emphasized available funding streams: Recycling Business Development Grants (projects awarded up to $400,000) and microgrants (up to $10,000) for reuse and repair projects. Mirza said the agency will use the workgroup’s findings to build a resource toolkit and hold a brief virtual meeting in September followed by an in‑person workshop this fall to help municipalities move from planning to action.

Speakers repeatedly returned to the need to align contractor training, worker training and storage/market infrastructure so trained workers have local employers and reclaimed materials have known outlets. Panelists pointed attendees to existing national and regional resources, including All4Reuse and the Build Reuse Wiki, and to ongoing efforts to compile up‑to‑date regional lists of reuse and recycling businesses.

MassDEP closed by saying the webinar recording and slide deck will be posted on the agency’s website and thanking participants. The next steps announced were the September preparatory meeting and the in‑person fall workshop focused on municipal readiness and barriers to implementation.