Des Moines recycles concrete and asphalt at Hartford yard to cut costs, operations manager says

Jim Scott, operations manager for the City of Des Moines Public Works, said the Hartford Recycle Yard processes concrete, asphalt and other excavation material so the city can reuse it in street and panel repairs. "This is a recycled plant for concrete, for asphalt, for all different kinds of dirts that come in," Scott said.

Scott told attendees that when crews remove concrete panels they typically over-excavate and bring the excess material to the yard, where the city screens dirt on site. "Once it gets to adequate volumes, then we have a contract," he said, describing how the city brings a contractor in to crush concrete and asphalt while city staff handle screening of dirt.

Scott said the program reduces the city's need to purchase and truck rock for maintenance projects. "What this does overall for the city is it reduces our budget by a lot," he said, adding that reusing materials also reduces the need to extract new material from the earth. He summarized the practice as: "We remove it, restore it, recycle it, and reuse it again."

City staff did not provide dollar estimates, volumes processed per year, or a schedule for expanding the program during the remarks. The presentation focused on describing the yard's purpose and procedures; no formal actions or votes were announced.