About the Florida Beneficial Reuse Clearinghouse

The Florida Beneficial Reuse Clearinghouse was created to act as a free, easily accessible repository for research and projects regarding the beneficial reuse of construction & demolition (C&D) materials.

Florida, as well as every other state, is producing large quantities of materials that can be reused/recycled rather than landfilled. One of the main areas where this is highly applicable is in the Construction & Demolition (C&D) industry. Many C&D materials have beneficial reuse properties after their initial use. Applications of particular interest exist in the transportation, construction, and environmental sectors, where large quantities of earthen materials are used for earth fills, hydraulic barriers, and pavement system aggregates. At the same time, there are several innovative applications such as brick and block making, mortar and concrete mixes, agricultural soil amendments, and many other alternatives associated with small-scale uses. Projects that beneficially use C&D debris are being conducted throughout the United States. However, an informational database has not been compiled that describes projects where C&D materials have been used, methods and specifications that have been used, lessons learned, and gaps in knowledge base that require additional research and development. One of the major goals of this web site is to provide a mechanism for the transfer of research and project knowledge regarding the beneficial reuse of construction & demolition (C&D) materials.

A Comprehensive System

One of the main functions of this web site will be as a comprehensive system for tracking the research projects in the system. As part of the system, the research documentation will be made available to any and all web site visitors. The information will include the challenges the researchers face as well as their successes. As project information becomes available, other parties who use the information for their own experiments can post their challenges & successes. As phases of the research are completed, the information will then undergo a peer review process which will assimilate the data in one area. This will allow others to access the completed data and evaluate the results objectively and determine whether or not it will work for their needs. This peer review process will be ongoing until the research is complete.

Our Team

The project team responsible for this web site system include Leon County, the Southern Waste Information Exchange (SWIX) and the FSU/FAMU School of Engineering. Each of the partners are contributing information and resources to the initial database as well as participating in the development of the system.