WESTON — DEVENS
Perched on top of a mountain of discarded construction and demolition materials, an excavator with a grapple bucket picks through the debris and places it into a conveyor belt system.

The system, consisting of manual labor and a series of different-sized conveyor belts, sorts these materials, including asphalt, brick, concrete, shingles, gypsum, metal, wood and cardboard.

The materials are then dropped into holding bays for further sorting.Once this process is completed and the material grounded into shape, the newly made

recyclable is ready to be transported to secondary markets.

For example, recycled wood becomes wood chips to be used as a fuel source while concrete gets crushed to be used as a road base and landscaping materials.

All these machinations take place in a 90,000-square-foot building that serves as the centerpiece of the Devens Recycling Center - the largest fully enclosed state-of-the-art construction and demolition (C&D) transfer station in the United States.

The 55-foot-tall facility features six bays, each with a roll-up door allowing for multiple containers to be dumped at once so haulers don’t have to wait to deliver their loads.

With no interior columns, the building is long and wide enough to house two 747s end to end. Permitted to accept up to 1,500 tons of debris daily, the facility handles about 400 tons of materials each day from C&D waste haulers and debris producers. In just over one year, the center has diverted thousands of tons of waste from landfills Á enough to fill 30 rows at Gillette Stadium.

Located on 11 acres in the former Army post adjacent to Ayer, the center was started in September 2007 by Weston residents Kurt Macnamara and Jim Benson. The former owns W.K. Macnamara Corp., a demolition company in Waltham. The latter is a former president and CEO of John Hancock Insurance Co.

"Each day (at W.K. Macnamara), I see a tremendous waste of construction and demolition materials," says Macnamara. "I became focused on trying to divert these materials from landfills. Jim and I have a strong passion for a cleaner, healthier world and together we had a vision that there would be a trend in renewable construction materials through a waste diversion process."

That trend could soon become the law in Massachusetts. According to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the state has already banned landfill disposal of some C&D debris such as metal, asphalt, brick, concrete, cardboard and wood. The DEP is now considering banning gypsum and carpet.

"We see ourselves as the Wal-Mart of the construction and demolition industry," says Macnamara.

To start the recycling process, trucks bring their materials to the center where their first stop is the scale house. Here, each truck is weighed by Devens’ weight tracking system. After it dumps its materials, the truck is weighed again before exiting to determine the load weight.

From the scale house, the truck arrives at the transfer station where it dumps out its contents. Here, on the tipping floor, an employee monitors what comes out of each truck and, using a handheld device, punches in the quantity and characteristics of the materials. That information gets sent wirelessly to the scale house and is printed on the hauler’s ticket as it exits.

The company which owns the trash-dumping truck pays Devens a fee based on the amount of material it drops off each year. The fee ranges from $78 to $100 per ton. Dropping off debris at a landfill costs about the same, according to Macnamara.

While the prices are similar, recycling materials is friendlier to the environment and a plus for businesses with a green thumb, says Devens’ president. "Our goal is to only landfill what needs to be and re-enter materials that can be reused in the construction materials process," he says.

Fifty to 70 percent of the materials that enter the Devens facility get recycled to secondary markets. The center either transports recyclable materials to these markets or has the markets pick up the materials.

"We partner with innovative companies who utilize our commodities to create new products or develop alternative energy," says Macnamara.

The amount Devens receives for these materials depends on the material.

Unfortunately, the economic downturn has not been kind to recyclers. "The recycling business in general and our business are down about 50 percent due to the challenges with the economy," says Macnamara. "Fewer homes are being built and demolished, and the secondary markets for cardboard, steel, etc. has been affected as well."

Seven other companies in Massachusetts provide C&D recycling. Of those, only three, of which Devens is one, has a rail-sided facility allowing trains to dump off material.

Devens’ clientele includes major universities and major developers in Massachusetts. While C&D recycling began making inroads in the United States 10 years ago, it has been an established practice in Europe for decades, according to Macnamara. "In Europe, landfills are rare," he says. "They do not have the vast space we have here in the United States. Regardless of how much space we have, we need to be responsible and recycle and not pollute our landfills.

"Europe is also more environmentally savvy. They are not a throwaway society. For example, they use cloth napkins, not paper, and when they go to their local cafe for coffee they don’t use paper or Styrofoam cups, they bring a mug.

"Here in the United States we are an ‘instant gratification’ society. Through education and recycling, we are changing the public’s mind-set to do things differently. Our goal is to help protect the planet and create a better environment for future generations."

In the new year, Devens is starting a solar energy company to encourage building owners to use this sustainable, renewable and clean source of energy to power businesses.

In addition, the company is discussing forming partnerships with smaller C&D transfer stations in order to help them grow their businesses and increase the amount of C&D recycling throughout Massachusetts.

"It is exciting to be at the forefront of this new, emerging industry," says Macnamara. "We are truly creating a new way of living. With the heightened awareness of global warming and overcrowded landfills, I am thrilled to be a part of this cultural change.

"Also, as the father of young children I understand the importance of preserving the environment for future generations. Each day I see the materials we prevent from entering landfills and I am proud to be a critical component to protect the planet."