STANDARDIZING SALVAGE
EVERY ACCEPTED CATEGORY MAPS TO A MATERIAL CLASS RECOGNIZED IN NYC DESIGN GUIDELINES
NOW RECLAIMED STOCK CAN BE SPECIFIED WITH LESS VARIANCE.
ACCEPTED MATERIALs
STRUCTURAL TIMBER
Joists, beams, rafters, decking, old-growth dimensional lumber
Denailed or nailable, free of rot or infestation, minimum 4ft usable length
MASONRY & DIMENSIONAL STONE
Face and common brick, terracotta, architectural block, rooftop pavers, antique stone, surplus material
Whole units or cleanly fractured halves, mortar residue acceptable
ARCHITECTURAL FIXTURES
Functionally intact, original hardware retained where present, glazing sound
METALS
Structural steel sections, cast iron, ornamental metalwork, copper, interior framing
Sorted by alloy where identifiable, free of coatings requiring abatement
Criteria are indicative and subject to site-specific assessment. Confirm project-specific acceptance during a pre-demolition audit. Only approved construction and industry account holders may drop off or purchase materials.
The NYCEDC Guidelines require material tracking logs, reuse and salvage plans, and design-for-disassembly documentation. Our intake criteria are written to produce exactly those records as a function of normal operation, rather than as a separate reporting exercise.
MATERIALs We cannot accept & why
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
Asbestos-containing material, lead-painted components without abatement documentation, and PCB-bearing assemblies. These require licensed abatement, not salvage.
MIXED & UNSORTED DEBRIS
Commingled loads. Sorting cost at intake exceeds recovered material value, which is why source separation on site is a condition of acceptance.
WATER & BIOLOGICAL DAMAGE
Material with mould growth, structural rot, or sustained water saturation. It cannot be certified for reuse and contaminates adjacent inventory.
COMPOSITE & BONDED ASSEMBLIES
Materials permanently bonded to incompatible substrates — adhered vinyl, fibre-cement composites, and laminated assemblies that cannot be separated cleanly.
GYPSUM & FRIABLE FINISHES
Excluded from the C&D salvage stream under existing NYC waste designations and not economically recoverable.
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