The new 60,000 sq. ft. (5,574.2 sq m) J.R. Vinagro Corporation C&D processing and recycling facility provides a perfect view of the state’s landfill, just a dump truck ride away.
A new J.R.Vinagro Corporation Processing Recycling Facility, unlike anything built in this state before, with its nearly 90 percent recycling rate, will become a critical mechanism for the state. It will help conserve valuable landfill space, as well as provide a sustainable commercial recycling program for Rhode Island.
J.R. Vinagro Corporation is one of New England’s largest independently owned and operated facilities and has an impressive resume. Its complete materials process includes demolishing, crushing, processing, recycling, and transporting for rebuilding. This will help save landfill air space.
Building something that can preserve the environment, is nothing new for J.R. Vinagro Corp. With more than 150 employees, they have been in operation for more than three generations.
“It is a gorgeous building,” said Karen Hilton, project coordinator of J.R. Vinagro Corporation. “There is nothing like this that has ever been done here in Rhode Island. We know how to take this process to the next level. Providing a valuable service to the entire state can save a lot of material from going into landfills, and help conserve space for municipal refuse.”
Conserving landfill space for J.R. Vinagro Corporation is having all the resources and experience necessary to handle every aspect of demolition. From facility decontamination, to onsite crushing, to offsite waste hauling, recycling, reclamation, repurposing aggregate materials including natural aggregate, concrete, gravel, sand and loam of various sizes and screens and disposal — they do it all.
The company’s main office controls operations of 150 trucks daily, with a huge inventory of heavy construction and demolition equipment, used on some of the highest profile demolition projects in the region.
“We have a complete operation, from A to Z,” said Alex Correia of the operations and sales department. “At the end of the day, we have an outlet for everything. Contractors can bring clean materials in, and we recycle them into various grades of aggregate materials. In our own operation, we can do everything. We can demolish buildings, break up the grounds, transport the wood, glass, metal, stone, concrete, asphalt, etc. and haul all of the clean materials back here to our site for source segregation. We then can crush it, grade it, and deliver it to end users.”
J.R. Vinagro Corporation is a true success story. “They started out as pig farmers 50 years ago,” said Correia. “They were in the garbage business to sustain their farm. They learned all the ins and outs of dealing with trash in their day, and look what it has led to.”
“We are one of the few companies who have actually been able to grow, because of our diversity. Our many operations are all at one site,” said Hilton. “We have recycled, and continue to recycle and sort out every type of material generated, not only from planned C&D projects and customers, but also from those associated with an unplanned event. Some examples are assisting with the storm debris created by Hurricane Sandy in Westerly. We actually cleaned a beach for the state by screening the sand and removing the debris. We’ve also assisted with harsh winter storms throughout the state of Rhode Island.”
The new recycling facility can help builders get the all-important LEED building credit, a tool that is forging the way to so-called “green construction” and sustainable building practices.
J.R. Vinagro Corporation can help general contractors get LEED credit that they may need for obtaining certification for their projects. An inspector goes through the load, and tracks the recyclables for LEED. The inspector completes a breakdown of the materials in order to meet the standards. It’s another solid benefit of the recycling facility according to Hilton.
Another benefit of the newly built recycling facility is the ability to work indoors. To recycle during harsh Rhode Island winters could be challenging.
“Outside, doing this work in winter can slow you down,” said Hilton. “The cold affects productivity of the workers outdoors, just like the heat and humidity does in the summer. The weather and elements make it more difficult to work outside in an efficient manner. By moving the operations indoors, we have removed the obstacles which should lead to increased productivity. There is not one single piece of material that will be lost in the process. It has been completely modernized. This is especially important when supervising a demolition project with a quick turnaround. We have the ability to demolish, remove mixed materials, and process them back at our own facility.”
In 2012, Jamie Rhodes, Rhode Island director of clean water, said of the dump, “The central landfill is a nuisance. As a state, we need to reduce its negative impact while preserving its benefits. Diverting material from the landfill through recycling and composting reduces the public health threat while preserving the life of this landfill. Let’s push for zero waste.”
J.R. Vinagro Corporation has been recycling long before it gained popularity. Recycling was simply a matter of economics, meaning you reuse and repurpose portions of the mixed waste stream, and dispose of what you had to. In today’s emerging recycling culture, it becomes much more complex. There are waste ban materials that cannot go into landfills, such as unprocessed wood, ABC, and metals. Nowadays, there are “green” tax credits for renewable energy plants, one of which J.R. Vinagro Corporation has signed with to be a major supplier of wood fuel segregated from their processing.
In addition, J.R. Vinagro Corporation has other commitments from project owners for LEED Certification. It is all about recycling rates, and J.R. Vinagro Corporation provides cost-effective solutions to benefit Rhode Island, and beyond.
Hilton said that J.R. Vinagro Corporation is planning an official ribbon-cutting grand opening for the C&D Processing and Recycling Facility tentatively scheduled for August. The hours of the new facility will be 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I’m really excited about the opening of our new facility which houses state of the art equipment,” said owner Joseph R. Vinagro Jr. “This custom-built equipment will increase productivity and will recover more material from the waste stream. With the help of state and town officials we have been able to achieve our goal. I’m proud to say this facility will help reduce the current amount of materials being land-filled today. The benefit and impact this facility will have on the environment and recycling, far and above outweighs the financial commitment.”
The company’s main office is located at 2208 Plainfield Pike in Johnston, R.I.
For more information visit www.jrvinagrocorp.com or call 401-943-1000.
Today's top stories
