Wasting Not

Steel, copper and aluminum are already sorted and sold for reuse, he said, but these other hard-to-recycle items could soon be recirculated as well. That would raise Tankersley's recycling rate from its current 25 to 30 percent to about 80 percent.

Tankersley's ideas, which he hopes to have fully under way within a year, include using so-called green waste for biofuel and selling the other materials for use in an alternative construction block.

Tami Chadwick will be on the receiving end of much of the plastic.

Chadwick, a partner with Beyer Recycled Products, which makes the construction blocks, said a so-called Beyer Block is a great alternative to regular concrete blocks. It is not only more practical, she said, but it also uses materials that are otherwise being dumped in landfills.

"Everything we make so far is made out of wood and plastic,'' said Chadwick, who joined the Casa Grande-based company a couple of years ago. The block is named after its originator, Curt Beyer.

Chadwick said she has invited people to try to break a Beyer Block with a hammer, and so far it's been indestructible. But that doesn't mean it's difficult to use, she said.

Building a wall is much easier with these blocks, she said, because they can be joined together with adhesives rather than mortar and are easy to cover with stucco.

It's easy to use nails in the blocks, which don't crumble like concrete, she said. They are also resistant to flames, rot and mold.

The Beyer Block is slowly catching on with both homeowners and companies, Chadwick said. The Beyer Web site receives about 20 hits each day, including some from overseas.

Chadwick said the company needd to establish more plants in the United States before taking the idea abroad, but she said developing countries could be an ideal market.

"They don't have anything to do with their garbage and they don't have many building materials,'' she said.

Tankersley said he learned about the Beyer Block about a year ago when he was looking for ways to recycle more items at the landfill, at 7301 E. Speedway.

"It seems like a terrible waste just to landfill these materials,'' Tankersley said.

He is also looking to a process developed by former University of Arizona professor Donald White as a way to make biofuel out of the green waste — brush, grass clippings, tree trimmings — that's trucked in daily.

White, a renowned inventor and advocate of using waste as an alternative energy source, passed away in September.

"I want my kids to have a future,'' Tankersley said of his commitment to recycling. "I'm scared about what's happening in the world."

Tankersley inherited the landfill more than a decade ago from his now-deceased father. It was a sand and gravel pit at the time, he said. Next door is a Tucson municipal landfill, which is closed.

Tankersley hopes the community will one day be able to go back to its old landfills and pull out what's valuable for reuse.

To help with his goal of recycling more, Tankersley recently purchased a $300,000 sorting line. The new line enabled him to hire 10 more people. Tankersley said he is pleased to provide more jobs here and hates to see so many manufacturing jobs going overseas.

"Using these technologies, we can be fully self-reliant,'' he said. "I don't see energy prices going down and I don't think anyone in this country wants to be beholden to the Middle East.''

How it stacks up

● For details about the construction blocks, visit www.beyerblock.com

l The alternative blocks are made from 100 percent recycled raw materials using a patented process. Each block weighs 23 pounds, about 30 percent less than a normal concrete block.

l Beyer Blocks can be used for privacy walls, fences, sound barriers, sheds and other structures. The company is working to have the blocks approved for residential and commercial use.

SOURCE: Beyer Recycled Products Inc.