Environmentalist of the Year

Bielinski stays true to nature

By Rebecca R. Konya

Bielinski Logo Bielinski Homes wants to leave its mark on southeastern Wisconsin's landscape with something more than just architecturally appealing homes.

That's why the Waukesha-based home builder, which has long been a leader in conservation development, in February launched the most aggressive recycling campaign among Wisconsin home builders.

"They really care about the impact they have," said Steve Stilling, owner of Prairie Tree Landscape Center, which works closely with Bielinski on its recycling program and conservation development efforts.

And southeastern Wisconsin's largest home builder is having the greatest impact on area landfills. From February through July, Bielinski achieved a 71 percent recycling rate, according to Jenna Kunde, executive director of WasteCap Wisconsin Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides waste reduction and recycling assistance for businesses.

"That's just amazing," said Kunde, whose organization is monitoring, measuring and documenting the results of Bielinski's construction-waste management efforts.

Bielinski, which builds an average of 300 new homes per year, began seriously researching a recycling program last November. When Stilling suggested developing a curbside pick-up program for all of Bielinski's home sites, the builder signed on with the Elkhorn-based landscape architect to collect, process and market discarded building materials on a weekly basis.

Currently, 40 to 45 percent of the waste dumped in Wisconsin's landfills each year is the result of construction and demolition activities. During the first six months of its recycling program, Bielinski successfully diverted 4,209 cubic yards of waste from Wisconsin landfills. Once the program is fully up and running, the home builder hopes to recover more than 25,000 cubic yards of material annually.

Among the materials Bielinski recycles are cardboard, drywall, masonry, wood and metal. Wood is ground into mulch, the drywall into gypsum for soil conditioning and the ground masonry is used as aggregate placed under driveways. Metal and cardboard are separated on site and hauled to centralized recycling dumpsters.

According to Kunde, Bielinski also is looking at incorporating vinyl into its recycling program — something no other home builder in Wisconsin is doing.

"Bielinski is an excellent leader," said Kunde, who previously worked mainly with commercial contractors to reuse and recycle construction and demolition debris before Bielinski signed on last winter.

By following the recycling efforts Bielinski has adopted, Stilling said the current percentage of construction and demolition waste tossed in Wisconsin landfills could be easily cut to 15 to 20 percent.

"They're not doing this just for themselves," said Stilling. "They're hoping every builder in Wisconsin models a recycling program after the system they've adopted."

And Bielinski's recycling program is already changing the face of statewide recycling efforts. In August, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources granted a general exemption for the use of wood chips derived from engineered lumber and other untreated wood for wood mulch. This permanent approval means that future recycling programs will not have to request an exemption to recycle wood.

"This effort may truly change the way construction waste from home-building sites is handled in the area and across Wisconsin," said Kunde.