Waste Water: Harbor Springs Excavating is one of only a few excavating companies in Northern Michigan to take the time to worry about what happens to our wash water when we clean our equipment. In an effort to keep contaminates out of the ground and ultimately the ground water, we operate a wash bay and evaporator system.
Concrete, Asphalt: Since 2000, when we began our efforts to recycle the waste concrete and asphalt generated at our jobs, we have prevented the wasteful land filling of 80,000 cubic yards of material. That material has been crushed into usable road base products (22-A and 23-A). In addition to preventing the wasteful land filling, this effort has also slowed the removal of additional natural resources by the same amount. Due to the high crush count (100%) this material has proven to be superior to natural products generated in this region.
To put this amount into perspective, it is enough gravel to build 2.6 miles of 24’ wide roadway, cover 100 acres 6” deep or fill an area the size of a football field 45’ deep!
Shop: All of our office waste is recycled, our used oils are sent in for re-refining and our scrap steel products are recycled. When performing demolition any recyclables are separated for proper disposal. Steel, asphalt and concrete are the primary products that are economically recycled. All of the scrap steel generated by repairs and part replacements is also recycled.
Topsoil: In addition to this, over the last 30 years we have recovered, screened and sold over 96,000 cubic yards of topsoil from our jobs. Had this been stripped from fields it would have taken almost 40 acres of land 18” deep to supply this soil.