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I have a basement slab that I'm going to be breaking up and sending to a recycler. Here's what I would like to avoid:

  • The concrete being rejected at the site of recycling
  • The concrete causing some problems with the recycler's facilities

Both are admittedly unlikely, but I'm a worrier. In my basement I have carpet pads that I will be removing to access the slab, and those pads were attached to the concrete with what I assume was construction adhesive several decades ago. I'm wondering how clean I need to get the concrete to be able to get it accepted for recycling.

I asked the recycling facility this question, but didn't get an answer. Anyone know?

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  • it doesn't have to be pure, they mainly don't want mud and debris...
    – dandavis
    May 6, 2018 at 3:56
  • @dandavis Great, so as long as I don't have big chunks of carpet pad on it, I should be OK? There's a portion of my slab that's coated with a really tough type of material that is putting up a big fight against my scraper.
    – rajan
    May 6, 2018 at 4:43

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You're fine, as long as the amount of debris is low. A bit of carpet glue, no problem. Huge chunks of carpet, or mud, no good. Of course you can ask the recycling company for a contamination rate, but pretty much if it looks clean, it's good to go. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_recycling

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  • Never would have thought of wikipedia for this. That page actually answered another question I was wondering about as well - is there a problem in recycling concrete with lead-based paint? It looks like there isn't.
    – rajan
    May 7, 2018 at 5:54

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