July 2, 2001

Construction debris turns into gold for Democon

Photo courtesy of Democon Democon collects debris from its own demolition jobs as well as from customers’ demolition sites, then delivers it to Recovery 1’s Tacoma site where useful waste is sorted and recycled.

Five years ago in Woodinville, Larry Wilson and Guy Hampton started with $1,500, a debris hauling truck and a rented office trailer to house their new company, Democon.

Today, billing themselves as “selective demolition specialists” who haul and recycle construction, demolition and land-clearing debris (CDL in industry parlance), Wilson and Hampton have12 hauling trucks, more than 500 work site debris containers, a dozen Bobcat loaders, a truck dispatch center in Fife and corporate offices in Lynnwood.

Contracts often reach $1 million and employment grows to as many as 70 when business peaks.

Although the privately owned business doesn’t release revenue figures, Hampton said business was up 150 percent last year over the prior year. This year he expects Democon’s income to grow by another 100 percent over 2000 levels.

“It’s been just crazy,” said Hampton, who’s based in the Lynnwood office while partner Larry Wilson handles the truck dispatch hub in Fife. “By the end of 2001 we expect to haul and recycle more than 100 million pounds of debris that would have normally gone to landfills.”

Aggressive and determined marketers, the two men have carved their own niche out of a highly competitive arena once dominated by established debris haulers. They’ve done it by hard work, creative marketing, sharp-pencil bidding, using the right equipment and focusing on recycling debris, not just hauling and dumping it.

“Our message to contractors and building owners is that debris doesn’t have to be separated at the job site, which saves them time and money. We pick up everything in one container and deliver it to a licensed recycling facility that separates, sorts and recycles it,” Hampton said.

Hampton and Wilson met with Sellen Construction on a Microsoft project in Redmond and found they were hiring laborers to separate debris on the work site and hiring forklift operators to move everything to the right bins.

“We saved them thousands of dollars by picking up their un-sorted debris in single containers and then recycling it through Recovery 1,” Hampton said. “That met their contract’s recycling plan requirements.”

Democon works closely with Recovery 1, a construction, demolition and land-clearing debris recycling center in Tacoma. Most of the center’s materials, 77 percent, come from construction and demolition contractors. The rest from land-clearing operations, stumps and brush, used pallets, and miscellaneous materials.

The company uses magnets, track-hoes with hydraulic thumb-grippers and hand labor to sort and recycle concrete, scrap steel, rocks, bricks, aluminum, copper, topsoil and even garbage. Less than one percent of everything received at the center ends up in a landfill, Hampton said.

The key to Democon’s successful operation is using the right equipment to manage the placement and collection of more than 500 debris containers throughout the Puget Sound area. Even huge 40-cubic-yard boxes are handled easily by powerful hydraulic Stellar Hook-Lift systems that quickly drag loaded containers aboard Democon’s trucks, even in locations that are difficult to reach or when vehicles can’t be exactly aligned with the container.

Cascon Transportation Equipment, a division of McLeskey Enterprises in Ridgefield, Wash., builds the debris containers used at Democon and is the Northwest distributor for the Stellar Hook-Lift systems that Cascon mounts to customers’ trucks. Controls are installed inside the cab so operators can handle containers without leaving their vehicle.

“We buy Cascon debris boxes exclusively because of their lasting durability, well-made design and service,” Hampton said.

Besides its long-term association with Cascon, Democon bought five of its 12 trucks from Valley Freightliner in Mount Vernon as it has expanded and upgraded its fleet. To help establish its regional reputation as well as promote its business, Democon has also become a member of Associated General Contractors, Associated Builders & Contractors and the Washington State Recycling Association. A significant source of new business also comes from its prominent, red-lettered gray containers at sites throughout the region, Hampton said.

The Lynnwood company recently opened the Fife locaton to house its trucking division, featuring state-of-the-art systems for dispatching vehicles, including the three trucks based in Lynnwood, and tracking the location of its 500 debris containers. Much of the trucking fleet runs at night, so vehicles can deliver and pick up containers without being caught in freeway traffic.

“Our service performance has sold us to contractors,” said Hampton, who also continues to solicit demolition work for Democon’s own crew, whether it’s a city block being razed, tearing down an aged school building or gutting a department store to be retrofitted for a new role.

But recycling tons of debris has proven to be a niche the firm excels in handling, he said.

“At first we did just our own demolition but other contractors saw our containers on job sites and wanted to rent them and have us pick them up,” Hampton said. “Then the volume we were dealing with made recycling with Recovery 1 a good fit for us. It’s affordable for us, cheaper than taking it to the landfill in Kitsap County where we used to go, and people like the idea that we’re recycling instead of putting debris in landfill.”

Democon handles work primarily from Everett and Marysville south to Olympia, although there have been special projects in Bellingham and Ellensburg. Many contracts, are with contractors working for companies such as Microsoft, Safeco and others who require contractors to include a recycling plan in their demolition or construction bid.

While many competitors might want to duplicate Democon’s debris pick up and recycling program, Hampton said the company has developed a distinct advantage that’s hard to compete with.

“We’ve spent a lot of time and money to set our system up so we can compete pricewise with standard haulers,” Hampton said. “That’s hard for a competitor to catch up to. Now that we’re established, we’re getting good support on the construction side and showing steady growth. We never expected it to be like this when we started, but recycling has sure been good exposure for us as well as good business.”