An ambitious recycling initiative is now underway at ReVenture Park in Charlotte. Crews are pulling out 180,000 pounds of metal – including stainless steel and copper – from this once abandoned textile dye manufacturing facility. Instead of going to waste, these metals will be put back to use in traditional and non-traditional ways – all of which are detailed below.
The visionaries behind ReVenture Park plan to recover an estimated 1.5 million pounds of metal from 15 shuttered industrial buildings located on the 667-acre site. “We are working diligently to ensure as much of it is sold and put back to work as possible,” says Tom McKittrick, President and Founder of Forsite Development. “In the first building alone, we estimate we salvaged over 7,000 linear feet of two inch stainless steel piping that we will use on other projects.”
Most of the buildings also have extensive piping, racking, tanks, and other processing equipment that will be harvested and recycled. Once those spaces are cleared, the developers will renovate them into low cost space for all types of innovative clean energy technologies and companies.
Not only will the metals be reused and recycled for new industry, ReVenture Park developers are working with UNC-Charlotte art students on an innovative new beautification project. These creative students will be transforming some of the salvaged material into metal sculptures that will ultimately be displayed throughout the site. “We are both honored and excited to tackle a project of this scope. We will be crafting an explicit, tangible and, yes, beautiful expression of the metamorphosis about to begin at ReVenture Park.” Michael Haag and Joseph Bondi, UNC- Charlotte art students (in photo).
The Environmental Protection Agency is also spotlighting ReVenture Park for being a development site that reuses existing materials rather than building from new materials. You can download the full report at: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/pdf/martinmarrieta-success.pdf
As the developers of ReVenture Park, Forsite Development Inc. has retained NELCO Recycling and Aggregate of Mooresville, NC to manage the interior demolition and recycling of metals.
About ReVenture Park™
ReVenture Park is an ambitious plan to transform a 667 acre former Superfund Site along the Catawba River in Charlotte, NC into the region’s largest Eco-Industrial Park. This project will create one of the most dynamic and multi-faceted renewable energy developments currently being developed in the United States. Featuring multiple clean-energy projects, ReVenture Park will advance the Charlotte, NC region’s environmental goals and economic growth by attracting a myriad of renewable energy and alternative fuel projects. For more information: http://www.reventurepark.com 
ReVenture Park is an ambitious plan to transform a 667 acre former Superfund Site along the Catawba River in Charlotte, NC into the region’s largest Eco-Industrial Park. This project will create one of the most dynamic and multi-faceted renewable energy developments currently being developed in the United States. Featuring multiple clean-energy projects, ReVenture Park will advance the Charlotte, NC region’s environmental goals and economic growth by attracting a myriad of renewable energy and alternative fuel projects. For more information: http://www.reventurepark.com
