MobiCon Crushing and Recycling turns former rubble into aggregate and fill solutions

MobiCon Crushing and Recycling turns former rubble into aggregate and fill solutions

According to the Construction and Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA), concrete aggregate is one of the most recycled materials, by weight, in the United States. A growing number of transportation agencies incorporate recycled concrete aggregate, which has proven to be as (or even more) durable than virgin aggregates, but at a cost of 15–20% less.

In the past, concrete rubble used ended up in landfills, but now more and more companies are recycling the aggregate left behind when structures or roadways are demolished.

Chris Mooney and Brennan O’Donohoe, founders of MobiCon Crushing and Recycling, in Springdale, Arkansas, have spent a collective 16 years in the material supply industry. Eight years ago, they set out to change the way pavement, sidewalks and other construction debris was handled. Their aim was to recycle as much as possible, turning the old materials into usable products.

MobiCon’s focus is crushing within a quarry setting and recycling construction materials, such as steel-reinforced concrete, masonry products, asphalt, limestone, and sandstone. The company performs the work on customer job-sites, turning former rubble into ready-to-apply aggregate and fill solutions for use across Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

“Traditionally, concrete and asphalt debris were just disposed of,” O’Donohoe notes. “Our goal was to divert those things away from landfills and make road base or bedding materials. Recycling is more environmentally friendly and very cost-effective, because it decreases landfill usage and reduces the need for virgin aggregates that have to be mined from quarries—a win-win.”

MobiCon Crushing and Recycling feeds its mobile crusher with a 78,000-pound-plus Komatsu PC360LC-11 — the only excavator the company owns. The firm traded in an older Komatsu model for the PC360LC-11, which features an EPA Tier 4 Final emissions certified engine and heavy-duty rock bucket.

“Our machinery purchase decisions are based on three things: uptime, support and parts availability,” said Mooney. “When you are crushing high volumes for customers, breakdowns are a serious problem, but our downtime with Komatsu is minimal. To us, that says a lot about the quality of the machine because we are in a tough application, and our machinery takes a beating,” he added.

“The PC360 fits our application well,” noted Jared Gates, former company superintendent with an ownership stake in MobiCon. The cycle times are fast, so it moves a lot of material quickly. We wanted a machine that could pop out large sections of concrete and that we could put a hammer on to break up bigger chunks of material.

“Our PC360 handles those tasks easily, and at the same time, it’s simple to mobilize, so we can quickly load up and move to the next job,” Gates added.