In Tacoma, a New Demolition Salvage Program is a Big Step Towards a Greener City.

TACOMA, Wash. — On July 1st, 2026, Tacoma launched a new demolition salvage program. The goal: keep usable housing materials out of landfills. 

When a member of the historic preservation community initially approached Tacoma City Council Member Kristina Walker with the idea, she was hooked. Tacoma’s detailed Climate Action Plan lists waste prevention, such as salvage programs, as an action item for the city, and Walker was empowered to set the plan in motion. 

“We have to work towards reducing greenhouse gas wherever we can, and the built environment is a huge, huge part of that,” Walker said. 

According to a report from the UN Environment Programme, buildings and construction are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, making up 37% of emissions worldwide. This proportion is predicted to rise to 50% by 2050. The industry also produces 40% of the world’s solid waste. By transitioning to a circular economy, where building materials are reused and recycled, cities can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of their built environments.

In 2023, Tacoma produced 1,844 tons of waste from construction and demolition. Around 71% of this waste was classified, in a retroactive waste characterization study, as recoverable or potentially recoverable.

According to Council Member Latasha Palmer, a member of Run On Climate’s Local Climate Policy Network (LCPN) and another key leader in the demolition salvage program, the program is coming at the perfect time. The city typically issues around 100 demolition permits annually. But zoning codes were recently changed to encourage construction progress in the city, which she predicts will bring more demolition — and more refuse.

“We don't want our environment to be the victim of our success in Tacoma, right? Coming up with a way for us to divert a lot of the waste while we progress is timely and important right now.”

Walker, Palmer, and their teams conducted extensive research on what the program could look like, and spoke with local politicians that had implemented similar programs in places like King County, WA, Pittsburgh, and Boulder.

The biggest challenge in implementing the program was to develop an ecosystem that could handle the new influx of salvaged materials. Walker spoke with a variety of stakeholders, from homeowners trying to piece together historic homes to the salvage companies that have been operating in the city. With each conversation, the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. 

Today, through the voluntary program, residents can fill out a salvage assessment form for any private construction project, and have a verified Salvage Assessor determine if any materials can be reused. As an incentive, any future building permits for that project site will qualify for priority review and expedited permit processing, with waived fees. These incentives apply even if salvaged materials are not found. Salvaged materials will then be sent to one of two salvage shops in the area — Second Use or Earthwise. 

When Walker asked a salvage assessor what qualifies as salvagable, he responded, “Everything.” Everything from windows, tile, and doors, to light switch covers and drawer pulls — if they are in good condition — can be reused. Palmer says that in a place like Tacoma, with its historic buildings and unique architecture, the salvage program can help maintain the city’s character. When older buildings are demolished, their decorative tile, stained glass windows, and crown molding are now given another life.

The program is also another step towards greater climate equity and housing affordability, according to Palmer. Salvaged materials are more affordable, which makes development more inclusive. The contractor who submitted the first qualifying salvage application, Joshua Moore, told Lucas Shadduck, the city’s Principal Plans Examiner, that the new program “is precisely what builders like myself require to genuinely contribute to solving the housing affordability crisis.”

Additionally, Palmer says, “Keeping more things out of the landfill is an equity issue.” In the US, host tracts for hazardous waste sites are consistently home to higher percentages of people of color, especially African Americans and Latinos, and higher percentages of people living under the poverty line.

According to a study on building lifecycle carbon emissions, waste from deconstruction and demolition is “the most difficult waste generated by the construction industry,” making up 35% of global waste. By recycling this waste, greenhouse gas emissions can be significantly reduced — in Shanghai, recycling 1 ton of waste could save 100 kg of carbon dioxide, saving the equivalent of 111 pounds of coal burned. 

Though the program started just a few weeks ago, the council members have already seen success stories. In the first demolition project assessed after the salvage program launched, the city was able to salvage new high quality kitchen and bathroom cabinets, nine doors, seven windows, two sinks, 128 feet of fencing panels, a fridge, dishwasher, cooking range, microwave, washer and dryer, furnace, and a water heater. 

Walker has also received positive feedback from residents who’ve used the program. She shares, “I'm wildly optimistic and I'm usually much more cautious. I think there was a demand for it, and we just weren't capturing it yet.”

This is just the first step in Tacoma’s broader deconstruction plan. Looking to the future, the council members hope to expand, and increase the city’s capacity to handle salvaged materials. Over the next few months, the city hopes to collect data to better understand the quantity and types of materials being saved from landfills. Eventually, they will implement another voluntary program to pull down framing boards like two-by-fours and two-by-sixes, for a more involved deconstruction process. 

Walker foresees that after extensive research and data collection, the city will be able to require some aspects of the program. “I think that's the goal because, the way we, on a larger scale, keep things out of the landfill is to have some sort of requirement,” she said.

For other cities looking to follow Tacoma’s footsteps, the council members have some advice. Council Member Walker suggests their stairstep-style program, easing into a larger deconstruction policy, has worked well for the city. She also recommends bringing together stakeholder groups to better understand what is happening in the field. Council Member Palmer says, “Start somewhere. Find out where your starting point is and don't shy away, because it's needed. I'm proud that this is something that we're doing here.”

*Cover Image Depicts Council Member Kristina Walker touring a salvage shop. Photo courtesy of the City of Tacoma.