Founder Rusty Cours built his company, Cleanout Bin, on a commitment to provide a shorter response time to deliver or pick up washout bins.

Ready-mix trucks empty washout water into receptacles under the California sunset before Cleanout Bin retrieves the contaminated water, bound for the recycle center.

The use of concrete in construction would hardly qualify as a “leave no trace” endeavor, but for an outdoorsman like Rusty Cours, at least the clean-up after laying concrete can be.

In 2014, Cours founded Cleanout Bin, a Signal Hill-based company that delivers leak-free bins made of heavy steel to receive concrete washout after pouring concrete, a necessary final task at the job site. “The new company was a good fit for his other business, Southern Cal Concrete Pumping, and for other contractors who needed washouts in order to stay in compliance with California’s environmental regulations.

“Leave no trace”—a mantra for diehard campers and hikers to cause zero disruption to nature with their presence—relates to Cleanout Bin’s philosophy and approach. The company provides virtually a zero potential for cementitious waste.

After a “wash out bin” is delivered to a job site, it can be easily moved with a crane or forklift so it doesn’t impede construction work or traffic. Once the ready mix completes its pour, the workers are able to wash out their trucks into the bin. Virtually all cementitious waste on a job site can be placed in a “wash out bin”. This includes dropping of hoppers, line pump washout, priming of pumps, saw cutting slurry and concrete demolition, just to name a few. When the bins are full and the job is completed, Cleanout Bin returns to the site, retrieves the bin and takes it to a recycling center, where 100 percent of its contents are recycled.

How Things Used to Be

Cours has been in the concrete pumping business for nearly 35 years. He became acutely aware of practicing good stewardship when it came to completing a concrete pour. There were a few jobs where he was pumping concrete literally on the sand at California beaches and other beautiful nature spots in Southern California. He came to realize the environment needed more protection from typical concrete operations on job sites.

“Many concrete companies were fabricating their own washouts out of plastic and wood or even digging pits in the ground,” Cours recalls. “There was extra time and money involved in disposing of the waste at landfills as well as building and then tearing down these washouts. Most, if not all, of the concrete waste from these pits ended up in landfills and inevitably was absorbed at the job site.”

Standard operating procedure bothered Cours, who loves the outdoors. An avid deep-sea fisherman, he enjoys motocross riding in and around Randsburg, California, bike riding, and he volunteers for beach clean-up efforts. The thought of being in an industry that could perhaps harm Southern California beaches and waterways was unsettling. Additionally, the father of three children wanted to ensure future generations could also enjoy nature with less polluted waterways and soils.

Cours was also keenly aware of the more stringent regulations on all aspects of the construction field—including concrete work—through such standards as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and SWPPP (Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan), the former instituted by the U.S. General Building Council and the latter by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“Because Rusty understood the industry, he designed a company to meet the needs with higher standards,” Sales Manager Ed Martinez says. “He used feedback from customers to design his bins. He met with contractors to find out what was important to them in a washout company and what problems they had encountered on job sites.”

Cours’ goal was to provide solutions for contractors and to offer a product that filled in the gaps that other washout companies had been leaving in the industry.

Averting Environmental Harm

Before society realized that the residue from a concrete pour harms the environment, crews washed out at or near the job site with water that carried slurry and cement particles to affect first the ground and then any underground waterways.

When pouring concrete on job sites, water is generally used to wash out pumps, ready mix trucks, tools, finished concrete and more. The runoff from pouring concrete and washing down at job sites can contain cement products, such as concrete, mortar, grout and stucco. This cementitious water can contaminate soil and compromise everyday safety. The high pH levels (just short of the level found in liquid drain cleaner) in these products due to alkaline and chromium can contaminate watersheds, storm drains, soil and aquatic life. Concrete waste produces a pH 12 level (liquid drain cleaner is 13.5) and the range for fresh- or salt-water fish is between 6.5 and 9 pH. Fines by municipal permitting agencies can run tens of thousands of dollars.

Standards—and environmental concerns—have changed, however, and so these days a truck washes out at a controlled site or containers are brought in. Some containment systems have open-air tops and others have trap doors, but they can leak. Other contractors use makeshift set-ups that involve hay bales covered in plastic liners that then must be carted away, like a canvas holding gallons of watery sludge. Cleanout Bins’ containers are constructed of heavy steel, and openings lock down to prevent spillage of any kind.

It’s Personal

Cleanout Bin does a few things that other companies don’t, Martinez says. They prioritize personalized service and they also offer 100 percent recycling, which matches best practice guidelines recommended by the EPA.

Cleanout Bin contracts with recycling companies that leave no waste in nature. While the usual method is to allow wet concrete collected from a pour to dry and then transport it to a landfill, Cleanout Bin’s recycling partner transforms all residue back into reusable materials for future concrete projects.

As for personal service, Martinez says the nature of the work with contractors in the area results in a camaraderie and friendliness. All of them are valued team members who are encouraged to build helpful relationships with their customers. These relationships help contractors get the right bins at the right times during construction.

Cleanout Bin offers both large and small bins. Large bins are 28 inches deep and hold up to 3 cubic yards of cementitious debris (washout for approximately 30 to 40 trucks). Small bins are 11 inches deep and hold up to 1.25 cubic yards of debris (washout for approximately 15 to 20 trucks). This variety and the option for multiple bins at varying locations on jobs makes the company qualified to service any size job, residential or industrial, Martinez says.

Small bins fit easily under boom pumps and hoppers for washout. Large and small bins are designed to be maneuvered and placed by standard forklifts. Cleanout Bin can typically deliver its containers in 24 hours and sets a two-week rental instead of the standard one-week terms.

For Cours and his love of the great outdoors, the new business venture, now in its fourth year, is a way to make sure the construction industry doesn’t damage what was there long before they were.