Despite the efforts of the Trump administration to revive the coal industry by weakening environmental rules, the United States is on track to produce more electricity from renewable resources than from coal for the first time on record, according to recent government projections. Cheap natural gas, states’ push for renewables by subsidizing wind and solar energy, stricter environmental rules, and the public’s concern over climate change actually resulted in a 30 percent reduction in coal’s market share from 2010 to 2018.

In fact, U.S. coal-fired power plants shut down in 2019 at the second-fastest pace on record, with even more coal-fired plants projected to come offline in 2020 and beyond. As a result, help in the decommissioning, site remediation, sales, and redevelopment of these sites, which are not limited to any one state. Preparing a site for reuse is a complex, multi-year process that includes not only decommissioning and demolition but also cleaning up contamination existing in materials, soil and/or groundwater. But these sites often have built-in infrastructure that can be used for new industries and revitalize communities where they are located.

Another game-changing move for a community can be the adaptive re-use of undeveloped and underdeveloped sites, which often have a better return on investment than new construction, while offering a wide variety of economic and environmental benefits for urban communities. These re-use or “infill” projects are cost-efficient strategies for “filling in the gaps” in densely built areas, such as historic city centers and adjacent districts. Of course, if a site has been deemed a potentially contaminated “brownfield,” decontamination efforts might need to be undertaken before any development can take place.

While the energy industry and communities have a focus on re-use of sites, industries themselves have a focus on re-use of materials. With that in mind, automakers have been turning to “circular integration.” The process can save costs while creating jobs. For instance, GM has used employee-recycled water bottles for noise-reducing fabric insulation in the Chevy Equinox V-6 engine, Cadillac is using recycled tires in its under-hood air and water baffles, and there are many more examples. Experts point out that reutilizing materials in a better way is not only good for the local economy but also for the global economy.