diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/AbvsBuilderFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/AbvsBuilderFactory.java
index 9d0e434..46b29a5 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/AbvsBuilderFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/AbvsBuilderFactory.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -14,14 +14,15 @@
  */
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.builders;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.container.IObjectFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.api.IMutableValueStorage;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
 
-public class AbvsBuilderFactory implements IObjectFactory<IMutableValueStorage, String> {
+public class AbvsBuilderFactory implements IObjectFactory<IMutableValueStorage, ATypeTag> {
 
     @Override
-    public IMutableValueStorage create(String type) {
+    public IMutableValueStorage create(ATypeTag type) {
         return new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
     }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/ListBuilderFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/ListBuilderFactory.java
index da098e5..5c70022 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/ListBuilderFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/ListBuilderFactory.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -14,13 +14,14 @@
  */
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.builders;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.container.IObjectFactory;
 
-public class ListBuilderFactory implements IObjectFactory<IAsterixListBuilder, String> {
+public class ListBuilderFactory implements IObjectFactory<IAsterixListBuilder, ATypeTag> {
 
     @Override
-    public IAsterixListBuilder create(String type) {
-        if (type.equals("ordered")) {
+    public IAsterixListBuilder create(ATypeTag typeTag) {
+        if (typeTag == ATypeTag.ORDEREDLIST) {
             return new OrderedListBuilder();
         } else {
             return new UnorderedListBuilder();
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/RecordBuilderFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/RecordBuilderFactory.java
index 55ab2d0..d6c7cac 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/RecordBuilderFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/builders/RecordBuilderFactory.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -14,12 +14,13 @@
  */
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.builders;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.container.IObjectFactory;
 
-public class RecordBuilderFactory implements IObjectFactory<IARecordBuilder, String> {
+public class RecordBuilderFactory implements IObjectFactory<IARecordBuilder, ATypeTag> {
 
     @Override
-    public IARecordBuilder create(String type) {
+    public IARecordBuilder create(ATypeTag type) {
         return new RecordBuilder();
     }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/nonvisitor/AListPointable.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/nonvisitor/AListPointable.java
index d14443d..7e7f380 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/nonvisitor/AListPointable.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/nonvisitor/AListPointable.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 
 /*
  * This class interprets the binary data representation of a list.
- * 
+ *
  * List {
  *   byte type;
  *   int length;
@@ -71,12 +71,13 @@
         }
     };
 
-    public static final IObjectFactory<IPointable, String> ALLOCATOR = new IObjectFactory<IPointable, String>() {
-        public IPointable create(String id) {
+    public static final IObjectFactory<IPointable, ATypeTag> ALLOCATOR = new IObjectFactory<IPointable, ATypeTag>() {
+        @Override
+        public IPointable create(ATypeTag type) {
             return new AListPointable();
         }
     };
-    
+
     private static final int TAG_SIZE = 1;
     private static final int TYPE_SIZE = 1;
     private static final int LENGTH_SIZE = 4;
@@ -129,6 +130,7 @@
         return false;
     }
 
+    @Override
     public int getLength() {
         return IntegerPointable.getInteger(bytes, getLengthOffset());
     }
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/nonvisitor/ARecordPointable.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/nonvisitor/ARecordPointable.java
index cb0e136..7e97efc 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/nonvisitor/ARecordPointable.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/nonvisitor/ARecordPointable.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 
 /*
  * This class interprets the binary data representation of a record.
- * 
+ *
  * Record {
  *   byte tag;
  *   int length;
@@ -52,12 +52,12 @@
  *   OpenFieldLookup[numberOfOpenFields] lookup;
  *   OpenField[numberOfOpenFields] openFields;
  * }
- * 
+ *
  * OpenFieldLookup {
  *   int hashCode;
  *   int Offset;
  * }
- * 
+ *
  * OpenField {
  *   StringPointable fieldName;
  *   IPointable fieldValue;
@@ -92,14 +92,14 @@
             return TYPE_TRAITS;
         }
     };
-    
-    public static final IObjectFactory<IPointable, String> ALLOCATOR = new IObjectFactory<IPointable, String>() {
-        public IPointable create(String id) {
+
+    public static final IObjectFactory<IPointable, ATypeTag> ALLOCATOR = new IObjectFactory<IPointable, ATypeTag>() {
+        @Override
+        public IPointable create(ATypeTag type) {
             return new ARecordPointable();
         }
     };
 
-
     private static final int TAG_SIZE = 1;
     private static final int RECORD_LENGTH_SIZE = 4;
     private static final int EXPANDED_SIZE = 1;
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@
     private static boolean isOpen(ARecordType recordType) {
         return recordType == null || recordType.isOpen();
     }
-    
+
     public int getSchemeFieldCount(ARecordType recordType) {
         return recordType.getFieldNames().length;
     }
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@
         return TAG_SIZE;
     }
 
+    @Override
     public int getLength() {
         return IntegerPointable.getInteger(bytes, getLengthOffset());
     }
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/records/RecordFieldsUtil.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/records/RecordFieldsUtil.java
index fbb9a1b..b3c306c 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/records/RecordFieldsUtil.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/records/RecordFieldsUtil.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.builders.IAsterixListBuilder;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.builders.ListBuilderFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.builders.OrderedListBuilder;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.builders.RecordBuilder;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.builders.RecordBuilderFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider;
@@ -61,15 +60,15 @@
     private final static AString nestedName = new AString("nested");
     private final static AString listName = new AString("list");
 
-    private IObjectPool<IARecordBuilder, String> recordBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IARecordBuilder, String>(
+    private IObjectPool<IARecordBuilder, ATypeTag> recordBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IARecordBuilder, ATypeTag>(
             new RecordBuilderFactory());
-    private IObjectPool<IAsterixListBuilder, String> listBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IAsterixListBuilder, String>(
+    private IObjectPool<IAsterixListBuilder, ATypeTag> listBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IAsterixListBuilder, ATypeTag>(
             new ListBuilderFactory());
-    private IObjectPool<IMutableValueStorage, String> abvsBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IMutableValueStorage, String>(
+    private IObjectPool<IMutableValueStorage, ATypeTag> abvsBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IMutableValueStorage, ATypeTag>(
             new AbvsBuilderFactory());
-    private IObjectPool<IPointable, String> recordPointablePool = new ListObjectPool<IPointable, String>(
+    private IObjectPool<IPointable, ATypeTag> recordPointablePool = new ListObjectPool<IPointable, ATypeTag>(
             ARecordPointable.ALLOCATOR);
-    private IObjectPool<IPointable, String> listPointablePool = new ListObjectPool<IPointable, String>(
+    private IObjectPool<IPointable, ATypeTag> listPointablePool = new ListObjectPool<IPointable, ATypeTag>(
             AListPointable.ALLOCATOR);
 
     private final static AOrderedListType listType = new AOrderedListType(BuiltinType.ANY, "fields");
@@ -82,8 +81,12 @@
 
     private final static ARecordType openType = DefaultOpenFieldType.NESTED_OPEN_RECORD_TYPE;
 
-    public  void processRecord(ARecordPointable recordAccessor, ARecordType recType, DataOutput out, int level)
+    public void processRecord(ARecordPointable recordAccessor, ARecordType recType, DataOutput out, int level)
             throws IOException, AsterixException, AlgebricksException {
+        if (level == 0) {
+            // Resets pools for recycling objects before processing a top-level record.
+            resetPools();
+        }
         ArrayBackedValueStorage itemValue = getTempBuffer();
         ArrayBackedValueStorage fieldName = getTempBuffer();
 
@@ -168,8 +171,8 @@
         orderedListBuilder.write(out, true);
     }
 
-    public  void addNameField(IValueReference nameArg, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder)
-            throws HyracksDataException, AsterixException {
+    public void addNameField(IValueReference nameArg, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder) throws HyracksDataException,
+            AsterixException {
         ArrayBackedValueStorage fieldAbvs = getTempBuffer();
 
         fieldAbvs.reset();
@@ -177,7 +180,7 @@
         fieldRecordBuilder.addField(fieldAbvs, nameArg);
     }
 
-    public  void addFieldType(byte tagId, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder) throws HyracksDataException,
+    public void addFieldType(byte tagId, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder) throws HyracksDataException,
             AsterixException {
         ArrayBackedValueStorage fieldAbvs = getTempBuffer();
         ArrayBackedValueStorage valueAbvs = getTempBuffer();
@@ -194,7 +197,7 @@
         fieldRecordBuilder.addField(fieldAbvs, valueAbvs);
     }
 
-    public  void addIsOpenField(boolean isOpen, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder) throws HyracksDataException,
+    public void addIsOpenField(boolean isOpen, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder) throws HyracksDataException,
             AsterixException {
         ArrayBackedValueStorage fieldAbvs = getTempBuffer();
         ArrayBackedValueStorage valueAbvs = getTempBuffer();
@@ -212,8 +215,8 @@
         fieldRecordBuilder.addField(fieldAbvs, valueAbvs);
     }
 
-    public  void addListField(IValueReference listArg, IAType fieldType, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder,
-            int level) throws AsterixException, IOException, AlgebricksException {
+    public void addListField(IValueReference listArg, IAType fieldType, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder, int level)
+            throws AsterixException, IOException, AlgebricksException {
         ArrayBackedValueStorage fieldAbvs = getTempBuffer();
         ArrayBackedValueStorage valueAbvs = getTempBuffer();
 
@@ -226,7 +229,7 @@
         fieldRecordBuilder.addField(fieldAbvs, valueAbvs);
     }
 
-    public  void addNestedField(IValueReference recordArg, IAType fieldType, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder,
+    public void addNestedField(IValueReference recordArg, IAType fieldType, IARecordBuilder fieldRecordBuilder,
             int level) throws HyracksDataException, AlgebricksException, IOException, AsterixException {
         ArrayBackedValueStorage fieldAbvs = getTempBuffer();
         ArrayBackedValueStorage valueAbvs = getTempBuffer();
@@ -244,11 +247,11 @@
         }
         ARecordPointable recordP = getRecordPointable();
         recordP.set(recordArg);
-        processRecord(recordP, (ARecordType) newType, valueAbvs.getDataOutput(), level);
+        processRecord(recordP, newType, valueAbvs.getDataOutput(), level);
         fieldRecordBuilder.addField(fieldAbvs, valueAbvs);
     }
 
-    public  void processListValue(IValueReference listArg, IAType fieldType, DataOutput out, int level)
+    public void processListValue(IValueReference listArg, IAType fieldType, DataOutput out, int level)
             throws AsterixException, IOException, AlgebricksException {
         ArrayBackedValueStorage itemValue = getTempBuffer();
         IARecordBuilder listRecordBuilder = getRecordBuilder();
@@ -281,23 +284,31 @@
         innerListBuilder.write(out, true);
     }
 
-    private  ARecordPointable getRecordPointable() {
-        return (ARecordPointable) recordPointablePool.allocate("record");
+    private ARecordPointable getRecordPointable() {
+        return (ARecordPointable) recordPointablePool.allocate(ATypeTag.RECORD);
     }
 
-    private  AListPointable getListPointable() {
-        return (AListPointable) listPointablePool.allocate("list");
+    private AListPointable getListPointable() {
+        return (AListPointable) listPointablePool.allocate(ATypeTag.ORDEREDLIST);
     }
 
-    private  IARecordBuilder getRecordBuilder() {
-        return (RecordBuilder) recordBuilderPool.allocate("record");
+    private IARecordBuilder getRecordBuilder() {
+        return recordBuilderPool.allocate(ATypeTag.RECORD);
     }
 
-    private  OrderedListBuilder getOrderedListBuilder() {
-        return (OrderedListBuilder) listBuilderPool.allocate("ordered");
+    private OrderedListBuilder getOrderedListBuilder() {
+        return (OrderedListBuilder) listBuilderPool.allocate(ATypeTag.ORDEREDLIST);
     }
 
-    private  ArrayBackedValueStorage getTempBuffer() {
-        return (ArrayBackedValueStorage) abvsBuilderPool.allocate("buffer");
+    private ArrayBackedValueStorage getTempBuffer() {
+        return (ArrayBackedValueStorage) abvsBuilderPool.allocate(ATypeTag.BINARY);
+    }
+
+    private void resetPools() {
+        abvsBuilderPool.reset();
+        listBuilderPool.reset();
+        recordBuilderPool.reset();
+        recordPointablePool.reset();
+        listPointablePool.reset();
     }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/operators/file/ADMDataParser.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/operators/file/ADMDataParser.java
index 1bdd264..e7198d3 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/operators/file/ADMDataParser.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/operators/file/ADMDataParser.java
@@ -62,11 +62,11 @@
     private int nullableFieldId = 0;
     private ArrayBackedValueStorage castBuffer = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
 
-    private IObjectPool<IARecordBuilder, String> recordBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IARecordBuilder, String>(
+    private IObjectPool<IARecordBuilder, ATypeTag> recordBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IARecordBuilder, ATypeTag>(
             new RecordBuilderFactory());
-    private IObjectPool<IAsterixListBuilder, String> listBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IAsterixListBuilder, String>(
+    private IObjectPool<IAsterixListBuilder, ATypeTag> listBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IAsterixListBuilder, ATypeTag>(
             new ListBuilderFactory());
-    private IObjectPool<IMutableValueStorage, String> abvsBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IMutableValueStorage, String>(
+    private IObjectPool<IMutableValueStorage, ATypeTag> abvsBuilderPool = new ListObjectPool<IMutableValueStorage, ATypeTag>(
             new AbvsBuilderFactory());
 
     private String mismatchErrorMessage = "Mismatch Type, expecting a value of type ";
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@
             this.column = column;
         }
 
+        @Override
         public String getMessage() {
             StringBuilder msg = new StringBuilder("Parse error");
             if (filename != null) {
@@ -128,7 +129,8 @@
     @Override
     public boolean parse(DataOutput out) throws AsterixException {
         try {
-            return parseAdmInstance((IAType) recordType, datasetRec, out);
+            resetPools();
+            return parseAdmInstance(recordType, datasetRec, out);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new ParseException(e, filename, admLexer.getLine(), admLexer.getColumn());
         } catch (AdmLexerException e) {
@@ -760,19 +762,19 @@
     }
 
     private IARecordBuilder getRecordBuilder() {
-        return (RecordBuilder) recordBuilderPool.allocate("record");
+        return recordBuilderPool.allocate(ATypeTag.RECORD);
     }
 
     private IAsterixListBuilder getOrderedListBuilder() {
-        return listBuilderPool.allocate("ordered");
+        return listBuilderPool.allocate(ATypeTag.ORDEREDLIST);
     }
 
     private IAsterixListBuilder getUnorderedListBuilder() {
-        return listBuilderPool.allocate("unordered");
+        return listBuilderPool.allocate(ATypeTag.UNORDEREDLIST);
     }
 
     private ArrayBackedValueStorage getTempBuffer() {
-        return (ArrayBackedValueStorage) abvsBuilderPool.allocate("buffer");
+        return (ArrayBackedValueStorage) abvsBuilderPool.allocate(ATypeTag.BINARY);
     }
 
     private void parseToBinaryTarget(int lexerToken, String tokenImage, DataOutput out) throws ParseException,
@@ -1086,4 +1088,14 @@
         aInt64.setValue(value);
         int64Serde.serialize(aInt64, out);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Resets the pools before parsing a top-level record.
+     * In this way the elements in those pools can be re-used.
+     */
+    private void resetPools() {
+        listBuilderPool.reset();
+        recordBuilderPool.reset();
+        abvsBuilderPool.reset();
+    }
 }