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Recycling Asphalt Roof Shingles

Robert Robillard
duo-Fast cordless roofing nailer, roof repair

Recycling Roof Shingles

Asphalt shingles are the most widely used roofing products in the United States.   The most likely reason for this is availability, ease of install, durability and cost.
Anyone who has ever worked with asphalt roof shingles knows that its a bear to dispose of them.   They are heavy, bulky and this non-biodegradable solid waste takes up a ton of space in landfills.

Lifespan of Asphalt Roof Shingles

Asphalt roofs generally last from 12 to 20 years and then require replacement or recovering.   Re roofing generates an estimated 6.8 million tons of waste asphalt shingles each year so its time that we start thinking about recycling asphalt roof shingles .

Asphalt Roof Shingles and Landfills

Millions of tons of roofing materials are sent to the landfill each year. A common roadblock for many contractors to increasing recycling efforts is a lack of recycling programs and technical reuse limitations.

Owens Corning Recycling of Asphalt Roof Shingles

Recognizing the opportunity to provide a more sustainable end-of-life solution for asphalt shingles, Owens Corning’s Roofing business has done a nice job developing an innovative program to simplify shingle recycling for their preferred roofing contractors.

Through the program, Owens Corning connects roofing contractors with convenient drop-offs and recycling centers run by Heritage Environmental Services.  Heritage, the largest privately-held environmental services company in the US, will provide dedicated, convenient drop-off centers that will recycle and process shingle tear-offs for the materials to be used in paving.

Owens Corning is taking a proactive step toward removing barriers to keeping recyclable waste from going to landfills. Although they only offer this program to their “preferred contractors” it’s still a start in the right direction.

The shingles contain 40 percent asphalt, according to the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) making it an attractive substitute for virgin asphalt. The National Asphalt Paving Association estimates that using 5 percent recycled shingle byproduct can save between $1 and $2.80 per ton of hot-mix asphalt.

Alternatives to Disposal

Some attempts have been made to recycle shingles into new shingles, but problems persist in reprocessing shingles to conform to feedstock requirements.

Recycling involves the use of heavy equipment (tailored for processing shingles and minimizing dust) to grind or shred shingle waste to a size useful in paving materials:

 

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