The concept is starting to spread throughout the commercial and residential roofing industry and that’s the recycling of asphalt shingles.
Approximately 11 million tons of asphalt shingle waste is generated in the U.S. on an annual basis, according to the EPA. Approximately 90 percent of the waste is from construction scrap and tear offs from roof replacements and repairs. The scrap from shingle manufacturing makes up 9 to 10 percent of the material.
For the construction industry, roofing waste is a big deal. About 10 percent of construction debris consists of asphalt shingle material. In fact, the average roof replacement can generate up to 5 pounds of scrap material per square foot of roof.
But what has been discovered is that asphalt shingles can be recycled and converted into parking lots and highways. Of course, there are regulations in each state that control how the recycled shingles are used. This has created challenges in some areas when it comes to construction companies that want to recycle their scraps. Nonetheless, the concept is growing in popularity and that could result in changes.
Because asphalt shingles make up a large percentage of the materials used on residential roofs, the changes would be welcome. Estimates state that asphalt shingles are used on 80 percent of homes in the U.S. That means there is approximately 12.5 billion square feet manufactured in the U.S. every year.
What makes them so recyclable is that they are constructed of asphalt, granular aggregate, a base of fiberglass or organic material, and a stabilizer/filler of silica and limestone.
There are over 60 shingle manufacturing companies that create up to 1 million tons of shingle scrap every year. Construction debris accounts for 36 percent of the waste in landfills, according to the EPA. Recycling roofing shingles can significantly reduce this number.
Roofing contractors can even reduce disposal fees by recycling shingle scraps. The cost of disposing shingles at a recycling plant as opposed to a landfill is much cheaper.
So not only do contractors save some money, but there are environmental benefits as well. Recycling one ton of shingles is the same as avoiding the use of a single barrel of oil.