How Recycling Asphalt Shingles Helps Protect the Environment
Each year, over 11 million tons of asphalt shingles are discarded in landfills around the country. This is a staggering amount of waste considering that asphalt shingles take approximately 300 years to break down. Fortunately, there is an alternative: asphalt shingles can be recycled and reused for road construction and fuel.
Read on as Sprague Construction Roofing LLC, a residential roofing contractor, discusses how asphalt shingle recycling helps preserve the environment.
Reasons to Recycle Asphalt Shingles
On average, a home is estimated to have at least one to three tons of asphalt roofing material, with 11 million tons of asphalt roofing shingles disposed of every year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Asphalt shingles do not decompose easily, and burning them isn’t a good option either. Since they consist of redefined petroleum, incinerating them results in the emission of hazardous fumes. Asphalt shingle recycling is an excellent alternative that can help reduce the need for oil by at least two barrels for every ton.
How Asphalt Shingle Recycling Works
Roofing contractors will remove the shingle materials and store them in a construction trash bin. The roofing waste will then be hauled to recycling centers where the asphalt shingles, nails and wood scraps will be segregated. The shingles will then be ground into specific pieces depending on how they’ll be used.
What Happens to the Recycled Asphalt Shingles
Most recycled shingles are reused in road construction as paving material, aggregate base or sub-base. They can also be used to create new asphalt shingles or be broken down to produce fuel.
Turn to Sprague Roofing LLC for your residential and commercial roofing projects. Call us today at (406) 200-9080 or fill out our online form for a free estimate. We serve residents of Fort Collins, CO, and Cody, WY.
