ARMA and other industry organizations are leading the way for waste-reduction and recycling programs
by Russell K. Snyder
Every year, an estimated 9 million tons (8 million metric tons) to 10 million tons (9 million metric tons) of asphalt roofing waste are sent to U.S. landfills with a price tag of more than $400 million in disposal fees. But most waste from roofing shingles and roll goods can be economically and effectively recycled into asphalt pavement for roads and highways. And with promising technological advances and economic feasibility, the potential of asphalt reclamation is limitless.
To help the asphalt recycling effort, the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) and other industrial and manufacturing organizations, such as the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), Asphalt Emulsions Manufacturers Association, and Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming Association (ARRA), aggressively are promoting waste-reduction and recycling programs.
ARMA's attempts to organize the roofing industry's recycling efforts are in response to regional and state environmental agencies that have prioritized construction material recycling programs and committed resources to investigate and implement such programs. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin) has begun developing a network of waste recyclers, roofing contractors, roofing manufacturers, paving companies and regulators to consider recycling options. By developing such a network, EPA's Region 5 hopes all parties will begin to communicate research and process needs and evaluate these needs for potential recycling solutions.
Initiatives
ARMA is educating all involved in the asphalt shingle recycling process and establishing a recycling network and common process to collect roofing waste and turn it into recycling alternatives. ARMA expects the networking to evolve during the next several years.
Since the early 1980s, ARMA has reviewed and analyzed numerous recycling options for asphalt roofing products' manufacturing, application and packaging processes. In 1994, ARMA began a more comprehensive recycling emphasis by promoting industry recycling programs. Segments of ARMA's current plan include an ARMA Product and Process Recycling Task Force, which will consider developing industry recycling processes, and Pallet Reuse/Recycling Task Force, which will investigate standardizing pallet sizes and a volunteer industry pallet-recycling program.
ARMA members also have studied and been involved with various waste-reduction programs, such as processing asphalt shingles and roll goods into roads and pavements, recycling manufacturing waste into new cold-patch or hot-mix additives, reusing wood pallets and creating innovative packaging designs to reduce waste. Because of these initiatives, several state departments of transportation have implemented voluntary road specifications using up to 5 percent of recycled asphalt shingles in private and public roads.
In addition, ARMA members conducted factory scale tests to measure the performance of capital equipment used for recycling shingle tabs into new shingles in the studied manufacturing facilities. The tests also sought to confirm the technical and economical feasibility of recycling fresh factory waste into coating asphalt used to produce new fiberglass shingles.
In the tests, new fiberglass shingles contained between 5 percent and 20 percent waste and were field-studied by various consultants in different U.S. regions. During the studies, the consultants determined that field waste has a much greater potential for recycling than manufacturing waste because of the volume differential.
Roofs to roads
As regional recyclers and pavers report success with asphalt shingle recovery, the roofing industry has focused on recycling asphalt shingles into asphalt paving products.
In December 1999, ARMA's Roofs to Roads seminar was presented to paving and roofing contractors, manufacturers, processors, environmental and highway officials, equipment manufacturers, home builders and paving plant operators. The seminar focused on opportunities and challenges for roof-to-road recycling. Developed by the asphalt roofing industry and other interested parties, the seminar was in response to researchers' efforts to explore the energy recovery and recycling potential of asphalt roofing waste.
As a result of the seminar, ARMA and related organizations, including NRCA, NAPA, CMRA, ARRA and the National Association of Home Builders Research Center, became roof-to-road sponsors. In 1999, the sponsors participated in a forum designed to foster sharing of information, viewpoints and concerns affecting the viability and future of the asphalt waste recycling movement. The forum, hosted by CMRA, also was designed to promote new, innovative opportunities in asphalt shingle recycling by roof-to-road reclamation.
The participants continue to advise one another and exchange information about asphalt recycling developments. A page on CMRA's Web site, www.cdrecycling.org, now serves as a place where industry professionals can share technical information and research studies; discuss recycling business opportunities and barriers; identify participating organizations; and discover universities and government agencies that are pursuing the recovery and recycling of asphalt roofing waste.
Technology
Coupled with the increase of industry professionals' knowledge of and involvement with recycling programs is the improvement of recycling technology. A noteworthy advancement is the improved ability to separate and grind asphalt shingles into paving feedstock and develop an appropriate mix design.
Shingles' asphalt contents chemically match the primary ingredients of hot-mix asphalt used in paving. However, shingles are harder than paving asphalt. Special corrective measures, therefore, are required to change shingles into hot-mix asphalt, including a higher temperature to combine harder recycled shingles into a hot-mix formulation.
Mixing shingles and paving asphalt can increase pavements' resistance to wear and moisture and decrease rutting and thermal and fatigue cracking. Many paving experts believe mix designs using 5 percent recycled shingles (by weight) are suitable for interstate highways. On low-volume roads, such as driveways and industrial parking lots, 10 percent to 15 percent recycled shingles can be used. Several states, including Florida, currently allow this percentage of recycled shingles in driveways and parking lots.
Financing
Although technical advances are important issues for roof-to-road recycling, the viability of shingle waste recovery has shifted toward economics. Recycling profitability is expected to focus on regional tipping fees; transaction costs; transportation drop-off synergies; economies of scale; raw asphalt pricing; and efficiencies in producing clean, consistent feedstock.
For recyclers, the supply and demand of asphalt roof-to-road recycling promises to make shingle recycling feasible and commercially viable. The 10 million tons (9 million metric tons) of asphalt roofing waste in the United States mostly consist of torn-off shingles containing 20 percent to 30 percent asphalt. About 500 million tons (450 million metric tons) of asphalt pavements are produced annually for roads and other paving surfaces.
Consequently, recycling shingles into pavement could provide substantial benefits through reduced disposal expenses and landfill use, lower paving material costs, improved pavement performance and greater resource conservation.
Another issue is recycling roofing scraps into new shingles. Initially, recycling factory roofing scraps into new asphalt shingles proved problematic when manufacturers searched for technology that could maintain performance specifications. Now, most manufacturers find it more economically feasible to recycle roofing scraps for basic paving and patch use.
Within the building industry, disposal fee variables and transaction costs remain the primary barriers to voluntary waste recycling.
In areas with low tipping fees, shingle recycling and other construction waste recycling may not be commercially profitable unless offset by recycling yard accessibility, the development of take-back or collection programs (programs similar to recycling plastic grocery bags at a collection point in grocery stores), or mandatory recycling.
However, in areas with relatively high tipping fees or strong transportation and collection synergies, the economics of asphalt roof-to-road efforts are encouraging. Several individual asphalt shingle manufacturers are working with recyclers and pavement contractors to develop asphalt shingle recycling programs in their local areas.
What's in it for me?
Roofing professionals may ask, "Why should I recycle?" The benefits of recycling include the positive effect on the environment and communities, as well as good business practice. The roofing industry only will continue to improve through implementation of such initiatives.
Russell K. Snyder is the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association's executive vice president.
Recycling information
For additional recycling information, contact the following organizations:
Additional information also can be found in the following publications:
- "Construction Materials Recycler," published by CMRA
- "Opportunities in Asphalt Shingle Recycling," proceedings
of the Roof to Roads seminar available from ARMA or CMRA
- Waste Age magazine, which is available free at
www.intertec.com/forms/subforms/wa.htm
For recycling and waste-reduction and -management information or to
locate recyclers in specific areas, contact the waste-exchange centers
or roofing materials manufacturers in your state or local area.
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