How Are Discarded Asphalt Shingles Recycled?

If you’ve had your asphalt shingle roof replaced, you’ve probably wondered: what happens to the old shingles? In today’s post, the local roofing contractors at Chase Roofing LLC take a look at how discarded asphalt shingles are recycled.

Asphalt Shingle Recycling Process

The discarded asphalt shingles that end up in a recycling center are first sorted to remove as many non-asphalt pieces as possible. These pieces, which may include nails, wood and backing material — which may be made of fiberglass or recycled paper pulp — may be sent to other facilities for further recycling. If properly disposed of, only a small amount of an old roof would ever make it to landfills.

The asphalt pieces will then undergo the following steps:

• Grinding. The bits of asphalt will need to be ground into smaller pieces. This process is easier to do during winter because the asphalt is more brittle. If the asphalt becomes sticky, which it usually does during hot weather, recyclers spray it with water or blend it with sand or gravel.

• Sizing. The first grinding step usually yields pieces between two and three inches in size, and secondary grinding may be required depending on what the recycled asphalt will be used for.

• Grading. The asphalt pieces will be put through a sieve to conform to grading requirements.

• Contaminant removal. Non-asphalt substances are considered as contaminants, and it’s not unusual for them to make it past the previous steps. In this stage, small nails and other metal pieces are removed using a rotating magnet, while wood is removed by hand or floated off by placing the ground pieces in a water flotation unit.

Where Do the Processed Shingles Go?

Recycled asphalt shingles are mostly used for road paving, from hot-mix asphalt additives to filler material for temporary driveways and parking lots. As described above, processed shingles may be sized for certain purposes. For example, when used as aggregate road base, the asphalt pieces will need to be 3/4 inches and below. When used for asphalt pavement, the pieces will need to be smaller at 1/2 inches at the most. Since asphalt is an infinitely recyclable substance, discarded asphalt from road repairs and similar projects can also be recycled for shingle manufacture.

Learn more about what asphalt shingles can do for you. Give our team at Chase Roofing LLC a call at (757) 872-0700, or fill out our contact form to schedule a free consultation. We serve Yorktown, VA, and the surrounding communities.