Boulder County program would turn roofs into roads

New project would recycle asphalt shingles

By Laura Snider (Contact)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Online Link

BOULDER, Colo. Ñ Having spent more than 20 years as a roofer, David Coddington has ripped a lot of asphalt shingles off a lot of roofs -- literally, tons of the sticky, cobbly shingles have gone from the county's roofs to the county's landfills on his watch.

So when Coddington, owner of 3R Roofing, got his "green enlightenment" when the building trades started going eco en masse, the sheer bulk of those long-ago dumped shingles started to weigh on his conscience.

"I thought, 'What am I going to do about my own industry?'" he said.

His solution seems like an environmental paradox at first glance: Coddington is going to pave roads.

This summer, Coddington and longtime environmentalist Jennifer Shriver will oversee Colorado's first Roofs to Roads project, which will pave a section of a Boulder County road -- likely on north 63rd Street -- with asphalt containing about 7 percent recycled shingles.

"There is so much potential for this," Shriver said. "For every 500 tons of asphalt put down, the minimum amount of carbon dioxide emissions avoided is 27 million pounds, and it might be double that."

And 500 tons is about the amount the Roofs to Roads project estimates it will use for its first paving project, Coddington said. If the road holds up over the next several years, the idea would be to use recycled shingles in all the county's paved roads.

The project, which is being funded by a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Alternative Technology Program, follows the lead of other states, including New Jersey, North Carolina and Minnesota.

Tests in Missouri, where 36 recycled-asphalt paving projects were slated for 2008, have shown that adding recycled shingles may actually make roads more resistant to wear and decrease cracking and rutting, according to the Asphalt Institute.

And if the environmental implications of paving with old shingles, and therefore using less oil, doesn't hook governments, Shriver thinks the cost might. Using asphalt shingles can save $3 to $5 per ton of asphalt, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation, which estimates that a typical road-resurfacing project uses about 30,000 tons of asphalt for a total savings of $90,000 to $150,000.

The grant will allow the Roofs to Roads project to collect asphalt shingles from roofers at no cost to them, and then send the shingles to Asphalt Specialties in Erie to be ground. The paving project is scheduled to begin in June.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Laura Snider at 303-473-1327 or sniderl@dailycamera.com.

Roofs to Roads Colorado Paving the Way for Asphalt Shingle Recycling and Re-Use

Home \| About Us \| Roofers Who Recycle \| How it Works Shingle Collection \| Quotes/Testimonials \| Contact Us \| Resources Boulder County program would turn roofs into roads New project would recycle asphalt shingles By Laura Snider (Contact) Monday, February 16, 2009 Online Link BOULDER, Colo. Ñ Having spent more than 20 years as a roofer, David Coddington has ripped a lot of asphalt shingles off a lot of roofs -- literally, tons of the sticky, cobbly shingles have gone from the county's roofs to the county's landfills on his watch. So when Coddington, owner of 3R Roofing, got his "green enlightenment" when the building trades started going eco en masse, the sheer bulk of those long-ago dumped shingles started to weigh on his conscience. "I thought, 'What am I going to do about my own industry?'" he said. His solution seems like an environmental paradox at first glance: Coddington is going to pave roads. This summer, Coddington and longtime environmentalist Jennifer Shriver will oversee Colorado's first Roofs to Roads project, which will pave a section of a Boulder County road -- likely on north 63rd Street -- with asphalt containing about 7 percent recycled shingles. "There is so much potential for this," Shriver said. "For every 500 tons of asphalt put down, the minimum amount of carbon dioxide emissions avoided is 27 million pounds, and it might be double that." And 500 tons is about the amount the Roofs to Roads project estimates it will use for its first paving project, Coddington said. If the road holds up over the next several years, the idea would be to use recycled shingles in all the county's paved roads. The project, which is being funded by a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Alternative Technology Program, follows the lead of other states, including New Jersey, North Carolina and Minnesota. Tests in Missouri, where 36 recycled-asphalt paving projects were slated for 2008, have shown that adding recycled shingles may actually make roads more resistant to wear and decrease cracking and rutting, according to the Asphalt Institute. And if the environmental implications of paving with old shingles, and therefore using less oil, doesn't hook governments, Shriver thinks the cost might. Using asphalt shingles can save $3 to $5 per ton of asphalt, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation, which estimates that a typical road-resurfacing project uses about 30,000 tons of asphalt for a total savings of $90,000 to $150,000. The grant will allow the Roofs to Roads project to collect asphalt shingles from roofers at no cost to them, and then send the shingles to Asphalt Specialties in Erie to be ground. The paving project is scheduled to begin in June. Contact Camera Staff Writer Laura Snider at 303-473-1327 or sniderl@dailycamera.com.