According to Boulder County’s Roofs to Roads project flyer adding recycled shingles to the pavement mixture has been shown to increase resistance to wear, improve moisture resistance, decrease ruts and reduces cracking.

In addition it reduces the amount of new raw materials needed and can reduce the cost by $3-$5 per ton Missouri DOT reports aproximately $20 million in savings in 2009 by using receycled shingles.

There are many environmental benefits as well, Greenhouse gases emissions are avoided, reduction in waste entering landfills, asphalt pavements are a permanently recyclable material.

Recycled Asphalt Shingles (RAS) can help everywhere, Colorado’s shingle recycling efforts in the last year have diverted over 50,000 tons of asphalt shingles from landfills. Re-using these shingles in asphalt pavement is new technology in Colorado, but it has been used around the US for over 20 years.

There is such an incredible benefit for using RAS in roadways, the only downside I see is the lack of collection points in Southern Colorado. I first heard about this in 2008 when Asphalt Specialties Co wrote an article that Colorado Roofing Association published. In Pueblo, Colorado we have a tremendous amount of shingles going into the landfills. During the 2007 hail storm, one of Pueblo’s landfills was closed due to being full. This isn’t completely the fault of the roofing industry, it was an older landfill and was slated for closure, however, I am sure the onslaught of shingles that year sped up the timeline. It is a shame that we didn’t have this process in place here then. Hopefully we will have an asphalt company see the wisdom and will provide a collection point locally.

The current collection points are: 

Denver area                                                                                                     

Brannan Sand and Gravel, Dean Rossi                                         This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 303-534-1231

 Shingles for recycling, Bill Scott                                         This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 303-297-1445

Heritage Recycling Center – 6395 Pecos Street, 303-345-1697

Asphalt Specialties Company Inc (ASCI)- Gary Stillmunkes        This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 303-289-8555 numerous locations available

Colorado Springs:

Asphalt Recovery Specialists – Kent Pugsly 719-597-1963

Grand, Summit, Eagle County/ Rocky Mountain Region

Valley Recycling and Disposal- Adrian Bloomfield                      This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  970-531-3323

And last but not least the people I got my information from and who I think deserve a great round of applause for their efforts in getting the word out.

Jennifer M. Shriver, CHMM, Roofs to Roads Project Manager,                                            Boulder County Resource Conservation Division 720-564-2243             This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.      http://www.bouldercounty.org/recycling/R2R/R2Rhome.htm

Wendy Nelson, MBA, Roofs to Roads Colorado                                   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.                                                                 www.roofs2roadscolorado.org

Please support the great efforts of these people, it doesn’t matter if you believe in Global Warming or feel it is all propaganda. Re-using Asphalt Shingles in roads is beneficial for many reasons. We get better, longer lasting roads for less money and our landfills will have less waste to contend with. It is just common sense to do this.

 Cornerstone Roofing 719-564-5470

Where integrity is the cornerstone of our business

Rory Huskin owner