Page 9 - TN Public Works May-June Vol. 32 No.1
P. 9
By Vaughn Cassidy
Recycling Roofs for Roads
Available from
Putnam County/Cookeville Leading the Way
SAlES, InC.
CMI EquIpMEnt
Recycled road material is nothing new. Asphalt shingle recycling benefits the the landfill to a recyclable end-use. “With
For some time, Tennessee’s Department environment in many ways. In particular, our construction and demolition landfill
Of Transportation (TDOT) has had a it reduces quarrying and mining and oil getting more full all the time,” said Street,
number of processes that utilize recycled consumption while keeping 75 million “we were tickled to death to save all that
materials such as glass and crumb rubber. tons of material out of US landfills each space.”
These measures reduce costs, conserve year. Recycling asphalt also dramatically Ground Up Recycling, a start-up
natural materials, and, as demonstrated by reduces the consumption of resources company in Cookeville, was the first in
a recent change, spur local business. such as fuel, machinery, transportation Putnam County to take advantage of the
Beginning in February 2014, TDOT of- and labor when compared with producing opportunity. The company, owned by
ficially authorized the use of asphalt roof- virgin asphalt materials. Matt Allen and Lincoln Young, took full
ing shingles as a supplemental material for Challenging Opportunities advantage of the opportunity and soon
recycled asphalt road mixes. Brian Egan, faced the second challenge of making the
then the director of TDOT’s Construction This change in TDOT’s rules offered shingles “road-ready” in an economic
Division, sent out a memo which allowed a tremendous opportunity for several and efficient way. Luckily, Allen already
for roofing shingles in recycled asphalt entrepreneurs in the recycling business as had extensive experience in the indus-
pavement mixes. well as a few challenges. The first chal- try having worked in road construction
lenge was identifying shingles to recycle. most of his life. The answer to this second
Putnam County Solid Waste Director challenge was a custom modified Peter-
Keith Street decided to work with any son 4710 grinder, which is portable and
area recycler to ensure a steady supply of crushes and screens the shingle material
feedstock. The decision was made to make into a uniform size usable in almost any
Putnam County the first in the state to
divert all asphalt roofing shingles from Continued on page 10
Left: The finished product: screened, crushed, sized and ready for Tennessee’s roadways. Below: A portable
crusher and screener that processes asphalt shingles into the proper size for use in road material.
TPW May/June 2014
TPW May/June 2014 9 9
Recycling Roofs for Roads
Available from
Putnam County/Cookeville Leading the Way
SAlES, InC.
CMI EquIpMEnt
Recycled road material is nothing new. Asphalt shingle recycling benefits the the landfill to a recyclable end-use. “With
For some time, Tennessee’s Department environment in many ways. In particular, our construction and demolition landfill
Of Transportation (TDOT) has had a it reduces quarrying and mining and oil getting more full all the time,” said Street,
number of processes that utilize recycled consumption while keeping 75 million “we were tickled to death to save all that
materials such as glass and crumb rubber. tons of material out of US landfills each space.”
These measures reduce costs, conserve year. Recycling asphalt also dramatically Ground Up Recycling, a start-up
natural materials, and, as demonstrated by reduces the consumption of resources company in Cookeville, was the first in
a recent change, spur local business. such as fuel, machinery, transportation Putnam County to take advantage of the
Beginning in February 2014, TDOT of- and labor when compared with producing opportunity. The company, owned by
ficially authorized the use of asphalt roof- virgin asphalt materials. Matt Allen and Lincoln Young, took full
ing shingles as a supplemental material for Challenging Opportunities advantage of the opportunity and soon
recycled asphalt road mixes. Brian Egan, faced the second challenge of making the
then the director of TDOT’s Construction This change in TDOT’s rules offered shingles “road-ready” in an economic
Division, sent out a memo which allowed a tremendous opportunity for several and efficient way. Luckily, Allen already
for roofing shingles in recycled asphalt entrepreneurs in the recycling business as had extensive experience in the indus-
pavement mixes. well as a few challenges. The first chal- try having worked in road construction
lenge was identifying shingles to recycle. most of his life. The answer to this second
Putnam County Solid Waste Director challenge was a custom modified Peter-
Keith Street decided to work with any son 4710 grinder, which is portable and
area recycler to ensure a steady supply of crushes and screens the shingle material
feedstock. The decision was made to make into a uniform size usable in almost any
Putnam County the first in the state to
divert all asphalt roofing shingles from Continued on page 10
Left: The finished product: screened, crushed, sized and ready for Tennessee’s roadways. Below: A portable
crusher and screener that processes asphalt shingles into the proper size for use in road material.
TPW May/June 2014
TPW May/June 2014 9 9
