Nashville Roofers Can Recycle Shingles Into Asphalt

A new business in Middle Tennessee is shaking up the math behind replacing a roof. Heritage Environmental wants old shingles so they can turn them into asphalt.

The argument for recycling old shingles is as much economic as it is environmental. That is, recycling a few tons of shingles instead of trucking them to a landfill can be a few dollars cheaper.

And those savings add up for a contractor like Dustin Perry, whose company replaces 15 or more roofs a week. Perry says shrinking his overhead can trim a little off customer’s estimates too.

“Any time you can save a little bit here and a little bit there, of course it helps you on your overall price per project, but it does actually help the homeowner save a little bit of money on their roof estimate, as opposed to another one. May not be huge but it’s definitely going to help them.”

Right now the asphalt created from shingles can only be used in private or commercial settings – that’s because the state hasn’t signed off on its use in public roads.

That’s something other states are already looking at. Tennessee Transportation Department officials say they’d have to research everything from health risks to quality.

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EXTRAS:

Perry expects recycling each load instead of taking it to a landfill will save him hundreds of dollars a week. Debris from replacing a typical roof totals around three tons – roughly as much waste as the average household produces in a year.

The drop-off site in Nashville at 701 Stanley Street is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 4 p.m.