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Crutchall Resource Recycling is more than just a dumpster company: they're turning trash into treasure; specifically, black gold. Crutchall Resource Recycling, who opened its doors in July 2007, has a keen eye for the reusable. During their first year of operation, they witnessed first-hand the incredible amount of recyclable material that was being discarded as waste, specifically high-value material such as roofing shingles.

Recent data suggests that nearly 11 million tons of asphalt roofing shingle wastes are produced in the United States each year. Recycling shingles can recapture the equivalent of 2 barrels of oil from every ton of shingles recycled.

In 2008, Crutchall began extracting asphalt roofing shingles from the waste stream and reconstituting them as a hot-mix asphalt supplement, thus saving valuable landfill space and creating a market for the recycled material. They utilize one of Bandit Industries' Beast Recyclers, equipped with the optional Shingle Grinding Package, to process the material.

Elly Kane and Matt Teesdale of Crutchall Resource Recycling spoke with Jerry Morey, president of Bandit Industries, Inc., to discuss the success they've had in their shingle-grinding venture. During this interview, Kane and Teesdale explain the need for shingle recycling, and potential growth for the industry.

Jerry Morey: Tell us a little about what you are doing, what you have done, and what you are planning to do.

Ellie Kane: "As you know, we started out as a dumpster company. As we were going to the landfills, we were seeing that shingles were being disposed of right along with all the other trash. We really thought that something different needed to be done. We started researching, and discovered that shingles in some other states were being pulled out of the landfill, sorted, cleaned and recycled into hot mix asphalt. We started to pursue this venture for ourselves. We went to the DEQ and asked them to exempt shingles from the waste stream, which they did fairly quickly and easily. We got the ball rolling, and started collecting shingles with the contacts that we already had in Grand Rapids (Michigan). From there, we expanded to our Lansing, Kalamazoo, Flint and Warren sites. We did some research on the different grinders out there, as you know, and the Bandit came highly recommended."