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“Based on other demonstrations in Minnesota and in other states, we not only invested in a new shingle grinder, but also a sorting and cleaning system to assure we can meet any material specification our customers need,” he continues. “The quality and cleanliness of the RAS will differentiate companies that are looking to enter this market. The cleaning and sorting process to eliminate foreign debris is critical in producing a high quality RAS.

“The next needed step for large scale recovery of tear-off shingles is a permissive MnDOT specification similar to the specification granted for manufactured scrap shingles,” Haus explains. “Once the permissive specification is determined and assuming virgin asphalt prices remain high, the land disposal of shingle material will become rare. Our industry is prepared to provide this material to HMA producers on a large scale. Without the MnDOT spec, we will have to continue landfilling valuable tear-off shingles.

“We have a great opportunity to reduce materials being landfilled while providing a substitute for virgin asphalt at a lower price.”

Robert Kuehborn, manager of Product Design/Quality Control for Commercial Asphalt Co., agrees.

“We have the capacity to do this,” he says. “Recycling tear-off shingles is now a proven, feasible technology. When we bring this new technology up to full scale, it will help us conserve asphalt cement and save money.