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JM: Right, you give them a financial incentive to come to you.

EK: We look at the landfill tip fee. We try to structure our prices so they are going to save anywhere from 40% to 60% of their tip. How much they save is based on how well they do the job of bringing us only roof debris, and putting the non-shingled material on top of the load, so that the contractor willing to go that extra step to sort can save more money. The guy that doesn't want to bother sorting, but will keep the homeowner trash out, might only save 40%, and the guy that wants to throw in all the trash along with the shingles is only going to save 20%.

JM: Who do you sell the finished ground shingle product to?

EK: Currently, the exemption in the state of Michigan only allows it to be used for hot mix asphalt. We work with a couple different hot mix asphalt companies to utilize that product. We are looking into the possibility of selling it as an alternative fuel in the cement kilns. We are just in the beginning stages of talking with them.

JM: You mentioned that here in our state you are working with Michigan Paving.

EK: We have been selling most of products to Michigan Paving but we have begun talking with other companies as well. Michigan Paving has been using our product it in projects this summer. They have been very pleased with the results. They have a test site in Allegan County that they just did. We are also trying to work with Muskegon County Roads to do a joint venture with the County. That is in the very beginning stages. We have a lot of different things that are 'in the process'. I think it will be an exciting year next year.

JM: Regarding the oil content of the shingles: in used tear offs, what percentage of the ground shingles turns into an oil-based product?

EK: With shingles used in hot mix asphalt, the percentage is really low. Everything in the shingle can be used in the hot mix asphalt; nothing has to be sorted out. When the shingle is ground and brought down to a small enough grade, they are getting an asphalt content near 25%. At that rate, we can estimate that a ton of shingles can recapture the equivalent of about 2 barrels of oil.

I don't know how much you know about the refinery process, but when they refine crude oil, they heat it up. As they heat it up, it separates into different grades. They use the lighter grades for jet fuel, kerosene, gasoline, and fuel oils. The oil at the bottom of the barrel is used for asphalt. With the processes they are using now, they are able to actually crack the hydrocarbons of the asphalt-grade oil, and in the process, they can actually squeeze out more of those lighter grades. If I'm not mistaken, they used to use almost 1/3 of a barrel of oil for asphalt. Now they can bring crude oil to the point where they are barely getting any oil that is used for asphalt. They can refine almost all of it to a lighter grade.