Read more: Local, Shingles, Roads, Asphalt, Roof Shingles, Rockwood Concepts, Pitlik Wick, Eagle River, Wisconsin, Hot Mix Asphalt, Recycle, Landfill, Save Money, Cheaper
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MOHAWK -- Within almost a year and a half, Kraig Mahrley has collected 392 tons of roof shingles. Believe it or not, the shingles off of your roof can be recycled and turned into asphalt.
"Everything is 100 percent recycled, so none of it's ending up in a landfill anywhere and it's cheaper. The going rate is quite substantially more to take and just throw it away whereas the $47 a ton charge here basically just goes for the shipping to the processing facility and the paperwork that I have to maintain," said Kraig Mahrley, owner of Rockwood Concepts.
Before the shingles can be dumped into a large pile, they first have to be weighed. Every shingle must be clean, free from construction debris, but nails and tar paper are accepted.
Shingles are 20 to 25 percent asphalt. Once the shingles are crushed, they're mixed, and the end result is just like the highway you drive on a daily basis. The shingles will eventually make their way to Pitlik & Wick in Eagle River, Wisconsin.
"We collect the shingles at our collection facility, and we have a special machine that comes in and grinds the shingles down to about a half inch in size, and then we can recycle them back into hot mix asphalt," said Carolyn Lurvey, environmental engineer.
With a constant drop off of roof shingles at Rockwood Concepts, one day you just might end up traveling on a road made out of them.
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