Shingles go from roof to driveway

North Branford (WTNH) - Every year millions of asphalt roof shingles end up in landfills, but a North Branford company would like to see them end up under your car.

You can't tell by looking at it, but this driveway is possibly the first of its kind in the state. It's the driveway of John's Refuse and Recycling , where president Andrew Bozzuto wanted to recycle roofing shingles. He went to asphalt maker Tilcon .

"I actually knocked on their door to say 'Hey, is there a way I can asphalt my driveway using the roofing shingles?' Unbeknownst to me they actually do this process at an affiliated plant in Massachusetts," Bozzuto explained.

"Shingles are predominantly liquid asphalt, about 20-percent liquid asphalt, the same components that we use in the hot-mix asphalt," said Joe Marrone, Tilcon Asphalt Division Manager.

John's Refuse takes away tons of shingles from demolition or renovation sites.

"This 53 tons that we added to the process was directly headed for landfill," Bozzuto said.

It's a simple enough process. You take shingles like you find on any roof and you take those, grind them down into a powder and add that into the asphalt mixture. The only question is how much recycled shingle can you put into the asphalt.

"The recommendation nationwide is not to use more than five to six percent shingles. It has to do with the amount of liquid asphalt that's being replaced by the shingles in the hot mix asphalt," Marrone said.

But even five or six percent of million of tons would mean a lot of shingles kept out of landfills.

"I'm a firm believer that there are a lot of full-circle applications for waste stream, and honestly, waste is just another term for mixed commodities in my world," Bozzuto said.

Bozzuto says recycling shingles into asphalt is not done much in Connecticut because of tight regulations. He hopes his new driveway might help change state policy.