CertainTeed, an innovative manufacturer of sustainable building products, has joined forces with Circular Colorado as the top-level founding supporter of the nonprofit. Circular Colorado’s mission is to create end markets for materials and foster the growth of sustainable economies, and they administer the state’s newly established Circular Economy Development Center. 110-year-old CertainTeed, and its parent company Saint-Gobain, leads the way in progressive solutions for using shingle waste, earlier this year acquiring proprietary technology from Asphaltica. The patented process supports CertainTeed’s ongoing commitment to recycling shingle waste, diverting it from landfill and furthering the company’s commitment to creating a circular economy in its production of roofing shingles. The technology enables the company to pretreat, pelletize and rejuvenate asphalt shingle waste, recycling and reusing it in hot asphalt paving mix.
“CertainTeed and Saint-Gobain are committed to diverting waste from landfills and creating pathways that allow all of our building products to be reused at the end of life,” said Carmen Bodden, Vice President and General Manager of CertainTeed Roofing. “Our partnership with Circular Colorado is a natural fit to achieve these goals and expand the utilization of the Asphaltica technology to build a practical circular economy solution in Colorado.”
Construction and demolition debris, which includes roofing shingles, made up about 27 percent of the waste generated in the Front Range region of Colorado in 2016, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. In a 2018 survey of construction and demolition industry stakeholders, participants ranked asphalt shingles as the hardest material to divert from disposal. “We are keen on solving the challenge of diverting waste from landfill in Colorado and creating an economic model that can be adopted in other states and regions,” said Laurie Johnson, CEO and founder of Circular Colorado. “And working with CertainTeed helps make that possible.”
With SBTi-validated sustainability goals — to reduce scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 33 percent by 2030 and to be net-zero by 2050 — Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed are committed to sustainable construction. CertainTeed sees the partnership with Circular Colorado as a meaningful way to work towards the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association industry goals of reducing landfill disposal of asphalt-based roofing materials to 50 percent by 2035 and to approach zero percent by 2050.