Ribbon Cutting
In December, Owens Corning® held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the activation of a shingle recycling pilot established in partnership with ASR Systems, CRS Reprocessing Services, and Indiana Shingle Recycling. The ceremony marks the completion of pilot equipment construction and official launch of the company’s work to reclaim asphalt shingle components and repurpose those raw materials into new shingles.
The event was held at the pilot site on the grounds of Indiana Shingle Recycling in Indianapolis. Remarks were shared by Owens Corning leaders Gunner Smith, roofing president; Mark Leo, director of circular economy; Steve Ragan, director of business development for CRS Reprocessing Services; Dan Horton, founding partner of ASR Systems; and Liesel Ray, owner of Indiana Shingle Recycling. Following the ribbon cutting, guests toured the facility and saw a demonstration of the equipment, systems, and technologies at the pilot operation.
In early November, Owens Corning announced advancements toward its circular economy aspiration through enhanced shingle recycling efforts. The company intends to recycle two million tons of shingles per year in the United States by 2030. Focused workstreams for shingle recycling include the pilot effort to recycle shingles into new shingles and recycling shingles into asphalt pavement. The pilot effort to recycle shingles into new shingles utilizes proprietary, patented processes at the pilot site to effectively deconstruct post-consumer and post-industrial shingles and extract raw materials for reuse. Following extraction, the materials will be transported to Owens Corning manufacturing facilities for testing in the production of new shingles made with recycled content.
To recycle shingles into asphalt pavement, the company is leveraging its expertise in asphalt innovation. By working closely with paving contractors, Owens Corning scientists have provided technical guidance for incorporating recycled shingles in an asphalt mix design that meets federal and state paving performance requirements. The company has diverted 40 million pounds of used shingles from the landfill into pavement since 2020 and is focused on proactively expanding this offering to additional markets to increase the volume of shingles diverted from landfills.
