LAGRANGE, OHIO—West Development Group (WDG), a leader in sustainable roofing products and practices, recently implemented a program that recognizes building owners who recycle EPDM rubber roofing membrane. Through the program, WDG is partnering with organizations to implement sustainable roofing practices by recycling EPDM roofs to keep them out of landfills. Participating organizations—from municipalities to owners of commercial buildings and residential apartments— can receive a “Certificate of Environmental Responsibility” in recognition of their environmental practices.
WDG has presented more than 50 organizations with “Certificate of Environmental Responsibility” certificates.
The Columbus Dispatch, a newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio, is a recent example of this successful recycling program. When the Dispatch’s paper warehouse needed a new roof, Kevin George, the paper’s director of engineering and maintenance, contacted WDG about recycling 42,000 square feet of old roofing. WDG retrieved the old roofing membrane and cryogenically ground it into functional fillers designed to enhance the physical properties of new roofing systems.
Newspaper Presented with Award
In addition to the certificate presented to The Columbus Dispatch from WDG, the newspaper was also presented with a 2009 Emerald Award from The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) for recycling the old roofing with WDG and keeping the 42,000 square feet of demolition debris out of the Franklin County Landfill.
“The competition for this award was formidable, but we were fortunate to discover the WDG EPDM roof recycling program,” George explained. “Other rubber recycling companies were not interested in our EPDM, preferring tires for recycling because, they said, EPDM had too much elasticity and was too resilient to grind.”
Those are exactly the properties WDG is looking for and EPDM is the only rubber the company recycles.
WDG begins the recycling process with sheets of EPDM obtained from roof tear-offs. Waste companies are paid to haul away the EPDM, but WDG, in some cases—depending upon the size of load and distance to be transported—takes it away free of charge, benefiting the building owner and the environment.
WDG’s System 14‰ is an environmentally friendly roofing system that uses recycled EPDM and eliminates petroleum-based solvents. A silicone topcoat is sprayed over a spray polyurethane foam (SPF) to create a seamless, self-flashing seal. A soy-based SPF is also available for additional environmental benefits. WDG introduced the R2R‰ (Roof-to-Roof) recycling process and is now the only roof system manufacturer to use recycled EPDM to strengthen and enhance the physical properties of the silicone topcoat.
Many Uses for Recycled Materials
R2R products containing the recycled Columbus Dispatch EPDM roof have been used for new, long-term warranty roof systems at 11 buildings, including a water treatment plant, schools, universities, health care centers, correctional facilities, industrial and commercial buildings, as well as residential apartment buildings.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that more than a billion square feet (185,000 tons) of EPDM roofing is removed and put into landfills every year. That is equivalent to 33,000 40-yard dumpsters or more than 120,000 full-size cars.
Currently, the pulverized EPDM is used exclusively for WDG products. The company is planning to sell EPDM mesh to other manufacturers that make new products from recycled rubber, such as building products, flooring, footwear, tires, epoxies and sealants, to name a few.
Go to WDG.
