On December 4^th, 2008, Dakota County hosted an Educational Workshop on

"Diverting Tear-off Shingles from the Landfill"

The workshop brought together over 40 participants which included county, city and state officials along with representatives from the roofing, hot-mix asphalt (HMA), and disposal industries.  Speakers included, Rolland Meillier, Dakota County Environmental Management and SWMCB Shingle Recycling Coordinator, Roger Olson, Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), Jerry Auge, Jr., Ramsey County; Todd Howard, Dakota County; and Dan Krivit for Bill Boettner, Town of Hassan.  Dakota County, Ramsey County and the Town of Hassan have all completed projects using recycled tear-off shingles (RAS).  Please see the power-point presentations below for more information on the projects.

Roger Olson, "Minnesota’s Experience in Implementing the Use of Shingles", Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), Dakota County Workshop, December 4, 2007.

Todd Howard, "Dakota County CSAH 26 Shingle Tear-offs", Dakota County Department of Transportation, Dakota County Workshop, December 4, 2007.

Jerry Auge, Jr., "Recycled Tear-off Shingles in Bituminous Pavement for Lower Afton Trail Project", Ramsey County Department of Public Works, Dakota County Workshop, December 4, 2007.

Also, Jerry handed out the document, "Specifications, Special Provisions and General Provisions for the Construction of a Pedestrian
Trail on Lower Afton Road in Maplewood, Minnesota: Excerpts Relevant to
the Required Use of Tear-Off, Recycled Asphalt Shingles in the Hot Mix
Asphalt Pavement" by Ramsey County Department of Public Works (in
conjunction with the Mn/DOT),

Bill Boettner, "Hassan / Omann Shingle Recycling Demonstration", Town of Hassan, Dakota County Workshop, December 4, 2007. 

An open discussion was held for the second half of the workshop.  The county demonstration projects have been very successful and the county representatives expressed an interest in looking at using shingles in future projects.  Also, Mn/DOT and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) are working together to complete additional research to advance the development of a specification for the use of tear-off shingles in HMA applications.  The research is tentatively scheduled to begin in the Spring of 2008.  Mn/DOT currently has a specification that allows manufacturers recycled asphalt shingles at 5% of the total mix.  

Presently, there are three shingle recycling operations in Minnesota, Bituminous Roadways Inc., Knife River (Bauerly Brothers), and Omann Brothers, Inc.  Two facilities are currently using manufacturers recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) in their HMA mixes.  Tear-off shingles have been used in the demonstration projects only. There was discussion about how best to plan for and develop the future tear-off shingle recycling infrastructure in Minnesota.

Wayne Gjerde, MPCA, stated that there is an estimated 6 million tons of tear-off shingles being landfilled in Minnesota.  If tear-off shingles were used in all road projects at 5% of the total mix all shingles would be diverted from the landfills.  It was also pointed out that a larger demonstration projects using tear-off shingles would be more attractive to getting more involvement from the private sector.

Future discussions and research are needed in the areas of quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC) of the final ground product (RAS) and the amount of asphalt binder available.

The workshop provided a chance to increase awareness and understanding of this new technology and to promote conversations between all interested parties. 

For more information please contact Rolland Meillier, Dakota County Environmental Management, at 952-891-7545 or at Rolland.Meillier@co.dakota.mn.us.