The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) has a beneficial use permit that allows the use of tear-off shingle scrap to be stored and processed.  The MDEP has a beneficial use section of the Maine Solid Waste Management Rules from Chapter 418 under the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management.  Shingle recycling facilities are required to obtain a license through the MDEP to process tear-off shingles.  One shingle recycling facility is licensed in Maine.  This facility has been storing and processing tear-off shingles since 1994.  To ensure that no asbestos were contained in the accepted shingles, the shingle recycling facility collected 118 composite samples from the loads of in-coming residential tear-off shingles.  No asbestos containing fibers were detected in the samples and in July of 1995 the MDEP discontinued the testing of the residential roofing material.  However, the shingle recycling facility continues to test commercial roofing, which is identified visually from worker experience and knowledge, to ensure asbestos is not present in the shingle material processed for beneficial reuse. A representative composite sample may be collected and tested from any suspect material on a per-load basis.

The processed shingles are incorporated into various road construction materials such as hot-mix asphalt (HMA) and cold patch.  The use of the shingles in the construction materials replaces some or all of the virgin asphalt in the various grades of road building materials produced to meet Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) product specifications (703.06).  Contact the state representatives or shingle recyclers for more information.

Maine Shingle Recyclers  

Standard Specification 2002 Division 700 : Materials (see 703.06)

Maine Case Study  

Maine State Contacts