Logan Landfill Shingle Recycling

Cool news for the Bozeman/Belgrade area after this summer's huge hail storm. Hundreds of roofs in the area have already been replaced but there are hundreds more expected to be repaired or replaced this Spring. - Michelle

Recycling shingles at the Logan Landfill remains a viable option and dump crews will stockpile material to construct a new road as a test piece, Landfill manager Martin Bey said.

The Solid Waste Management District board has been looking into the recycling idea after a group of Montana State University graduates pitched the plan in 2007, County Commissioner and landfill board member Steve White said.

“We’re rolling forward with it,” he said.

The main challenge is making the project pencil out, Bey said. Shingles need to be ground up and screened before the roofing material can have a second life. The work would have to be contracted which may cause a problem.

“The companies that do this want thousands of cubic yards,” he said. “We don’t really produce that much.”

Landfill workers are going to ask construction contractors to take part in a test program to show the feasibility of reusing shingles, Bey said. Clean loads of roofing material void of metal and wood would be stockpiled and later used as a base for a future one-third mile road to the new landfill cell.

“We actually put down a few feet of shingles then put down two-feet of road base on top of that,” he said. “It makes a beautiful road that doesn’t get pot holes.”

The board is still looking into grinding material, but it takes volume to pencil out the endeavor, both Bey and White said. The landfill can stockpile shingles up to about 1,000-cubic yards and have a contractor come in once a year to grind.

“The best-case scenario is to be grinding and hauling, because when you grind them, it warms them up and if you stockpile ground material you have a pile of mess,” White said. “We are dedicating ourselves to keep the shingles out of the landfill.”

One of the goals of the project is to use the ground-up shingles to help pave the Gallatin County Fairgrounds parking lot, White said.

The landfill has been inundated with shingles since the June 30 hailstorm that hit Bozeman and the surrounding area. The board is looking into ways to reduce the waste stream and prolong the life of the landfill.

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