Building Sector
Kraft Heinz’s pilot project demonstrates the use of roof board made from recycled flexible packaging
Raising the roof with recycled materials Not surprisingly, the advantages of plastics, such as durability, tensile strength, cost-effectiveness and flexibility, even in recycled form, are still inherent when applied to construction. So, recycled plastics as roof? Why not! Kraft Heinz, a US-based multinational food company, has shown the viability of recycled plastic roofing with its new project. The company’s pilot project demonstrates the use of roof board made from recycled flexible packaging, which Kraft Heinz uses across its product portfolio. The test was made possible by the company’s participation in Materials Recovery For the Future (MRFF), a non-profit organisation that lays the groundwork for the future of recycling flexible plastic packaging. The project installed roofing material made from post-consumer flexible plastic in two Kraft Heinz manufacturing plants in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and in Holland, Michigan. The recycled roofing materials, which were installed in late 2020, comprised 4’ X 8’ boards. Each board has 94% postconsumer recycled plastic and fibre. According to Kraft Heinz, the pilot project will be monitored and compared with standard building materials. It added that it will consider standardising use of this recycled material in the future, if the recycled materials will show to perform as well or better than standard building materials. Similarly, GAF, North America’s largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer, has unveiled a new patented shingle recycling process that has successfully produced the industry’s first asphalt roofing shingles containing recycled material from post-consumer and post-manufacture waste shingles. GAF said that the new shingle recycling process reduces the amount of raw materials required to make new shingles without compromising product quality or performance. During its successful tests, over 90% of the waste shingle material, by weight,
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was recovered and to be reused in the manufacture of new shingles. GAF also demonstrated its ability to manufacture new shingles containing up to 15% recycled material that were UL-certified for their safety and effectiveness. The new shingle recycling process is covered by three US patents. GAF is investing more than US$100 million to bring the recycling process to commercial scale, including the development of a pilot operation in 2021 that will enable additional
R&D on the process. According to GAF, the technology ushers in a future where homeowners are able to replace roofing with high-quality and affordable shingles made with recycled asphalt. Further down the line, new technologies are being developed to increase the recovery and use of waste plastics and other scrap materials for sustainable applications in construction.
GAF’s new patented shingle recycling process has produced the industry’s first asphalt roofing shingles containing recycled material from waste shingles
