Holyrood greenlights shingle recycler

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Holyrood could boast the province’s very first shingle recycler.
That’s according to councillor Bruce King, who brought forward a motion last month to approve the operation at 49 Horizon Drive.
“It’s a grinding machine,” said King. “Their plan is to take old shingles that have come off houses and buildings and whatever, bring it to the site, and go through a process of shredding.”
Nails are removed prior to the shingles being shredded, and the finished product can be melted down into liquid asphalt.
King said the process is similar to that of shredding tires.
“There’s an estimate that there’s hundred of thousands of tons of asphalt shingles ending up in landfills,” said King. “And there is no other recycling establishment (in the province) that I’m aware of. I think the closest one I could find was in Hamilton, Ontario. So, it’s something that would extend the life of the landfill sites and there’s going to be a lot of different environmental requirements, so it’s going to be environmentally friendly and it’s going to be monitored to make sure that once it goes there it is going to be environmentally friendly. So, all the hoops are going to be jumped through before anything is done.”
Councillor Sandra Crawley asked where the shingles will be tested for asbestos before being recycled. King said asbestos was removed from shingle manufacturing in 1985, and that shingles produced in Canada are now asbestos free.
Councillor Steve Winsor said the proponent contacted the Town through the economic development committee before meeting directly with members of the planning committee.
“Our committee had a number of questions for the proponent, they were able to answer them appropriately,” he said.
Those questions, said Winsor, largely revolved around potential run off and other negative environmental impacts.
Winsor also noted the approval is conditional upon the provincial government’s approval.
“This could be a good news story, if done correctly,” said Winsor.
Council unanimously approved the motion.
The project was registered with the provincial government on February 26, and government will be accepting public comment until April 3.
Environment Minister Chris Tibbs is due to make a decision on the project by April 12.