Houston’s Cherry Diversifies Into Shingle Recycling

Houston-based Cherry Companies says it is now recycling tear-off residential composition asphalt shingles and using the ground product as roadbed material in the greater Houston area.

Cherry, a provider of demolition, deconstruction, dismantling and recycling services, says in a news release that it is now accepting “clean” residential composition asphalt shingles for recycling at its facility in Fresno, Texas. Cherry accepts used and manufacturing scrap shingles at no charge, and says it plans to open additional shingle recycling locations in Houston.

“By ‘clean,’ we mean that a load of shingles must not contain any wood, paper or other debris,” says Wesley Guidry, general manager of Cherry’s Portable Recycling Division. “However, we will accept metal flashing for recycling. And, we will supply trash bags and dumpsters for disposal of paper and debris generated from shingle job sites—all at no charge.”

Guidry says that Cherry will use grinders to process the shingles into material for use in roadbeds and as dust suppressant to be applied to crushed concrete roads.

“Shingles are a valuable resource and shouldn’t be tossed into landfills,” says Bill Turley, executive director of the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), Eola, Ill. “Because this type of residential shingle is 100 percent recyclable, transforming it into usable roadbed material is the right thing to do for the environment.”

According to the CMRA, approximately 11 million tons of scrap shingles are generated nationally each year. Of this total, the organization estimates that only 1 to 2 million tons of shingles are being recycled, with the remainder ending up in landfills.

Cherry already recycles more than 1 million tons of concrete and 40,000 tons of steel each year, according to the company.

Based in Houston, Texas, the Cherry group of companies was founded in 1952 and has grown to offer an array of services, including demolition contracting, removal of road and highway materials, the sale of stabilized materials and the recycling of demolition and other scrap materials. More information on the group of companies can be found at www.cherrycompanies.com.