The EPDM Roofing Association (ERA), Bethesda, Md., has announced the creation of a new Affiliate Member category whose members will form the ERA Recycling Council.
ERA has also announced that Nationwide Foam Inc. (NFI), of Framingham, Mass., has become the first affiliate member.
NFI, which claims to be North America’s largest foam insulation board recycler, collects and hauls used expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), polyisocyanurate (ISO), and composite (COMP) foam board directly from tear-off roofing job sites, in addition to its collection and transportation of EPDM (ethylene propylene diene terpolymer) roofing.
The Affiliate Member category is open to any company, corporation or other form of enterprise that is engaged in any aspect of the business of recycling EPDM or other single-ply roof membranes, according to an ERA news release.
“The Recycling Council reconfirms the commitment of ERA and its members to developing a system by which EPDM can be recycled and reused,” says John Geary, ERA board chairman. “By working with our current members and the new Affiliate Members, such as Nationwide Foam, we will be able to take the next steps toward reaching that goal.”
“The results of the pilot phase of our recycling project have shown that we can remove a significant portion of EPDM from rooftops, grind it and reuse it in a number of ways,” says Scott Long, EPDM product manager for Carlisle SynTec Inc., Carlisle, Pa. The company is a member of ERA’s Technical Committee.
“This success and the growing awareness that recycling is a vital component of extending the life cycle of a sustainable roof system led us to create the Recycling Council,” adds Long.
ERA says it is inviting inquiries about Affiliate Membership from companies in industries related to the recycling of EPDM. Those seeking more information can e-mail the group at info@epdmroofs.org.
EPDM is widely used in new construction and replacement commercial roofing projects. To date, more than 20 billion square feet of EPDM roof systems have been installed on more than 500,000 rooftops, according to ERA.