DaVinci Roofscapes, a leader in synthetic slate and shake roofing tiles, announced that it almost tripled the amount of processed polymer it recycled in 2015 over the previous year. Improved processes allowed the manufacturer to recycle more than 800,000 pounds of polymer materials in 2015.

"Earth Day 2016 is a significant time for our company to share the good news about our enhanced recycling efforts," says Bryan Ward, vice president of operations at DaVinci Roofscapes in Lenexa, Kan. "We're grinding down materials and reusing them in starter shingles.

"Our overall operation procedures and commitment to the environment has permitted DaVinci Roofscapes to recycle more than two million pounds of processed polymer in the past five years. That's a tremendous amount of material re-use that would otherwise have gone to landfills."

DaVinci Roofscapes produces polymer slate and shake roofing tiles in 50 standard colors, plus custom colors. Each time the manufacturing operation changes color runs, there is a transitioning between colors.  Those transition tiles are off spec and are recycled. These tiles are segregated by color and then ground up and molded into starter shingles, which are generally unseen on the roof.

"Because every roofing tile we create is 100 percent recyclable, our operations are extremely environmentally-friendly," says Ward. "In 2016 we'll take our commitment to recycling a step further by investing in a new grinding recycling system that handles purge (melted chunks of polymer that can weigh approximately 50 pounds) as well as off spec product. With this new piece of equipment, we anticipate recycling more than a million pounds of polymer a year going forward!"

For more information, visit www.davinciroofscapes.com.