The roofing crew has been on the house since seven. By ten there is a dumpster in the driveway with a small mountain of shingles, tar paper and nails in it, and you are wondering where all of that goes next. A typical roof replacement makes several tons of waste, and the honest answer to "what happens to old roofing materials?" used to be one word: the landfill.
That is changing. This guide follows each material off the roof: what asphalt, metal, tile and wood are made of, what they do in a landfill, how shingle recycling works, and who actually hauls the debris. We will also be clear about what Take Care Junk does and does not take: we do not haul shingles or roof tear-off debris, and we explain who does.
Common Types of Roofing Materials and Their Waste Profile
Disposal starts with knowing what came off. The four common roofing types differ in weight, makeup and how easily they recycle.
Asphalt Shingles
Asphalt shingles are by far the most common roof in North America, on about 80% of homes, because they are cheap, durable and quick to install.
- Composition: a composite of a fiberglass or organic mat, a layer of asphalt for waterproofing, and a top coat of mineral granules (quartz or ceramic) that blocks UV and gives the color.
- Waste Generation: because there are so many of them, they are most of the roofing waste there is. The United States generates an estimated 11 to 13 million tons of asphalt shingle waste a year from tear-offs and manufacturing scraps.
- Disposal Challenges: the asphalt, fiberglass and granule mix once made them hard to recycle. Some very old shingles also contain asbestos, which makes them hazardous waste with strict handling rules.
Metal Roofing
Steel, aluminum and copper roofs have grown popular for their long life and clean look.
- Composition: galvanized steel (zinc-coated) and Galvalume steel (aluminum-zinc coated) are the common choices. Aluminum is light and corrosion-resistant; copper is the high-end option with the distinctive patina.
- Waste Profile: metal roofing is 100% recyclable. Metal can be melted and re-formed into product of the same quality over and over, with no loss per cycle, which makes it the most sustainable roofing there is.
- Disposal Advantages: scrap metal has value. Yards pay for old metal roofing, so it almost never ends up in landfills.
Clay and Concrete Tiles
Tile is the roof of Mediterranean and Spanish-style homes, prized for durability and fire resistance.
- Composition: clay fired in a kiln, or a sand, cement and water mix that is molded and cured.
- Waste Profile: both are heavy, inert materials. They do not leach chemicals, but a full tear-off is a huge volume of dense weight that eats landfill space.
- Disposal Options: clean tile, with no tar paper or other debris mixed in, can be crushed and recycled as aggregate for road base, construction fill or new concrete products.
Wood Shingles and Shakes
Wood roofing has a natural, rustic look, and cedar is the usual species.
- Composition: shingles are sawn for a smooth, uniform face; shakes are hand-split for a rougher one.
- Waste Profile: everything depends on whether the wood was treated.
- Untreated Wood: biodegradable and easy to repurpose or recycle. It can be chipped into mulch or composted.
- Treated Wood: many older wood roofs were treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) against rot and insects. That pressure-treated wood is hazardous waste. It cannot be burned, which releases toxic chemicals, and it cannot be chipped for landscaping mulch. It goes to a specially lined landfill equipped for hazardous material.
The Environmental Impact of Roofing Waste
The volume of roofing debris every year carries three costs, and "take it to the dump" pays all of them.
Landfill Overload
Landfill space is finite, and in many regions it is nearly gone. Bulky asphalt shingles and heavy tile consume a disproportionate share of it. The 11 to 13 million tons of shingle waste a year in the U.S. would fill thousands of football stadiums. Recycling that stream extends the life of existing roofing materials landfills and delays the need to site new ones, which is slow, expensive and contested every time.
Depletion of Natural Resources
Throwing away a roof throws away the raw material that built it.
- Asphalt Shingles: asphalt is a petroleum product. Recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) can replace part of the virgin asphalt in road paving, which conserves oil.
- Metal Roofing: mining and refining ore into new steel, aluminum and copper is energy-intensive. Recycling metal uses up to 95% less energy than producing it from raw material, which cuts greenhouse gas emissions by the same order.
- Wood Roofing: trees are renewable, but unsustainable harvesting drives deforestation. Reusing or recycling untreated wood lowers the demand for new timber.
Potential for Pollution
Some roofing materials contaminate when handled wrong.
- Treated Wood: burning it releases toxic ash and fumes. Left to rot in an unlined landfill or on a property, its chemicals leach into the soil and can reach groundwater.
- Asbestos: shingles and roofing felt made before the 1980s may contain asbestos. Disturbing them puts fibers in the air, and inhaled fibers cause serious disease, including lung cancer and mesothelioma. Asbestos-containing material (ACM) must be handled and disposed of by licensed professionals.
Hazardous roofing material belongs with trained professionals who know the disposal requirements and the local compliance rules.
The Journey of Recycling: From Rooftop to Roadway
Recycling is the single biggest lever on roofing waste. Metal and tile have straightforward paths. Asphalt shingles, the biggest waste stream, have the most interesting one.
The Asphalt Shingle Recycling Process
What used to be garbage is now a commodity the industry calls Recycled Asphalt Shingles (RAS). Rooftop to pavement takes five steps.
Step 1: Collection and Transportation
It starts on the job site. Instead of one landfill dumpster for everything, shingles are kept separate, a practice called "source separation." A clean load of only shingles, tar paper and nails is what a shingle recycling facility needs, and that is where the load goes.
Step 2: Inspection and Sorting
At the recycling center the load is checked for contaminants. Wood, plastic, flashing and other trash are pulled out. A few nails are fine; they come out later. A badly contaminated load gets rejected and sent to a landfill, which is why clean loading at the source matters.
Step 3: Grinding
Approved shingles go into an industrial grinder, where high-speed rotating hammers or cutters break them into small, uniform pieces. Changing the screens in the grinder sets the final size.
Step 4: Debris Removal
During and after grinding, the material is cleaned again.
- Magnetic Separation: the ground material passes under powerful magnets that pull every steel nail, and the nails go to a metal recycler.
- Screening: screens hold the particle size consistent and sift out oversized pieces and leftover debris.
Step 5: The Final Product
What comes out is a fine, granular material that looks like black sand. That is RAS. Its high content of asphalt cement and quality aggregate makes it a valuable additive for hot-mix asphalt (HMA), the material under most roads and parking lots.
Benefits of Using RAS in Paving
Mixing RAS into road asphalt pays off three ways:
- Cost Savings: asphalt cement, the black binder, is the most expensive part of HMA. RAS carries a lot of binder, so it cuts the amount of virgin, petroleum-based asphalt cement the mix needs and lowers the cost of the pavement.
- Improved Performance: the fine aggregate and fibers from the shingle mat make the pavement more resistant to rutting and cracking.
- Environmental Conservation: every ton of RAS in pavement saves a barrel of oil and keeps a ton of waste out of a landfill.
Landfill vs. Recycling: Making the Right Choice
With a pile of old roofing there are two options: a landfill, or making sure it gets recycled.
The Landfill Option
The landfill looks like the direct route. Load it, drive it, pay the tipping fee (charged per ton) and go home. The downsides:
- Environmental Cost: wasted resources, consumed land and the pollution risk covered above.
- Rising Financial Cost: tipping fees climb as landfills fill. In some areas, landfilling a ton of shingles already costs more than recycling it.
- Regulatory Hurdles: some states and municipalities have banned, or are banning, asphalt shingles from their landfills to force recycling and save space.
The Recycling Option
Recycling takes a little planning and gives back more.
- Sustainability: the responsible choice, conserving material and energy while cutting waste.
- Economic Benefits: often cheaper than landfilling, especially for metal, and a selling point for contractors with eco-conscious clients.
- Compliance: as rules on landfilling construction debris tighten, recycling keeps you on the right side of local and state law.
The hard part for a homeowner is logistics: separating materials correctly and finding a facility that takes them, which may not be close. That is the roofing contractor's job, or a licensed C&D hauler's. Ask where the tear-off goes and whether the shingles are kept separate for recycling.
Who Hauls Roofing Debris, and What We Take
Several tons of roofing debris is heavy, sharp and logistically complicated. Take Care Junk does not do roof tear-offs on houses or haul that debris. Most roofing contractors include tear-off disposal in the job, and a licensed C&D hauler or a roofing debris dumpster handles the rest.
What to Expect From Us
- What We Don't Take
Roofing is heavy, awkward and sharp-edged, and some very old shingles contain asbestos. We do not haul a house's roof tear-off (asphalt shingles, roofing tile, tar paper), so do not plan a roof replacement around a junk removal pickup. Roofing that comes with a smaller structure we remove, such as a shed, pergola, carport or awning, is fine. - What We Can Take
A metal-only load, such as old metal roofing panels with no shingles or tar paper mixed in, is a single-material load we can haul to a metal recycler. We can also clear the household junk a roofing project turns up, like the attic or garage that has to be emptied first. For the details, see construction debris: what we take. - Where the Rest Goes
For shingles and mixed tear-off, ask your roofer whether disposal is in the bid. If it is not, a roofing debris dumpster or a licensed C&D hauler is the right call, and it is worth asking whether the shingles go to a shingle recycler. Hauling it yourself means renting or borrowing a truck, several trips to a transfer station and disposal fees by the ton. - Serving the Greater Sacramento Area
We help homeowners across Sacramento and the surrounding communities with junk removal before and after a roofing project: clearing the yard, garage or attic so the roofing crew has room to work, and hauling a metal-only load afterward. The tear-off itself is not something we haul.
The disposal plan is the one part of a new roof you can settle before the first shingle comes off. Ask your roofer where it goes, ask whether the shingles get recycled, and then let the crew work. Have a metal-only load or household junk to clear around your roofing project? Contact us today for a free, no-obligation quote and we will handle the lifting.
