Asphalt Shingle Recycling

First 30 days

Research state and county rules for recycled asphalt shingles before touching a truckload. Identify approved end markets: asphalt plants, paving contractors, aggregate yards, and recycling processors. Lease or partner for a permitted yard with scale access, stormwater controls, and room to separate clean tear-off shingles from trash. Visit roofing companies and learn their current dump fees, drive times, and pain points.

Days 31–60

Launch as a clean-load drop site or scheduled pickup partner, not a full processor yet. Accept only asphalt shingles with minimal wood, plastic, and mixed construction debris. Charge a tipping fee below landfill pain but high enough to cover sorting and reject disposal. Document contamination rules in one page and make roofers sign it because optimism is not a compliance strategy.

Days 61–90

Secure repeat roofers with monthly billing and fast unload windows. If volume supports it, negotiate grinding with a mobile processor instead of buying major equipment immediately. Build outbound contracts for processed material before expanding intake. Add nails/metal recovery as a small secondary revenue stream, then decide whether owning grinding equipment beats renting or brokering.

Typical operators report charging roofers roughly $40–$90 per ton for clean shingle disposal, depending on landfill alternatives and local regulations. Small yards may handle 50–200 tons per week once they have roofer relationships. Costs include yard rent, loader time, labor, reject disposal, insurance, dust control, hauling, and grinding if processing is outsourced. Processed material pricing varies widely by region and approved use, so conservative operators underwrite the business on tipping fees first. Net margins often sit in the low-to-mid teens until volume, contamination control, and outbound contracts improve.

• Permitted yard or transfer station access: $2,000–$15,000/mo
• Skid steer or wheel loader: $20,000–$120,000
• Roll-off containers or dump trailers: $6,000–$60,000
• Scale access or portable scale system: $1,500–$25,000
• Magnet sweeper for nails: $500–$3,000
• Dust control and stormwater supplies: $1,000–$15,000
• Mobile grinding contractor budget: $8–$30 per ton

Call 30 roofing companies before storm season and ask what they pay per dump, where they go, and what annoys them. Offer one clean-load disposal slot at a simple introductory per-ton or per-trailer rate. Make the drop-off faster than the landfill: clear signage, immediate unload, same-day receipt, no lecture unless they bring plywood and lunch wrappers. After the first successful load, ask for their next three tear-off dates and offer monthly billing if they commit to using your yard.