HOUSTON — During the past 10 years, DaVinci® Roofscapes, a division of Westlake Royal Building Products™, has reprocessed more than 9.2 million pounds of polymer scrap materials. The composite roofing manufacturer announced that its operations successfully recycled 1.1 million pounds of polymer waste in 2021.
“Each year around Earth Day we calculate these numbers to showcase our dedication to net zero landfill scrap,” says Mark Pagel, general manager at DaVinci Roofscapes in Lenexa, Kan. “This is the fifth consecutive year we’ve achieved this status. The 1.1-plus million pounds of scrap reprocessed in 2021 went into starter shingles and other pieces.
“In addition, we’re excited that our Process Engineering team has developed new methods and tooling that can use reprocessed scrap material in solid accessory parts. Through an injection process, reprocessed scrap now goes into the unseen underside of the cavity of some accessory parts. This is just one way our team is working to keep waste product out of landfills.”
Zero Waste a Top Goal
At DaVinci, every pound of scrap generated by the company’s expansive manufacturing operations goes into repurposed product. Green initiatives are always being enhanced to assure scrap from making roofing tiles is recycled back into the company’s manufacturing operations.
“We make our composite roofing and siding tiles with virgin polymers,” says Pagel. “We make our products in dozens of colors and color blends. When we switch from one color to another, there’s a natural transitioning period between the colors. Those transition tiles are ‘off spec’ and cannot be used, so we recycle them.”
Pagel relates that the transition tiles are carefully pulled off the product line and segregated into specifically colored scrap bins by employees. The tiles are then ground up and repurposed into starter tiles, which are generally not seen on a roof. In the past year, the reground product has also been used in the underside of the cavity on solid accessory parts, where virgin resins are used on the top visible portion of the product.
Meeting the Test of Time
DaVinci slate and shake tiles are made of virgin resins, UV and thermal stabilizers. A highly-specialized fire retardant is added to the mix, making them fire-resistant. DaVinci products are warranted to last for decades on homes and commercial projects. However, after their lifespan, they are also 100% recyclable.
Made for authentic beauty and low maintenance, all DaVinci products resist splitting, cracking, curling and fading. Each tile has been crafted to resist high winds, mold, algae, fungus and insects. All DaVinci composite products are Class A fire and Class 4 impact rated. They are certified by ASTM D 3161to straight line winds up to 110 mph and hurricane high velocity winds up to 180 mph. DaVinci products meet the code restrictions for use by Miami-Dade County, FL NOA, HVHZ (TAS 125, up to 180 mph), CA Title 24, Texas Dept. of Insurance, WUI 4175 and CCMC14094-R.
Manufactured at the DaVinci Roofscapes facility in Kansas, the composite shake siding and roofing tiles are made with color throughout each piece and require no painting. The composite tiles serve as an environmentally-friendly alternative to real wood shakes, natural slate tiles and plastic siding.
