DaVinci Roofscapes, a leading manufacturer of synthetic slate and shake roofing tiles, kept more than 1.2 million pounds of polymer scrap out of landfills in 2016. The record-setting recycling effort includes the remolding of more than 696,000 lbs. of grinded scrap into starter tiles and the transfer of 567,000 lbs. of scrap to an end-user who makes pallets, crates and totes.

"Our goal is zero percentage of scrap going into a landfill," says Bryan Ward, vice president of operations at DaVinci Roofscapes in Lenexa, Kan. "We are always looking for ways to recycle and reuse every single piece of waste in our plant."

"We made a significant capital investment in regrind machinery in recent years that's definitely paying off. Over the past two years we've decreased our trash generation by more than 50 percent annually. That's a number we're proud of and hope to improve upon even more in the future."

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. The tiles — which are 100 percent recyclable — are segregated by color and then ground up and molded into starter shingles, which are generally unseen on the roof.

"We view Earth Day as a time to evaluate the progress of our recycling operations and share the good news about our enhanced efforts," says Ward. "Our operation is extremely efficient. Between reusing the regrind polymer and selling off additional scrap, we're excited to prevent more than 1.2 million pounds of scrap from sitting in a landfill this year."

For information, visit www.davinciroofscapes.com.