Sandtoft has launched the roofing industry’s first recycling service for concrete tiles. Ideal for large social housing re-roofing schemes, ‘RecoRoof’ prevents concrete tiles from going to landfill, helping to minimise the impact on the environment.

100 per cent of the concrete recovered by Sandtoft will be recycled, with as much as possible used to produce new ridge tiles for the project.

The service is currently being employed by Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH) for a major refurbishment project involving 285 properties on Stamfordham Road and Broad Lane in the city.

Roofing contractor W. Carroll and Sons has partnered with Sandtoft to deliver the RecoRoof initiative for LMH. Up to 12 tons of concrete each day is removed and transported back to the contractor’s waste transfer station where it is mechanically sorted and put into Sandtoft’s RecoRoof containers. The containers are collected by Sandtoft who is responsible for crushing and recycling the aggregate into its concrete production line to make Duracoat ridges for the roofs of refurbished properties.

Andrew Lawton, Sandtoft’s sales director added: “Used concrete tiles are classified as waste which is why they are often put into landfill and nationally that can equate to well over 200,000 tonnes per year. The RecoRoof service is a very innovative concept that sets an important example of environmental best practice and will make a significant difference to the green credentials of companies involved in major reroofing projects particularly in the social housing sector.”

“By working in partnership with a contractor such as W Carroll and Sons, we can remove, sort and recycle the tiles. It is essential however that the carbon footprint of the operation is minimised and the logistics and infrastructure of the service is key to achieving this.”

Dave Woods, assistant director of property services added: “As an ISO14001 registered company, we are committed to activities that increase recycling opportunities and reduce our impact on the environment whilst maintaining high standards for our customers.”

The RecoRoof project for LMH is expected to last until October 2012 by which time nearly 3000 tonnes of concrete will have been prevented from going to landfill.

The roofs on the properties on Stamfordham Road and Broad Lane are being retiled with Sandtoft’s Cassius large format clay tile, Olympus clay double pantile and Duracoat ridges, which have a special finish that gives the appearance of natural clay and offers prolonged weathering properties.