Sika Sarnafil has won the Plastics Recycling Technologies and Applications Award from the Society of Plastics Engineers. Sika's PVC recycling program is designed to recover and recycle vinyl-roofing membrane back into new roofing membrane at the end of its useful life.
The award was presented at the society’s Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC 2011) in Atlanta, and distinguishes the program that was recognized by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in 2009. Sika Sarnafil is the only single ply roofing manufacturer with a program to recycle old roofs back into roofing membrane at the end of its useful life and the only company to have its recycling claims verified by UL Environment. Since 2004, Sika Sarnafil has recycled 27.4 million pounds of post-industrial vinyl and 852,000 pounds of post-consumer, old roofs since 2005.
“Sika Sarnafil continues to address energy conservation issues with this ground breaking resource recovery program,” said Brian Whelan, Senior Vice President, Sika Sarnafil. “We divert more than 98% of our vinyl raw materials from the waste stream by recycling them into roofing and waterproofing membranes. And, we make it easy for customers to achieve their sustainability goals, with energy-efficient solutions that minimize waste and environmental impact.”
Sika Sarnafil’s major roof recycling projects include:
- Canadian Tire in Toronto – This project demonstrated Canadian Tire’s green policy and implemented the three “R’s of Green” – reduce, reuse, recycle
- General Motors – In a real-world demonstration of “closed loop” recycling, Sika Sarnafil completed the largest vinyl roof recycling project in North America at a General Motors Customer Care & Aftersales building in Lansing, Mich.
- Target – Numerous stores, including a retail center in Silver Spring, Md., have worked with Sika Sarnafil. This roof recycling project contributed to the goal of helping Target to become a “zero waste” company
- The Burlington Coat Factory – A 120,000 sf roof portion of the Briggsmore Shopping Center in Modesto, Calif. was replaced with a new Sika Sarnafil system while the old roof will live on and be recycled into other Sika Sarnafil products.
- University of Iowa, Hawkeye Arena – Always looking for opportunities to recycle materials that would otherwise end up in the landfill, the university was very excited about recycling its old roofing membranes
- The Marriott Long Wharf Hotel on Boston Harbor – Sika Sarnafil’s first major roofing recycling project in North America in 2005, this project kicked off Sika Sarnafil’s roof recycling program.
The program is streamlined and simple, making it easy for contractors and building owners to participate. Sika ships containers and pallets to contractors free of charge. The recycled materials are simply loaded and turned over to Sika for processing. Contractor labor costs related to recycling are minimal, if any, and are often offset by savings in municipal disposal fees. BD+C
Related Stories
| Mar 29, 2011
Read up on Amazon.com's new green HQ
Phase IV of Amazon’s new headquarters in Seattle is nearly complete. The company has built 10 of the 11 buildings planned for its new campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood, and is on-track for a 2013 grand opening.
| Mar 29, 2011
Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura wins Pritzker Architecture Prize
Portugese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, whose precisely-honed buildings reflect the influence of the late Chicago modernist Mies van der Rohe, is the 2011 winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the field's highest honor.
| Mar 25, 2011
Qatar World Cup may feature carbon-fiber ‘clouds’
Engineers at Qatar University’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering are busy developing what they believe could act as artificial “clouds,” man-made saucer-type structures suspended over a given soccer stadium, working to shield tens of thousands of spectators from suffocating summer temperatures that regularly top 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
| Mar 23, 2011
AIA adds 13 new contract documents to Documents-on-Demand service
Web-based solution adds 13 popular Architect’s Scope of Services Documents to AIA Documents-on-Demand, providing easy access to documents anytime, anywhere.
| Mar 23, 2011
After 60 years of student lobbying, new activity center opens at University of Texas
The new Student Activity Center at the University of Texas campus, Austin, is the result of almost 60 years of students lobbying for another dedicated social and cultural center on campus. The 149,000-sf facility is designed to serve as the "campus living room," and should earn a LEED Gold certification, a first for the campus.
| Mar 23, 2011
Architecture Billings Index shows nominal increase
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the February Architecture Billings Index score was 50.6, up slightly from a reading of 50.0 the previous month. This score reflects a modest increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 56.4, compared to a mark of 56.5 in December.
| Mar 22, 2011
The American National Standards Institute accredits Stantec for greenhouse gas verification
Stantec Consulting Ltd.’s Atmospheric Environment Group has been awarded accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for verification of assertions related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Scope of Accreditation is for verification of emissions and removals at the organizational level for Group 1 – General.
| Mar 22, 2011
Mayor Bloomberg unveils plans for New York City’s largest new affordable housing complex since the ’70s
Plans for Hunter’s Point South, the largest new affordable housing complex to be built in New York City since the 1970s, include new residences for 5,000 families, with more than 900 in this first phase. A development team consisting of Phipps Houses, Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction has been selected to build the residential portion of the first phase of the Queens waterfront complex, which includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.
| Mar 21, 2011
RATIO Architects announces merger with Cherry Huffman Architects
RATIO Architects, Inc. with studios in Indianapolis and Champaign, Ill., recently announced it has merged with prominent Raleigh, N.C., firm Cherry Huffman Architects.
