From Rooftop to Road Base: A More Sustainable Approach to Commercial Re-Roofing

What happens to the materials from a 1.1 million sq. ft. commercial roof when it reaches the end of its service life?

On this large-scale re-roof in Caledon, Ontario, Empire Roofing removed a 20-year-old ballasted EPDM roof containing approximately 17,000 tonnes of stone ballast.

To put that into perspective, that’s roughly the weight of 2,800 adult elephants.

Instead of sending that material to landfill, the ballast was given a second life.

From Roofing Stone to Road Base

The recovered stone was transported to a local aggregate operation, where it was processed, crushed, and repurposed into Granular A road base for future construction and infrastructure use.

At this scale, finding a productive use for material that would otherwise become construction waste can make a significant difference.

Building the Next Roof Differently

While the old ballast found a new purpose, Empire Roofing completed approximately 1,140,500 sq. ft. of new roofing using an Elevate TPO system.

Working alongside Elevate and project partners, the project brought together large-scale commercial re-roofing and a practical approach to material reuse.

It’s a great example of how sustainability in commercial roofing can extend beyond the new system being installed — to what happens to the materials coming off the roof as well.