No Roof To Waste

Since 1990, Derbigum's recycling program has been unique and sector-defining. In this way, Derbigum meets its ecological and social responsibility and shows itself to be a champion of the circular economy. "To minimize our impact on the environment, we need to use the same products for longer," says John Poppelaars, director of Derbigum Nederland BV. "That's exactly what we have understood at Derbigum. Our roofing membranes already have a proven lifespan of more than 40 years, but there's more: we make new roofs from old roofing membranes, using a unique recycling process. Those new membranes, such as Derbigum NT with at least 25% recycled bitumen, are in turn, like our other membranes, 100% recyclable. Thus, we literally close the whole circle."

Unique working method

Derbigum removes the existing roofing material at the client's site and transports it to the recycling plant. Here, the old roofing material is recycled and reused in production as a full-fledged secondary raw material called Derbitumen. What is unique about the process is that Derbigum not only takes old roofing material laid by Derbigum, but also that of another brand. You don't see that anywhere else in the industry. "Of course, the roofing materials we dispose of must still be recyclable," Poppelaars said. "This is checked beforehand in our own laboratory."

Derbigum's ambition is to convert all traditional roofing products into circular products in the coming years. The introduction of the Derbicolor NT roofing membrane finished with (white) shingles is an important step in this ambition. It will soon be added to the National Environmental Database (NMD) along with the root-resistant roofing membrane Derbigum NT WW. "With each completed Derbigum roof, we also offer a take-back guarantee, thus ensuring our circular ambition also in the future."

Curious about Derbigum's recycling program?
Then go to www.norooftowaste.nl

Corrigendum 

In the previous article in Urbanism, it was mistakenly stated that like Derbigum NT with 25% recycled bitumen, Derbicolor NT also consists of 25% recycled bitumen. However, this should be 15%.