Calgary Scale Up Facility
Calgary Scale Up Facility
Organization: Northstar Clean Technologies Inc. (Northstar)
Website: https://www.northstarcleantech.com/facility/calgary
Project description
Northstar is a Canadian clean technology company helping keep asphalt roof shingles out of Calgary’s landfills. Northstar has created a special process to break down shingles, saving useful parts including liquid asphalt, which can be used to make new roads, shingles and asphalt flat roof systems. Other materials, like aggregate and fibre, are also reused in construction and industrial settings.
Northstar’s goal is to help the environment by reusing materials instead of throwing them away. The company has built a new facility in Rocky View County, southeast of Calgary, called Empower Calgary. This facility will be able to recycle up to 40,000 tonnes of asphalt shingles every year.
Benefit to Calgarians
Asphalt shingles are the most popular roofing material in Canada and the United States. But when these shingles get old or damaged, they’re usually thrown away. In fact, over 16.5 million tonnes of shingles end up in landfills across North America every year, adding to construction and demolition waste.
Northstar has created the only commercial technology that can fix this problem. Empower Calgary will help keep up to 40,000 tonnes of shingles out of Calgary’s landfills each year, helping The City reach its goal of reducing construction and demolition waste 25 per cent by 2025 and cutting harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
By 2030, Empower Calgary could help stop 200,000 tonnes of shingles from being dumped in Calgary’s landfills.
Right now, less than one per cent of Calgary’s waste shingles are recycled. Northstar’s new facility will offer a much-needed, long-term asphalt shingle solution, helping to reduce landfill waste in Calgary and Alberta for years to come.
Climate impact
Empower Calgary will help lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by an estimated 60 per cent per tonne, based on an independent study. If Northstar builds two recycling facilities in Alberta, they could help cut about 203,349 tonnes of CO2 emissions by the year 2050.
Northstar plans to track how much they are helping the environment once the Empower Calgary Facility is fully operational. As Alberta invests more in renewable energy and cleaner generation, the emissions from running the facility will also get lower over time.
Innovation and inclusion
Northstar's method for repurposing asphalt shingles is unique and patented. They have one of the first commercial solutions for recycling shingles.
Northstar has invested a lot of time, money and effort into making this process innovative. The process responds to the roofing industry's goal to cut landfill disposal 50 per cent by 2035 and 100 per cent by 2050.