Malarkey Envirogen™ Shingles Created for Limited Impact on the Environment – Part 1

Envirogen™ is a family of Malarkey Roofing Products® specially designed, manufactured and certified for sustainability.

In this three-part series, we’ll explore how Malarkey Roofing Products designs its shingle products with a goal of sustainability in focus through each step of the product’s life cycle. From a shingle’s manufacture to the end of its service life, Malarkey shingles are created for superior performance, reliability, and limited impact on the environment.

Malarkey worked with the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) to complete an Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) focused on steep and low slope roof systems. An EPD is a standardized way to understand the sustainable qualities of a product and its environmental impact over time.

In the roofing business since 1956, Malarkey Roofing Products® is a company perpetuated by the success and foresight of previous and current generations. With a keen ability to innovate, the company has advanced modern roofing materials by engineering solutions to common roof problems. Today, Malarkey is dedicated to keeping its roofing materials out of the waste stream and preserving the quality of life on our planet.

Polymer Modified Asphalt was created with sustainability in mind and is now greener than ever before.

Styrene Butadiene Styrene Looking for an alternative to conventional oxidized asphalt during the oil crisis in 1975, then company President Michael Malarkey traveled to Europe, where he was introduced to the process of modifying asphalt to make it more flexible and extend the material’s life span. Malarkey Roofing Products® applied this technology to introduce the first Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) polymer modified base sheet to North America in 1977.

Malarkey Roofing Products® has continued to enhance the recipe for polymer modified asphalt. Introducing the first SBS roofing shingle to the industry in 1986, the flexible properties found in SBS asphalt were the perfect solution as they allow for cold weather installation down to 0˚F (-18˚C), which is 40 degrees lower than standard oxidized asphalt shingles.

Flexor™ Recognizing the benefits of SBS for asphalt shingle technology and improved shingle performance, the formula was refined to create Flexor™ polymer modified asphalt. In 1997, Malarkey expanded the product line to include laminate shingles and created the Legacy®, the first SBS modified laminate shingle. The Legacy® is rated at UL 2218 Class 4 impact resistance and among the most popular of Malarkey’s product offerings.

The greater flexibility and impact resistance of the Flexor™ material also prolongs the life cycle of the roofing products, keeping them out of the waste stream. Utilizing Flexor™ polymer modified asphalt eliminates the atmospheric contaminant by-products of asphalt production. Flexor™ polymer modified asphalt is exclusively blended for our Windsor® and Legacy® shingle lines, as well as EZ-Ridge™ and RidgeFlex™ hip and ridge shingles.

Nexgen™ Nexgen™ polymer modified asphalt takes Flexor™ to the next level by combining it with repurposed materials while maintaining a high level of quality performance. In 2016, Malarkey began combining a blend of Flexor™ asphalt with polymers from plastic milk jugs, markers, and rubber tires. These polymers improve the performance of the shingle, significantly improving the asphalt’s flexibility, granule adhesion, cold weather installation, and impact resistance. The Vista™ shingle line was the first to be fortified with Nexgen™ polymer modified asphalt, followed by Ecoasis™ Costa and Dura-Seal™ shingles. Vista™ and Dura-Seal™ are shingle lines rated with Class 3 impact resistance and offer optional security against algae staining. Ecoasis™ Costa is a solar reflective shingle also rated with Class 3 impact resistance.

With 60 years of experience manufacturing roofing materials, the successful debut of the Vista™ is largely attributed to the use of repurposed polymers in the ongoing effort from Malarkey to promote sustainable roofing materials.

Repurposed Polymers from Reclaimed Plastic and Synthetic Rubber Malarkey Roofing Products® is deferring waste from entering landfills by reducing our need for new synthetic materials. With our Nexgen™ polymer modified asphalt, the next generation of asphalt shingle technology, specific polymers sourced from repurposed materials are included to enhance performance characteristics of the shingle. The environmental results are significant.

At each manufacturing facility, Malarkey uses repurposed materials for shingles featuring Nexgen™ polymer modified asphalt. At this scale of production, the reduction of environmental impact is substantial. For every ton of recycled plastic or synthetic rubber used, 4 barrels of oil and 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space are saved. Additionally, for every pound of recycled tire rubber used, one pound of carbon dioxide is prevented from being released into the atmosphere.

Example: An average-sized roof* with Nexgen™ asphalt shingles feature roughly 5.5 tires and 350 milk jugs.

*An average-sized roof for these purposes = approximately 25 squares.

For more information download the complete Envirogen ™ brochure.