Fighting the Green War from the Top The Green War is being waged on numerous fronts and roofing is also seeing some action. The recent introduction of a unique roof tile manufactured from recycled waste plastic is a South African first and Gary Reilly, Sales and Marketing Director of Resin Roof Tile, is very excited about the product.

It’s exactly what the industry needs,” he says with obvious enthusiasm. Gary’s upbeat attitude is not based purely on financial success. As a dedicated Green supporter, he is thrilled to be offering a product that meets the needs of the market while alleviating the problems of waste management in South Africa.

The company utilizes proven technology to manufacture strong, aesthetically pleasing, precision molded tiles that drastically reduce environmental impact.

The roof tile is 100% water resistant; lightweight (half the weight of average concrete tiles); weather resistant, not affected by mildew, fungus or algae, exceptionally durable and breakage is little to none.

“These features have numerous benefits,” explains Gary. “For instance, the tiles’ light weight impacts transport costs, while the minimal breakage means that it’s not necessary to order extra stock when specifying for a build. You can literally budget for exact numbers.”

Growing demand So how is the market responding to the new product, “SA Roofing” asks.

“We can’t keep up with demand,” he tells us. “In addition to our Cape market, we have a 500-house development in Gauteng that’s going to need around 1.5 million tiles, along with ridge caps and end caps.”

In a recent media statement, company CEO, Tim Reilly stated: “The ‘Green Tsunami’ has finally begun to rear its head and I am delighted to see the exponential growth of our orders as architects, roofing contractors, developers and building contractors inaugurate our vision and adopt this tile in their planning and implementation strategies.

“With the total benefits of our tile outstripping our customary concrete tile, this bodes well for more cost effective ways of dealing with the housing crisis in South Africa.”

Legislation needed Gary is currently in discussions with municipality and provincial government to educate them on the need for a supply of suitable, clean and recycled polymer/plastic for the ‘green’ tile.

“Legislation on recycling could be a lot tougher,” he says. “In five or six years time people will be trading in scrap. The government needs to get on board now.”

With less than five years worth of space left on most of Cape Town’s landfills, the product couldn’t have arrived at a better time. The process used to produce the tiles can utilize almost any type of plastic and it looks set to put a dent in the hundreds of tons of waste we produce daily. “There are only three types of plastics we can’t use, and we’re working on refining the technology to include those anyway,” Gary explains. “Everything else is fair game, even redundant computer equipment and dirty material.”

Useful Contact:
Gary W. Reilly

Director of Sales and Marketing
Resin Roof Tile cc
Cell Number: 083 613 1689
Head Office: 021 794 8117