When a roof comes off during a re-roof, the old materials don't simply disappear, and it's worth knowing what actually happens to them, particularly if you're conscious of waste or curious whether anything can be reused. In Arnos Vale, where many properties still carry their original Victorian slate, a reasonable amount of that material is often still sound even if the roof as a whole needs replacing, and a good installer will assess it rather than sending everything straight to a skip.
Sound reclaimed slate has a genuine second-hand market, since matching older slate for repairs elsewhere, or for smaller extensions and outbuildings, is often easier with reclaimed stock than with new material cut to a different size or thickness. Where slates come off in good condition, they can sometimes be salvaged and either reused on parts of your own roof that face away from the street, sold on, or set aside for other repair work, which reduces both waste and cost.
Everything else, including broken tiles, old felt, perished battens and general roofing debris, is loaded into a skip positioned as close to the property as access allows. On narrower streets around Arnos Vale, this sometimes means arranging permits for skip placement on the road itself, which a good installer will sort out as part of managing the job rather than leaving it for the homeowner to organise.
Metal components such as old lead flashing are usually kept separate too, since lead has a scrap value and is almost always recycled rather than discarded, along with any other metalwork like guttering brackets or old fixings that come off during the strip. Keeping these materials sorted on site rather than mixed in with general rubble makes the whole disposal process more efficient and less wasteful. Timber removed from the roof structure, where it can't be reused, is similarly separated out for recycling rather than being treated as mixed waste.
If you have a particular interest in keeping any of your own original slate, whether for sentimental reasons or a future small project such as a shed or garage roof, it's worth raising this with your installer before work starts. Most are happy to set sound material aside for you specifically, rather than including it in the general salvage or waste stream, provided you let them know in advance.
From there, waste is taken to licensed disposal and recycling facilities. Broken tiles and slate can often be crushed and reused as aggregate, while timber and other materials are sorted and recycled where possible rather than going straight to landfill. Responsible disposal isn't just good practice environmentally, it's also a legal requirement for any contractor handling construction waste, so it's worth checking that an installer is properly licensed for waste carriage before agreeing to work with them.
Brunel Roofing Bristol handles the removal and responsible disposal of old roofing materials as standard on every re-roof in Arnos Vale, so homeowners don't need to arrange skips or permits themselves. Get in touch for a quote and the full process will be explained clearly from the outset.
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