Recycling Concept No Roof To Waste

Family-owned Derbigum is a Belgian company with an office in Breda. Originally, the company produces innovative and sustainable waterproofing solutions for roofs. Since 1990, the company has pioneered the recycling of roofing materials. Every product has a sustainable touch at Derbigum.

"With all products, the most sustainable development is important to us," says Beau Snellen, marketing coordinator for the Netherlands. "Since the 1990s, we have been recycling old roofing materials into a completely new raw material. In 2020, we brought all developments in recycling together in our 'No Roof To Waste' concept." 

New recycled raw material

Thanks to a unique recycling process, product and cutting residues and old roofing membranes are converted into a new raw material, Derbitumen. This raw material is used for the NT line, Derbicoat NT (underlayment) and Derbigum NT (top layer) "Derbigum NT is ideal for durable roofs. The Derbigum NT top layer consists of 25% Derbitumen, the carpet pad contains 30% Derbitumen.'' 

Derbigum also still supplies Derbigum SP FR, for the traditional flat roof. Snellen: "This has a proven lifespan of 40 years, so it has been around for a very long time. We can then extend the lifespan even more by overlaying. At the end of the lifetime, we can take the roof, to recycle it and incorporate it into our NT products.'' 

Sustainable thinking runs deep at Derbigum. "That may be through longevity, or through recycling. We always include this thought in the development of our products.''

Support for architects

For architects, sustainable construction is increasingly important. This is where Derbigum's products fit in perfectly. "Our representatives and technical manager are ready to answer any questions. Furthermore, on our website we offer various tools for our architects." Among other things, the company offers a specifications service page for writing specifications under Stabu, Bouwbreed and OSF or through the downloadable BIM package under Revit. In addition, the website links through to Approved Derbigum processors. These processors are trained to process Derbigum and perform the work in accordance with the latest processing guidelines. 

Snellen: "In the summer of 2021, we worked with Consolidated and Stadgenoot in Amsterdam on the roof of the J.F. Berghoefplantsoen. For the first time in the Netherlands, this involved recycling the old roof and installing a new blue-green roof. Almost the entire old roof has been recycled and reused. The top layer of gravel was cleaned and reused for another roof or for a footpath, for example. The roofing membranes from the old roof were recycled and processed into Derbitumen. This was then used for new sustainable and circular roofing. The insulation material from the old roof was also reused for the insulation of the new roof."

The new roof is a blue-green roof. A layer of plastic crates allows the roof to collect water. Plants are placed on these crates. The plants can drink from the collected rainwater. This keeps the sewers from overloading during heavy rainfall.