SALEM — Thousands of tons of asphalt roofing shingle waste once destined for landfills will be reborn as asphalt pavement thanks to a new recycling facility in Salem.

Bend-based Hooker Creek Companies has joined with River Bend Sand and Gravel in Salem to accept asphalt roofing shingles from three manufacturers in Portland.

Portland’s manufacturers generate 15,000 to 20,000 tons of shingle waste per year in the form of trimmings and sheets of “factory seconds.”

The material will be shredded and fed into asphalt plants in Salem and Bend. The asphalt, which will contain about 5 percent shingles, is used to pave driveways and some roads.

“It is something we think is a good use for waste shingles,” said Brian Fuller, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s manager for solid waste programs in the western region.

“Usually they are landfilled. Any time we can get a higher and better use versus landfilling, that’s something we would like to see happen.”

Asphalt is made of oil and aggregate and often is recycled. Hooker Creek Companies recycled 70,000 tons of old asphalt last year.

The Oregon Department of Transportation uses about 30 percent recycled asphalt in its pavement. But use of asphalt shingle material is not standard and still must be approved by the transportation department.

Todd Scholz at Oregon State University’s school of civil and construction engineering is studying the impact of recycling shingles into pavement.

“The asphalt used to manufacture shingles is a lot harder than what is put into roads,” Scholz said. “It makes the mix stiffer, depending on how much you use. At really cold temperatures or springtime temperatures, you don’t want the asphalt to be too hard, otherwise it cracks.”

Dave Vogt, the construction division manager for Hooker Creek, told the Salem Statesman-Journal newspaper that he is seeking state approval for shingle recycling in pavement. His company used about 130,000 tons of asphalt on state highway paving projects last year but uses almost double that for work including residential and commercial driveways and parking lots.

Rep. Mike Stealer, D-Happy Valley, introduced House Bill 2733, which would have required the Oregon Department of Transportation to include 5 percent asphalt shingles in asphalt pavement mix for state highways. It did not pass out of committee.