Greenman partners with U.S. Century. (Tires).

GreenMan Technologies Inc., Lynnfield, Mass., has signed an agreement with U.S. Century LLC of San Antonio, Texas, to be the company's sole producer of roofing shingles from scrap tires.

U.S. Century developed the patented "hail proof" product. Shingles are stamped from the tread of scrap passenger and light truck tires, coated and granulated to have a "slate look." FlexShake[TM] shingles provide the resilience of a tire with more insulation value than traditional asphalt roofing products. U.S. Century will market the shingles to areas of the United States where hail damage to roofs is estimated to cost the insurance industry more than $1.6 billion per year. GreenMan's newly acquired California operation in Azusa will house the first production line.

Bob Davis, GreenMan's president and chief executive officer says that this agreement furthers GreenMan's goal of recycling more than 90 percent of each tire. "In the case of FlexShake[TM], we will not only produce shingles, but value-added playground material and alternative fuel chips from the remainder of the tire," he says.

"Our agreement with U.S. Century establishes the first of what we anticipate to be multiple shingle production lines located throughout the country at other GreenMan locations in order to meet the projected demand for FlexShake[TM]. We anticipate each FlexShake[TM] shingle production line to generate about $1 million per year in revenue," Davis says.

David Nowacek, managing partner for U.S. Century, says, "We have been developing and perfecting our patented FlexShake[TM] shingle product for several years. We have no desire to enter into the scrap tire business, and our research of the industry identified GreenMan as the premier choice."