Making $$$ While Being Creative

We’ve all seen pictures, camera footage, or first-hand glimpses of areas decimated by companies that achieved their fortune mining various minerals and ores.  The Great Lakes region, specifically a stretch of shoreline on Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, is no different.  This area has been afflicted by the deposit of approximately 500 million tons of tailings (fine sand-like materials left over by the copper extraction process) over the course of the past 100 years.  Huge collections of the tailings have formed massive dunes that significantly impact the local ecology and use of the neighboring areas. 

The anticipated cost of removing such vast amounts of material has precluded cleanup of this waste.  Merely removing the waste from the lake region to bury it in a landfill would be counterproductive.  Enter GreenSand, a small Michigan startup, who’s looking to reuse the tailings as raw material for the manufacture of roofing shingles.  

What’s G-Sand??

GreenSand envisions building a plant near the site of the tailings to implement a four step process that would eventually eradicate approximately 80% of the idle “eco-liability”.  A much better proposition than doing nothing!  The finished product, coined G-Sand, would be sold to shingle manufacturers and used as an additive to prevent the growth of algae, which is an ongoing issue for many regions throughout the US where significant amounts of rainfall are received on an annual basis. 

Shingle manufacturers have been adding copper granules to the shingle granules due to its proven anti-algae properties, but it has increased the cost versus traditional shingle filler by a factor of five.  G-Sand’s projected price is less than half of that for the copper granules, so initially it presents itself as a viable cost savings opportunity.

The Obstacles

So what’s preventing GreenSand from pulling the trigger?  First, they need to raise the necessary capital to fund the large-scale processing operation.  Next, they need to demonstrate that the G-Sand is equally as effective combating algae growth over an extended period when compared to pure copper granules.  They also need to prove that the material bonds well with the other component materials used to construct the asphalt shingles, and is as strong as its counterpart.  Lastly, they need to ensure the new material can be processed in the same equipment currently used to make shingles without modification.

I’m extremely optimistic about the creative recovery and use of G-Sand, and will keep my fingers crossed until this project comes to fruition.  This could potentially be a huge environmental win, and I would love to see the government endorse the project with the financial support they require.