When rough roads go from metaphorical, as with the economy, to real, as on Main Street, Glenn and Melanie Shapiro of Danbury have found their road-patching compound is in demand.
Eco-friendly GreenPatch consists of biodegradable, organic and renewable plant-based solvents.
“We developed GreenPatch in response to pressures from mainly government agencies as well as state agencies to find a way to get rid of the toxins in traditional cold patch,” Melanie said.
Glenn Shapiro, still an executive at RCA Asphalt in Mount Vernon, N.Y., worked with the company as it co-developed GreenPatch with Cofire Industries Inc. in Flushing, N.Y.
The product underwent an 18-month research-and-testing process.
Several Fairfield County municipalities, including Ridgefield, Stamford and Greenwich, as well as public agencies, private sector utility, road construction and maintenance companies are using the product, Glenn said.
“We use it in all of the local municipalities,” said Jim Statini, supervisor of road maintenance for Westchester County in New York. “It”™s environmentally friendly and seems to form just as well as previous cold patch we”™ve used. It”™s used during the colder weather when the asphalt plants close for the season.”
On pricing, “It is relatively close to existing cold mix,” he said. “The benefit is strictly from a green point of view.”
The solvent is sold in 40-80 pound bags by the ton; pricing varies based on the size of the town or project.
On the environmental side, GreenPatch eliminated areas of concern.
“The main problem with cold patch is the carcinogens, the diesel fuels,” Melanie said. “Those chemicals leach out into the air and groundwater.”
In New York, Mount Vernon was one of the first cities to use GreenPatch. In Connecticut, Waterbury was first.
“Municipalities of every size don”™t always have the funds to do complete repaving jobs and some have no money,” she said. “They can”™t just let roads deteriorate completely. They need to maintain what they have, which has definitely improved our sales.”
Of seasonal spikes in client activity, Melanie noted that the colder months boost business.
“Winter is definitely our high season, but utilities companies use it year-round,” she said. “If a water company has a water main break, they have to dig and do repair work and have to have a product available at all times to repair those roads.”
Though the product is not as readily available to the private sector as other markets, Melanie said some of their business comes from homeowners.
The company has seen more driveway repairs in the summer months; highway repairs occur more frequently in the winter.
“Another green plus is when it”™s sitting in your yard, it”™s not a giant pile of diesel fuel,” Melanie said. “It”™s meant to be stored.
