A Perfect Example Of The Circular Economy

Much has been written about how recycling PVC-U virgin offcuts and old frames is good for the environment and for business. These days there is an increasing number of options for PVC-U to be collected, recycled and then manufactured into new products. However, so much of what has been written has been theoretical.

There is currently a refreshing, informative and commercially successful model of recycling PVC-U. This is presented by a partnership between fabricator Glazerite Group, its window and door systems supplier VEKA PLC, and recycler VEKA Recycling Ltd. It is appropriate that it is elements of VEKA Group, which has pioneered the recycling of PVC-U, that are behind this scheme.

Under the agreement, virgin offcuts are collected from Glazerite’s Wellingborough, Peterborough and Bolton manufacturing operations, in addition to frames removed from selected installation sites. These are collected and returned to VEKA Recycling’s advanced PVC-U reprocessing facility in Wellingborough. VEKA PLC’s Burnley extrusion facility is a large volume user of recycled pellet, so much of the material returned from Glazerite may be returned to them in the form of brand-new profiles, just days later. This process allows companies to reduce the waste on PVC-U products and continue using them for much longer.

VEKA Recycling places collection bins at Glazerite’s factories and at sites such as the eight-storey housing project installed for Warrington Borough Council housing by Glazerite customer K2 Aluminium Systems. VEKA Recycling collects these and returns them to its Wellingborough site for reprocessing. Once recycled, the quality-controlled material is then distributed to a number of customers, including sister company VEKA PLC.

Whilst products produced using the recycled PVC-U include ducting for air conditioning and electrical cabling, for it to become new PVC-U window and door frames provides an elegant, ideal solution that completes the circle perfectly. The Warrington project provides a perfect example of this. The recycled PVC-U product works just as well as a new PVC-U product, meaning this is a great environmental option.

The regeneration group Torus Group and its construction partner HMS, carried out a refurbishment on an eight-storey housing block in Warrington’s Latchford South suburb. This refurbishment required all existing PVC-U windows to be replaced with brand new windows as part of the overhaul. In the £5 million project, first-generation PVC-U frames were removed from the ‘sixties tower block, to be replaced by VEKA M70 fully reversible frames in anthracite. They were complemented by casement windows featuring an auto vent installed in the kitchens of each apartment within the building, all manufactured by Glazerite. As the old frames were removed, they were placed in skips provided by VEKA Recycling, with only the glass removed.

VEKA Recycling recovered these back to its Wellingborough recycling plant, regarded as the most advanced in Europe when completed in 2021. Here the frames were reprocessed into high quality PVC-U pellets, supplies of which were returned by tanker to VEKA PLC’s Burnley plant. These were included in brand profiles, including VEKA M70. VEKA Recycling is always finding new ways to use recycled materials, like PVC-U.

Warrington Borough Council was insistent that the new replacement windows would help to reduce the energy bills of its tenants. Therefore, the added sustainability provided by the recycling arrangements was a key element in the decision-making process for the council.

Darren Rhodes, managing director of Glazerite’s Northwest Division, led the negotiations for the new contract: “There has been a great deal published about how PVC-U is a valuable material that may be recycled many times and returned as new products. But the Warrington housing project installed by our customer K2, is the perfect example of how this can work in reality,” said Darren. “Public sector specifiers are increasingly insistent that material removed during refurbishments is recycled. And the very real prospect that old windows can be installed again as new frames even in the same scheme, has been proved by this project.”

For VEKA Recycling, managing director Stuart Stockley emphasised that whilst the Warrington project was on a relatively large scale, collections are made nationally and can benefit more modest projects: “We collect directly or through partners that consolidate stockpiles of old frames, so in effect no project is too small.

“Recycling offcuts and old frames is important socially and environmentally as well as being a commercial operation, and it is important that this material is returned into the system. Our customers, including VEKA PLC, are committed to using the material in their products and of course, it makes commercial sense for installers to be seen to be recycling old frames that they remove from homes,” concluded Stuart.

If you are interested in working with VEKA Recycling to recycle your own PVC-U materials, then do get in contact today. Our expert team will gladly provide more information about our process of recycling PVC-U materials or any other questions you may have. Start recycling PVC-U to help look after the environment today.

Prepared by VAST PR on behalf of VEKA Recycling Ltd. For further information contact Beth Brennan at VAST PR, on 0845 0945 215; email beth@vastpr.co.uk. April 2023.

Notes for editors:

With an annual turnover of over 1.5 billion €, of which 80 % is generated abroad on 4 continents, the VEKA Group is officially the world market leader in the field of PVC profile systems for windows and doors. With subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, North and South America, the company is represented worldwide and provides jobs for around 6,500 employees.

Key facts (2021): Turnover: 1,5 billion €; Employees: 6,500; Extrusion lines: 489; Sites: 40; Production sites: 24; Recycling sites: 3