These days, the word “sustainability” seems to crop up everywhere. Whether that’s in news reports, magazine articles, advertising campaigns or emblazoned on the side of lorries. But is it just another business buzzword, or are we genuinely making a shift in the way we think and act, in order to protect and preserve the world we live in for future generations?
While “Green Issues” like recycling and sustainability were on the fringe 20 years ago, these days they’re right at the heart of business with sustainability having a huge influence on every aspect of industry, especially at Eurocell.
PVC-U is a highly sustainable product, robust enough to be recycled and repurposed up to 10 times without its quality or performance deteriorating, giving it a lifespan in the construction industry of 350 years.
At our recycling plants, we process up to 70,000 old PVC-U window frames per week, or around 39,000 tonnes per year. Once recycled, it is used to create a variety of new products, from thermal inserts to our revolutionary Modus window system. By doing this we are able to reuse almost 100% of our production waste.
2021 Targets
Despite 2020 resulting in a number of challenges – Eurocell Recycle still managed to recycle an impressive number of PVC-U frames. Like most businesses, Eurocell Recycle closed it’s doors for a few months in 2020 to keep it’s staff and customers safe, and put in Covid-secure work processes.
This being said, for the last 5 consecutive years, (2020 excluded) Eurocell Recycle has managed to beat it’s previous years total recycling number and we plan to make 2021 the biggest year yet, with a target of a record-breaking 3.5 million frames recycled.
The below video explains our closed loop recycling process and how we keep over 2 million frames out of landfill every year.
Closed Loop Recycling 2020 – https://vimeo.com/407527313
The recycling process makes PVC-U stronger
Products manufactured from recycled PVC-U are actually stronger than those made with virgin plastic because of the chemical transformation of the polymers it contains when it goes through the recycling process.
At our consolidated operations in Ilkeston and Selby, Eurocell Recycle now offers the largest and most complete closed-loop process in the UK for collecting and processing used PVC-U frames to be re-extruded and turned into new windows, doors and building products. Here’s how it’s done:
We support business that remove a large amount of frames per month, so if you want to sign up for this service and help us reach our recycling targets, please contact us on 0333 777 3042 to arrange a collection.
To find out more visit Eurocell-recycle.co.uk
