More than one million post-consumer PVC-U window frames are being recycled in the UK every year through Recovinyl, the PVC industry's recycling scheme.
The latest audited figures show that end-of-life windows and profiles comprised 25,480 tonnes (52%) of the total 48,544 tonnes of waste PVC recycled. Other materials collected and recycled through the Recovinyl programme included pipes and fittings, cables, flexible PVC and rigid PVC films.
“These figures are an impressive achievement and clearly demonstrate the sustainability credentials of PVC as a building material,” said Jane Gardner from Axion Consulting, Recovinyl's UK agents.
“Thanks to the efforts being made to collect these waste frames and the infrastructure now in place to recycle them, waste PVC-U can be diverted from landfill and successfully turned back into useful new products.”
Increasing use of recycled PVC-U content in a variety of building products, from cladding and roofline products to reinforcement for PVC-U windows, and the growth of new end markets has contributed to Recovinyl's continued success since the scheme's 2005 launch in the UK.