Published: 14th January 2008
The Epwin Group, the specialist low maintenance building materials group, will be showcasing the World’s first fully recycled PVC-U window at Eco-Build this February.
With unparalleled experience in the supply of low maintenance PVC-U products to the home improvement, social and new build markets, Epwin Group companies are at the forefront of innovation in PVC-U building technology.
As part of its research and development programme the Epwin Group has become the first manufacturer to make a new advanced window solely from ‘post-consumer waste’.
Recovered from a major social housing refurbishment project where old single glazed first generation PVC-U windows were being replaced, the window’s construction posed a number of technical challenges. Chief among these was the removal of old building debris, including wood, concrete, sealants and paint.
David Wrigley, technical director, the Epwin Group said: “PVC-U in itself is hugely recyclable, in fact research suggests it can be recycled up to 10 times without losing performance – based on a BRE recognised life span of 35 to 40 years and each product could have an overall life cycle of up to 400 years.
“What is much more challenging is how you clean and process this material to remove building debris prior to reprocessing.
Having started out with something pretty basic, relying very largely on time consuming manual processing, today we have a sophisticated and technically advanced processing system giving the group the unique capacity to recycle not just factory off-cuts but ‘old’ first generation PVC-U products that have reached the end of their natural lifecycle.”
The Epwin Group’s recycling process is delivered by its recycling operation, Dekura. A fully accredited member of Recovinyl, Dekura is able to recycle a complete range of low maintenance PVC-U building products, removing all traces of rubber, metal and glass to create a near ‘virgin’ quality material.
Wrigley said: “We have come a very long way as an industry and Dekura is at the very forefront of this revolution. PVC-U products are low maintenance, they won’t rust, rot, warp or twist, they don’t need to be painted and come in a huge variety of finishes and architectural styles – white PVC-U is still there but now just one of a huge variety of options from timber effects to heritage colours.
“Most importantly PVC-U is now sustainable in the truest sense. Old products can be recycled, re-processed and recovered material used in a new generation of advanced sustainable and energy efficient products.”
For more information on sustainable and energy efficient products from the Epwin Group come and see us at stand E514 Eco-build at Earls Court London from February 26 to 28.
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