The stunning Elim Estate recently underwent a window replacement project. Spanning 19 weeks, the project comprised of 760 grey external/white internal PVC-u Tilt and Turn frames. With help from Eurocell, the old frames were able to be dismantled and recycled ready to be used in next generation frames and PVC-u products.
The Elim Estate was built in 1935 in the Metropolitan Borough of Bemondsey, and operates under the management of Leathermarket JMB, a resident-run housing association, within the London Borough of Southwark. In 2018, after a tender process to select a contractor with the necessary contract type experience and competitive bid, Leathermarket JMB selected London contractors Standage & Co Ltd to undertake the project. Standage & Co then selected Assett Fineline to work on the replacement project, a company that is part of the Eurocell network, enabling the old PVC-u products to be recycled.
“This project was well managed from the outset by the whole team, the client was very pleased with the level of resident engagement and the quality of workmanship was excellent. Standage & Co are pleased to be associated with such a fine project alongside Asset Fineline.”
Scott Fincham, Managing QS for Standage
After the old PVC-u windows from the 1990’s were removed, they were stored on site, with regular collections returning them to the Eurocell processing facility in Derbyshire. Here they were dismantled and recycled into pellet material which can be used in next generation frames and PVC-u products. This process of recycling window profiles allows the entire lifespan of the product to become more sustainable. This process can be repeated up to ten times using the same material, giving recycled PVC-u windows a lifespan of up to 350 years.
Each time PVC-u is recycled, the scientific behaviour of additives in the mixture changes to make the products stronger. This means that PVC-u can be re-processed and used to manufacture products of equal quality, creating an upstream recycling process.
"It’s working with companies like Assett Fineline that enabled us to recycle in excess of 1.2million frames in 2018, achieving record levels of recycling. Over the past decade we have invested heavily to improve sustainability and this is now enabling us to continue this work and surpass the recycling objectives that we set.”
“With the UK starting to run out of landfill space and 32% of landfill coming from the construction sector, we are proud of the part we are playing in helping to improve the sector’s sustainability record.”
Chris Coxon, Head of Marketing, Eurocell
PVC-u is up to 6% stronger when it’s recycled the first time, and then increases by a smaller amount each time after. This ensures that products created using recycled PVC-u are just as high quality, if not superior, to those created from scratch. This significantly reduces the amount of end-of-life PVC-u going to landfill.
Find out how Eurocell can assist you in delivering your next project
Call our customer services team on 0800 988 7300 eurocell.co.uk