Frame Materials:
PVCu
Regrind
‘Wasting Energy Costs the Earth’
What about new PVC-U windows
and doors that contain recycled plastic?
The problem of discoloration of PVC-U does exist but is very
rare, and I believe it is caused more by an accident, in
an odd bad batch, rather than by deliberately including recycled or
'regrind' plastic in a mix.
It has happened, and when it does
the discoloration is known in the trade as 'pinking', which can turn
the material yellow or brown. Read more about this important subject
on my other page called Pinking.
I have heard of one well-known
national system supplier (NOT Zenith) who succumbed to temptation
and knowingly bought a cheap load of stabiliser from a very big UK
chemical maker. They offered it round the trade and flogged it off
cheaply; the stuff was so suspect that the deal excluded the normal
one-year guarantee. As far as I know the dodgy stabiliser compound
was a poor mix of lead and titanium dioxide (Ti02), and the firm
that bought it up is well in trouble with a big ‘pinking’
problem. This IS the exception to the rule. I do not believe these
problems are at all widespread, so don't worry overmuch.
Prospective customers often ask
me, ‘Are your windows and doors made from recycled plastic?’ or,
‘Do your windows and doors contain any recycled plastic?’
Straight away I suspect that some dodgy 'double-glazing salesman'
has given them the dubious line about how pure their window system
is, compared with most of their competitors’, which go off-colour.
Just another sales tactic. See Can I
believe the salesperson?
The facts about this subject
are:
It is (technically) possible for system suppliers (extruders of the
PVC-U profiles that are subsequently fabricated into windows and
doors) to include significantly large quantities of reground scrap
and off-cut PVC-U into the manufacturing process to bulk out their
material and therefore save money on the amount they spend on virgin
material. BUT in the real world I believe the practice virtually
does not exist, except in the minds of the dodgy 'double-glazing
salesman', although the scare stories about such a theoretical
product not being UV stable and being subject to discolouring would
be true.
Now for the really
interesting bit:
In some parts of Europe, notably Germany, it is already a
Government policy to insist on the use of recycled PVC in window
profiles, and many extruders in the UK are also keen to commit
themselves to the principles of ISO 4000, which covers environmental
issues. With 'green' concerns in mind nobody should have any real
objection to there being a content of up to 10% regrind in their new
window and doorframes. Indeed in the not too distant future, with
facts understood and with the expansion of the environmental
conscience, I can almost hear my customers saying to me, ‘Can you
reassure me that your windows contain at least a small percentage of
“regrind” - because I care about our planet, you know, and I
understand the windows will be just as good’.
In conclusion, I have no doubt
that ALL PVC-U windows and doors will soon contain a small amount of
'regrind', if they do not already, and there’s nothing wrong with
that.
Links to other pages on PVC-U:
PVC-U - all about
PVC-U - the origins
Replace wood with PVC
PVC-U colours and finishes and repainting
PVC-U strengths and weaknesses
What can I do if my windows show signs
of 'pinking' as you describe?
