Veka Recycling hosted representatives of the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. The facility is reportedly hailed as the most advanced of its type in Europe.
Attendees of the tour included Natalie Little, the GGF’s board director and vice president; Anda Gregory, the GGF’s chief development officer; and Diana Blair, the GGF’s regional membership manager. The GGF delegation was accompanied by Chris Dummer, who with Natalie runs Gloucestershire retail installer Truhouse.
At the facility, the group learned how whole, end-of-life frames, irrespective of original system supplier, are collected from across the UK and craned onto conveyors for processing. With only glass removed beforehand, a series of crushers, air jets, sieves and other technology converts the frames back to their core materials, including high-grade PVC-U pellet.
“An increasing number of our retail customers are expressing an interest in what happens to the frames that we remove from their homes,” explained Natalie. “I was therefore intrigued to witness the process for myself.
“Having now witnessed this incredible technology, and learned about the passion that Veka has for preventing PVC-U from being wasted, we will now promote this with confidence to our customers,” she continued. “I also intend to champion recycling in my roles with the GGF. It is incredibly important that we act together as an industry, to promote the sustainability of PVC-U as a frame material.”
Anda was instrumental in introducing a frame recycling service for Fensa and GGF members. Under the scheme, frames are collected free of charge from members, then delivered to recyclers, including Veka Recycling, for processing.
“Having overseen the introduction of this increasingly popular member service, I was keen to see for myself what happens to the frames,” said Anda. “Whilst Fensa Recycling is a service for approved installers, as the representative organisation for the broader glass and glazing industries, it is the responsibility of the GGF to promote sustainability. Frame recycling, including PVC-U and aluminium, is high on our agenda. Seeing this fascinating process for myself has motivated me to work even harder to drive our initiatives forward.”
Veka Recycling’s Simon Scholes, who has overseen the location and development of the site, said: “We have lived and breathed the Wellingborough site for four years now, so, of course, we are delighted to have visitors, and especially those that share our passion for promoting PVC-U as a ‘good’ plastic.” Veka Recycling’s Wellingborough plant was built by Veka engineers who have been honing the process of recycling end-of-life PVC-U frames since the company’s first plant was established in Germany, in 1993.
The UK facility was completed at the end of 2020, and is the result of a commitment by the parent company to provide a recycling operation that was self-contained within the UK. It is capable of supplying 35,000 tonnes of the highest quality recycled PVC-U for remanufacture into a range of new products, increasingly including window profiles. The processes by which old windows and virgin offcut profiles are returned for remanufacture at the Veka Recycling plant can be seen in a two-minute video on the company’s website, veka-recycling.co.uk.
