Clearview National February 2020 - Issue 219 | Page 34

PROUD SPONSOR OF DOORS & WINDOWS
DOORS&WINDOWS
How are we responding
to this year’s UN
Climate Change
Conference agenda?
By Martin Hitchin, Chief Executive, REHAU UK
» “THE 25TH UN CLIMATE CHANGE
Conference ended last week with a plea for
business to do more to combat climate change.
We at REHAU welcome the comments made
at the conference, having taken this call to
action seriously for many years.
“The need for business to improve the
sustainability of their manufacturing processes
to benefit the environment is not new news.
However, it has been thrown into stark relief
at the UN’s recent conference, and the term
circular economy is now on everyone’s lips.
More needs to be done and REHAU has taken
this to heart long ago, having manufactured
window profiles from old recycled PVC
window material since 1988.
“By implementing a closed material cycle, we
have conserved natural resources and reduced
CO2 emissions, with the percentage of profiles
produced using recycled material rising from
25% to over 40% since 2014, and set to
increase to 50% next year. Why have we done
34 » F EB 2020 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
this? Because action is needed to preserve the
planet for future generations.
“To that end, we have set up a Europe-wide
network to ensure over 70,000 tonnes of used
PVC materials are recovered and funnelled
into production via internal and external
processing plants – approximately the weight
of the 345-metre long cruise ship Queen
Mary II. Since the profiles are extruded from
recyclable PVC material, they can pass through
this cycle seven times.
“We are also investing heavily in in-house
and external recycling facilities to close
material cycles, having spent over 65 million
euros in the past few years. Beneficiaries of this
investment include the REHAU Group’s two
recycling companies DEKURA and PVCR, and
our Polish plant in Srem, all of which process
large volumes of recyclable PVC and produce
new window profiles.
“These new profiles are then co-extruded
from a mix of this recyclate and new material
at our Wittmund, Srem, Blaenau and Morhange
sites, with the internal recyclate content
paired with REHAU’s HDF surface. Because
we have optimised the recycling processes
at all these sites, we have been awarded the
renowned VinylPlus product label – the first
and only window manufacturer to receive this
certificate at all our European locations.
“Finally, our sustainable window profiles
marketed under the new REHAU EcoPuls label
save around 90% in carbon emissions when
compared to conventional profiles, due to the
use of recycled material. This results in 97,000
tons of CO2 saved per year – approximately
the same as a forest of 7,800,000 trees, which
is roughly the size of Berlin. These EcoPuls
windows are also highly energy-efficient,
combining reduced energy loss benefits with
their sustainability credentials.
“In summary, REHAU are committed to
relieving the burden on our environment,
and thoroughly agree with the message sent
by the UN’s Climate Change Conference.
Manufacturers need to take bold, decisive
action when it comes to improving
sustainability, and initiatives that establish
circular economies are a welcome first step.
Indeed, companies could do worse than follow
REHAU’s lead on this.”