Europe's largest recycler of plastic window frames further expands capacity

VEKA Umwelttechnik recycles record amount of Dutch plastic window frames

Recycling of plastic window frames is of great importance in the transition to circular construction. How are these recycling activities developing in Europe, especially in the Netherlands? What contribution is VEKA Umwelttechnik making to this? An interim review.

VEKA is one of the participants in the European sustainability program VinylPlus. The European PVC manufacturers involved in this have made a voluntary commitment to recycle 800,000 tons per year by 2020. VEKA is actively involved in this effort. Many VEKA employees participate in VinylPlus working groups and VEKA CEO Andreas Hartleif is on the VinylPlus board.

PVC recycling to European record in 2018

The efforts of European PVC manufacturers are paying off. The chart below shows that from 2000 through 2018, some 5 million tons of PVC were recycled. Moreover, the record amount of 739,525 tons of PVC was recycled in 2018: 15.6 % more than in 2017. The 2019 figures are not yet known, but the trend is clear: the 800,000 tons VinylPlus has set as its goal for 2020 will be met. The next goal, 1 million tons, should be met by 2030 at the latest.

Plastic-Frame Industry

As part of VinylPlus, the plastic window frame industry accounts for some 45% of the total amount of PVC recycled. From the start, VEKA has played a pioneering role in this. More than 25 years ago, VEKA established the first production facility for fully automated recycling. In 2020, VEKA Umwelttechnik, VEKA's recycling division, has plants in Germany, France and Great Britain. This makes VEKA Umwelttechnik Europe's largest and most modern recycler of old plastic window frames and production waste. The figures underline it: VEKA 's recycling capacity reached 75,000 tons per year in 2018 and continues to grow to around 100,000 tons by 2020.

Recycling Dutch plastic window frames by VEKA: 2,000 tons in 2019!

The Dutch VEKA partners and a Dutch collector, Kras from Volendam, have a growing share of the total volume processed by VEKA Umwelttechnik as part of VinylPlus. In 2018 it was still 800 tons of plastic window frames, but in 2019 a record was set with 2,000 tons. More than double!

What is the status of recycling of all old Dutch plastic window frames? Official figures on this are not known to trade association VKG (Vereniging Kunststof Gevelementenindustrie). That recycling is increasing every year is clear, according to a VKG spokesman. A rough estimate comes to an annual increase between 10% - 15%. This estimate assumes that recycling activities are roughly in line with the growth of the market share of plastic window frames in the Dutch renovation market.

VinylPlus Product Label makes circular construction visible

Further increasing the recycling of plastic window frames is obviously important. In addition, however, it is also important to make visible that the plastic window frame industry is capable of taking the step towards circular construction. The VinylPlus product label 'Verified Vinyl' is the appropriate tool for this. This label for plastic window frames offers demonstrable guarantees, including with regard to the sustainable procurement of the profile material, the energy-optimized production and the high proportion of recycled PVC in the profile. A manufacturer of plastic window frames must therefore meet extremely strict certification requirements in order to obtain the VinylPlus product label.

Another successful audit VEKA SOFTLINE profile systems

In 2018, VEKA was among the first companies to be awarded the VinylPlus product label. After an audit, the VEKA frame profile systems SOFTLINE 70, 76 and 82 (AD, MD and NL) were certified with the seal of approval. Recently, a second successful audit took place. VEKA users are thus assured that VEKA purchases exclusively from certified suppliers, applies a highly efficient energy management system in accordance with ISO 50001, and the main profiles consist of an average of 50% of recycled plastic. Technically, it is even possible to produce with 100% of recycled material, but since there is not yet enough recycled material available, a small amount of fresh PVC is still used.