The future is today

A closed resource cycle thanks to plastic window frames made of 100% recycled material

Sustainability, circularity, quality and innovation are hot topics in construction. Not surprisingly, because by dealing responsibly with materials, by actively separating waste streams and by returning raw materials back into the chain in equal measure, a cleaner world and a sustainable and better living environment are created. profine, the company behind the plastic window frame brand K-VISION, is aware of this and has been actively committed to industry-wide recycling and circular enterprise for years. This has since led to numerous sustainable products, processes and collaborations.

Several years ago, profine developed a Concept Circular Enterprise, which focuses on sustainable production and work. "An important part of this are our customer agreements," says Remco van Overdijk, technical account manager at profine Netherlands. "For example, sawing waste and residues released in plastic window frame production are actively collected by us and processed into granulate, which we reuse as raw material. The same applies to old window frames from demolition or renovation projects. At profine, nothing is thrown away or downgraded. Raw materials are reused at an equivalent level in our production, without sacrificing quality. Thus, all our products have a functional life of at least 50 years!"

Kiwa Covenant Circular Enterprise

In 2019 and 2020, an independent certification body meticulously analyzed and recorded Profine's recycling streams, says director Jelmer Bijlsma. "On this basis, we were able to receive the Kiwa Covenant Circular Enterprise in the spring of 2020 and as the very first system supplier. A great appreciation and proof of our company goal, namely to contribute to a better world with K-VISION window frames. In the market we see a rapidly growing demand from contractors, clients and architects to build (fully) circular. K-VISION demonstrably matches that."

100% circular

By now, Profine's entire K-VISION product range can be manufactured with circular granulate to a greater or lesser extent. "The percentage depends, among other things, on the type of profile and the amount of recycled material available at any given time," Bijlsma emphasizes. "Recently, we even had a window frame made entirely of recycled material!" 

With K-VISION ReFrame, Profine has a world first on its hands. The development of the 100% circular product originated in 2018, during a company visit with customers to the factory in Berlin. "In our factory, we set up a special department, where profiles are provided with a revolutionary proCoverTec color coating," Van Overdijk explains. "At that time, profiles were treated with a recycled core. With a question about the possibility of making the entire frame profiles from recycled material, an interesting innovation process began. By choosing 100% recycled material, the technical properties do not change significantly, with the exception of UV resistance. To overcome this and guarantee the usual high-quality properties and long service life, we treated the profiles all around with proCoverTec. This also resulted in a luxurious, matte look and feel."

Where the first seed for ReFrame was planted in 2018, the first projects with the innovative frame profile have now been implemented. The starting shot was the renovation of 105 apartments at Osdorpplein in Amsterdam, in collaboration with partner Schipper Kozijnen, housing corporation Stadgenoot and contractor Hemubo. And other concrete projects are also pouring in, such as the renovation of a large apartment building in the Wheermolen-Oost district of Purmerend (137 homes) and the new construction of 38 homes in Amersfoort Vathorst, a Heijmans project carried out by partner Europrovyl. "We also started a partnership with waste processor GP Groot in Alkmaar," Van Overdijk says. "A new office is currently being built on Boekelerdijk, which will be constructed entirely from recycled materials such as ReFrame. Old plastic window frames collected by GP Groot are also being processed by us into new raw materials. This way the cycle is closed here as well."

Rethink Award 

In mid-June, ReFrame won the Rethink Award from Federation NRK and PlasticsEurope Netherlands in the Recycling category, says Bijlsma. "A great recognition and confirmation that innovations like this are seen and appreciated. According to the jury, K-VISION ReFrame is not only a fantastic product in terms of technical and circular properties, but also in terms of aesthetics. End users, contractors and architects alike are only too happy to have it."

BIM product library

In addition to products and processes, sustainability for profine also relates to customer
relationships. 

"BIM is a fantastic tool for this," said Bijlsma. "In cooperation with our customers, we are working on an extensive BIM product library with cleverly designed frame models. This allows architects to always design with the right models and frame data, while frame manufacturers can use the information from the model in their production. The models are currently undergoing extensive testing and are available upon request."