As a responsible manufacturer, Duraflex seeks excellence in every aspect of business and, being conscious of the world we live in, we aim to set the same standards in our commitment to the environment. We accept our responsibilities and recognise our obligation to reduce our impact on the environment; in fact, Duraflex has been recycling its own profile waste and off-cuts for many years and were one of the first UK systems houses to eliminate all lead from our profile.
PVCu is widely recognised as a highly sustainable material, and unlike true single-use plastic, PVCu for use in window and door systems have an average lifespan of 35 years. Furthermore, it can be recycled up to 10 times for future use, giving a PVCu window a typical lifespan of over 350 years, thus justifying its’ sustainability credentials as a truly environmentally friendly building material. As an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System accredited company, Duraflex continually seeks to develop and enhance our environmental performance and minimise our carbon footprint. Areas of focus include low emission transport and fuel efficiency, improving energy consumption within our business, designing more energy efficient products, as well as reducing waste and promoting recycling throughout our organisation.
In-line with the Duraflex environmental policy, the majority of our scrap is recycled, with very little (less than 1%) non-recoverable scrap being sent off-site for recycling in other non critical applications (pipes, conduit, furniture etc). Duraflex recycled almost 100% of its production waste, thus significantly reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.
Our dedicated closed-loop recycling process includes us collecting PVCu waste from our fabricators, after which time the waste is re-ground before being formulated into new products. We are one of only a few extrusion companies that recycle only Duraflex PVCu frames, offcuts and scrap, ensuring that no post-consumer waste has contaminated our material and enabling us to uphold quality standards and the structural integrity and performance of our products.