Product category:
Window Systems
News Release from: L B Plastics | Subject: Lead stabilisers phase out
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 07 October 2005
Green thinking LB Plastics goes unleaded
LB Plastics has become the first UK based window and door systems company to phase out the use of lead stabilisers across its range of PVC products
LB Plastics has become the first UK based window and door systems company to phase out the use of lead stabilisers across its range of PVC products, ten years ahead of the Europe-wide EU monitored voluntary agreement to do so After 2 years of materials and tooling development work at L.B.Plastics, Sheerframe windows and doors, Sheerlite conservatory roofs Hometrim cellular boards and trims, and Sheerline decking, fencing and drawers are now manufactured using calcium organic stabilisers rather than lead
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 28 Feb 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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L.B.Plastics took the decision to implement this change at the earliest possible stage to reassure consumers, housebuilders, local authorities and housing associations that all the constituents of PVC are completely safe.
Despite scientific evidence which proves that lead additives, known as salts or soaps, pose no danger to human health or the environment, as a precautionary measure the PVC industry pledged to phase out lead stabilisers by 2015 as part of the Vinyl 2010 Voluntary Commitment.
David Strang, product director at L.B.Plastics says, "We are totally committed to sustainability in all its forms, from recycling end of use window frames to the efficiency of our manufacturing process and the thermal performance of our windows".
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"The speed with which we have been able to introduce calcium organic stabilisers to replace lead shows just how seriously we take the issue".
""We are fully behind the decision to end the use of lead additives in PVC, even though it is a precautionary measure.
Although elemental lead has never been used as a PVC additive, memories of the health benefits brought by the removal of lead from such products as petrol are still fresh, and the widespread public perception may well be that any lead additive is dangerous".
"We are particularly pleased at the positive health benefits provided to our workforce that this move gives".
"Whilst processed PVC products provide no health risk whatsoever with no leaching of lead based materials, the in-house preparation of dry blend is a controlled process and we believe by removing any airborne lead particles we will make a positive contribution to risk reduction".
As one of the UK's largest producers of PVC profiles for windows and doors, L.B.Plastics has a strong track record when it comes to health and safety and sustainability.
As a material for manufacturing frames, PVC makes an extremely positive contribution to the environment, being energy efficient to manufacture using limited amounts of a finite resource and requiring virtually no maintenance throughout its long life expectancy.
Sheerframe PVC windows, in particular, are also designed to offer excellent thermal performance, complete with high levels of air and water tightness.
L.B.Plastics pioneered the co-extrusion process for gaskets and seals, and was one of the first manufacturers to introduce four and five chamber profiles to deliver significantly improved thermal performance.
The company's most recent development in creating the optimum energy efficient, low carbon window is the introduction of ThermlockR, its thermally enhanced reinforcer.
This allows fully reinforced PVC windows to achieve high ratings under the new BFRC Window Energy Rating system.
All these product performance qualities help home owners and tenants to reduce their energy consumption and enable RSLs and housebuilders to make further progress towards their corporate environmental objectives.
The PVC window industry as a whole is also on course to achieve a waste recovery target well in excess of almost every other material used in windows.
By the end of this year, the sector is on course to meet its commitment to fully recycle 50 per cent of collectable end of use frames, and L.B.Plastics is an active partner in helping to deliver this pledge.
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