PVC-U windows and doors: sustainability debate

PVC-U is widely specified for replacement and new build windows and doors, but are they good or bad for the environment?

PVC-U is widely specified for replacement and new build windows and doors, but many in the media and the public sector see it as 'bad' for the environment.

Sam Kennedy, Managing Director of Spectus Window Systems, asks whether this perception is justified.

PVC-U and the public sector: friends or foes?.

Climate change has been hitting the headlines almost daily this summer, and environmental concerns are high on the Government's agenda.

The public sector is under pressure to specify sustainable products, but what material is best?.

Many think timber to be the healthy option for the environment.

Some also believe that PVC-U is a bad material, incapable of being green - a view regularly spouted by several property 'experts' in the consumer press.

How has PVC-U gone from friend, specified for almost all projects in the public sector, to foe?.

When PVC-U started out in the 1980s salespeople had to raise awareness and make the case for the material and its benefits.

The message, repeated and reinforced, stuck and most windows today are made from PVC-U.

Once the butt of the PVC-U industry's jokes, timber is fighting back, investing GBP18 million over the last six years to get its message across.

Now many in consumer media, some specifiers and many homeowners see timber as intrinsically good, and PVC-U as suspect.

I believe a combination of spin and misinformation (from the timber industry and some environmental organisations) has fuelled their prejudices.

But what do specifiers think? We asked some for their views on materials used for windows and doors, and their sustainability: Chesterfield Borough Council has just finished replacing all the windows in its buildings in Chesterfield.

All replacement windows are PVC-U except those for listed buildings, where timber was used.

Mick Heath, Manufacturing and Major Works Manager, says the Council has always had a policy to specify PVC-U: "The consumer media does have an influence on choice of material and is negative about PVC-U, but residents and homeowners prefer it, and fabricators do a good job of fighting its case".

"PVC-U windows last around 30 years, and we recycle all those we remove".

But Kevin Powell, Head of Property for South Shropshire Housing Association, casts doubt on whether PVC-U windows can truly be recycled: "Although many companies claim to do so, I haven't seen much evidence, and given the other materials used in component parts, I'm not sure how well it works".

In fact, PVC-U is a thermoplastic and can be constantly melted and reformed up to four times, giving one piece of plastic a possible lifespan of 140 years, or more.

It is completely recyclable and almost 100% of UK PVC-U off-cuts and fabricating waste is recycled.

The window industry even has its own recycling scheme - Recovinyl.

Yes, windows do need to be stripped of their components, but as hardware is removed from every window, it's doesn't add much more to the job, and modern recycling plants are highly efficient.

Carbon emissions are much less for the remaking of recycled PVC-U than for using virgin timber - 250kg per tonne as opposed to 2,000kg per tonne.

Ian Horler, Procurement Services Team Leader, says Severnside Housing uses PVC-U windows for new build and replacements, and that "many RSLs also use PVC-U to lower their long term maintenance costs." He doesn't believe it's a sustainable material though: "In future years we'll have lots of old PVC-U windows that have been taken out and will need to be recycled".

"I would expect this to be a costly process".

"Timber is biodegradable and can be burnt which makes them carbon neutral, rotted or turned into wood chip".

"Although some timber windows have survived in houses for hundreds of years, there was a period of building around the 1960s to 70s when the softwood used did not last many years".

"However the treatment of timber today means that softwood windows should now stand the test of time, but will still require regular maintenance and this would still be a cost burden to an RSL.

The only complaints we have regarding PVC-U windows are about the wear and tear of the hinges and furniture rather than the window frame".

PVC-U - the facts PVC-U is a natural, durable and versatile product with a much reduced environmental product compared with other plastics and some other materials.

It's unlike any other plastic, made from 43% ethylene (a by-product of oil) and 57% chlorine (derived from natural salt, sodium chloride).

In the future, ethylene will most likely come from ethanol, produced by organic sources such as sugar or vegetable oil.

Dr Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, is now a supporter of PVC-U: "It doesn't need to be recycled, it doesn't need to be replaced".

"It lasts hundreds of years in the ground as a pipe".

"Durability means less cost in maintenance and replacement".

Specifiers need the facts to choose the right material for the job - not spin or prejudice.

Clearly, not all the messages get through.

PVC-U is a great product, and it's been specified so widely for a reason.

It's low maintenance, and remedial work is rare.

It's easy to fit.

It's cost-effective.

It looks good (with many designs, colours and finishes), and it's durable.

It's recyclable - and it's sustainable.

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