Veka Recycling (Swanscombe / UK; www.veka-recycling.co.uk), a subsidiary of German PVC profiles producer Veka (Sendenhorst; www.veka.de), is planning to have a recycling plant for PVC-U fully operational in Wellingborough / UK by the end of 2019. EUR 8m has been earmarked to set up “the most sophisticated process of its type installed anywhere in Europe,” which will have a capacity of 25,000 t/y of PVC regrind. Up to 50 new jobs have been announced.

Until now, the collected waste has been compressed in a plant in Kent and then transported to Behringen / Germany for further processing. A company spokesman said the site in Kent will be retained.

German affiliate Veka Umwelttechnik (Hörselberg-Hainich; www.veka-ut.de) brought the first European plant of this type into operation in 1993, in Behringen / Germany. Here, the company says used windows, doors and blinds are recycled into 100%-pure material. The facility has a capacity of 50,000 t/y of PVC regrind and employs more than 110 people. Veka Umwelttechnik says it obtains window profiles from more than 1,500 window manufacturers and disposal companies.

French subsidiary Veka Recyclage (Vendeuvre-sur-Barse; www.vekarecyclage.com) operates a plant similar to the one in Behringen but with a capacity of 25,000 t/y. The plant here was opened in 2006.

Veka Recycling commercial director Simon Scholes says while plastic products are generally “coming under fire, the recycling of old windows in the UK is very advanced with most taken out of buildings being recycled into new products.” He says the new plant will allow the company to reprocess “even more and within the UK.”