The Eco-Return, the recycling of windows at the end of their life.
The second life of today's windows.
The market for the renovation of exterior joinery represents nearly 7 million windows. Among the joinery being replaced, the vast majority are wooden windows. In the future, first-generation PVC windows will be replaced just like aluminum windows.
Today, almost all of these windows are not recycled but are simply sent to landfills...
OUR APPROACH
- Through our fleet of trucks, WE COME TO COLLECT THE USED JOINERY from our customers.
- Back at the factory, THE WINDOWS ARE DISASSEMBLED, THE DIFFERENT MATERIALS ARE SORTED (glass, joinery, hardware...) and sent to existing recycling channels.
- A workstation is DEDICATED TO THIS TASK.
THE NEW LIFE OF COMPONENTS
- THE METAL PARTS are melted down and reused in applications such as rebar. Currently, 40% of the metal used comes from recycling.
- THE GLASS PANES are recovered to be melted down again, removing impurities. They are then reused in packaging glass (bottles, jars).
- PVC can be reused in applications such as transport bins, pipes used in construction...
- ALUMINIUM, once the lacquer layers are removed, is melted down. It is then used in wire drawing or casting (wheels, housings, automotive engine parts).
- WOOD, a noble material still in very good quality even after many years of existence, is recycled into refined furniture by RU Édition.
OUR RECYCLING COSTS
81.2%: HUMAN LABOR. We have chosen to create a dedicated workstation for the manual dismantling of old joinery, ensuring consistency with our Sustainable Development commitment.
12.2%: Return of pallets to our dismantling site (including return cartons).
7.8%: Wood processing (including grinding). This is a significant cost as the recovered wood has been treated with preservatives (IFH treatment, finishing paints, various solvents...), some of which are now banned.
2.3%: Rental of storage bins (wood, glass, metals, and General Industrial Waste – GIW) by various recyclers.
1.4%: Recycling of glass products.
0.2%: Processing of plastic-based components (seals, mastics...), also classified as GIW.
-5.2%: Metal recycling is the only element that can be valorized without generating a cost. The reuse of materials is even simpler since they are not contaminated, unlike wood.
THE RECUP' PACK TO REDUCE OUR WASTE
OUR APPROACH:
With the Pack Récup', we have established a recovery system using natural jute bags, which are distributed to our clients upon the delivery of the joinery products.
From then on, installers are encouraged to insert all shims, transport straps, as well as screws and espagnolette blockers used during transportation.
We collect all of this waste and manage its reuse..
KEY FIGURES :
• Nearly 30,000 pieces have been recovered and reused to date.
• This represents 650 kg of waste avoided on construction sites.
• More than 99% of the recovered pieces are in good condition and can therefore be reused in our workshops.
KEY FIGURES
- More than 20,000 openings dismantled to date.
- Over 300 tons of materials recovered and recycled.
- 5,000 hours of work dedicated to dismantling openings.
OLD WINDOWS TURN INTO
DESIGNER FURNITURE !
" NWe aim to deepen our approach to repurposing recovered wood pieces by giving them a true second life.."
In 2010, at the initiative of Fabrice MILLET and with the collaboration of Damien Hamon, a cabinetmaker, and Olivier Papet, a designer, the company RU Édition was founded.
It is part of a Sustainable Development approach and aims to put design at the service of ecology.
The used windows, recovered by the Millet company, are cleaned, cut, sorted, and transformed into the material for refined furniture..
