MERRITT PLASTICS SHOWCASES AT RWM
4th September 2012

Merritt Plastics (stand 18J49) will be demonstrating how advances it has made in post-consumer recycling offers visitors to this year’s RWM (Resource Efficiency and Waste Management Solution) exhibition a sustainable and cost effective method of dealing with end-of-life PVC-U.

The company, winner of this year’s National Recycling Awards 2012 Materials Recycler of the Year (Large), will be highlighting its one-stop, post-consumer PVC-U solution.

Following a £3m investment by Merritt Plastics at the end of last year, it is now capable of recycling up to 12,000 end-of-life PVC-U frames per week. The Derbyshire based facility is currently the largest and most advanced of its kind in the UK.

The one-stop solution offered by Merritt Plastics encompasses a nationwide collection service for end-of-life PVC-U, recycling the material at its Derbyshire facility, through to manufacturing new PVC-U products on the same site.

Complimenting this are links with other group companies, which allow Merritt Plastics to offer a completely closed-loop recycling solution. This involves end-of-life PVC removed from site being used to make new energy efficient window products for installing back into the same properties from which it was removed.

There will be an example of this recycled Eurologik window on the stand as well as video’s of the recycling process in action. The window is capable of achieving a Window Energy Rating (WER) of A+12, which offers both new build and replacement sectors maximum thermal performance. The A+12 specification is currently one of the highest BFRC (British Fenestration Ratings Council) rating for a double glazed PVC-U window in the UK.

“We encourage any organisation with quantities of end-of-life PVC-U to visit our stand and discuss the sustainable benefits of recycling their material with Merritt Plastics,” said Andrew Mole, Commercial and Recycling Manager at Merritt Plastics. “Our focus will be on demonstrating to visitors how we can help them achieve enhanced levels of sustainability and cost effectiveness through a well planned PVC-U recycling programme.”

Andrew added: “We welcome enquires from all organisations that have quantities of PVC-U and our nationwide collection service makes the whole process very straightforward.”

In addition to post-consumer recycling, Merritt Plastics currently processes over 3,000 tonnes of production waste PVC-U per annum and again welcomes enquiries from organisations looking to improve raw material conversion rates.

PVC-U has been awarded an ‘A’ rating for sustainability in residential and ‘A+’ for commercial developments in the BRE Green Guide to Specification (June 2008), principally because of the work that has gone into recycling initiatives.

Coupled with this is the fact that PVC-U achieves a Reference Service Life (RSL) rating of at least 35 years, as recognised by the BRE, which confirms that PVC-U products provide cost effective, sustainable and high performance solutions. The material can be recycled up to 10 times without loss of performance, which gives it a total lifespan of 350 years.

www.merrittplastics.co.uk