Once a facade, again a facade

Toward a collective return system

By 2050, the Netherlands wants to be fully circular. A circular economy requires sustainable reuse and innovative construction. Steps are currently being taken in all facets of construction to make the building process more sustainable, with facade construction surely leading the way. The plastics industry is already very far ahead in this and twenty years ago saw potential in the reuse of discarded plastic window frames through the now widespread VKG Recycling System. The Circular Facade Economy is now working on a collective return system according to the credo: once a facade, always a facade.

Discarded plastic window frames have long been taken in through the VKG Recycling System and processed into valuable raw materials for new window frames. "The recycling system was set up with the aim of recycling 100% of the old plastic window frames, but also to bring sawing residues and residual waste back into the chain. We are now at around 90% in terms of recycling cycle," said Edwin van Houten, VKG industry manager. "Among VKG members it's between the ears, but it's also important to inform the rest of the building chain. Contractors, housing associations and property developers also have a valuable contribution to make here."

Roadmap towards 2030

And the latter may well be accelerated thanks to the Circular Facade Economy, an initiative of five trade organizations in facade construction. Besides the Vereniging Kunststof Gevelelementenindustrie (VKG), these are the Vereniging Metalen Ramen en Gevelbranche (VMRG), Nederlandse Branchevereniging voor de Timmerindustrie (NBvT), Bouwend Nederland Vakgroep Glas and the Algemene Branchevereniging Hang- en Sluitwerk (VHS). The aim is to maintain the highest possible quality of facades, facade products and materials for the next cycle. This brings the ambition to make a material that was once a window, frame, door or curtain wall part of a facade in a new building another step closer. Edwin: "The roadmap towards 2030 with objectives, agreements and activities is laid down in a chain agreement signed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The ministries have created a growth fund so that we can work together to achieve the goals set." 

Collective return system

One of those goals is to set up a collective return system for the facade, similar to the VKG Recycling System but broader in scope, with more different types of materials. "We are now mapping the as-is situation," says Edwin. "Then it's a matter of working out the cycle and looking for variants and synergies with the other parties to set up the collective return system. For plastics and aluminum, this is already well established. People know the way to a recycling point. Wood, on the other hand, still too easily goes away as construction waste and is burned. We don't want that. Like plastic and aluminum, you also want the wooden parts on the facade and fittings to be recovered, sorted, reprocessed and reused. That may also involve a bit of behavioral change and a new business model, so that it motivates to offer building materials for reuse. Also by private individuals. We are working hard on that now."

Edwin expects the VKG Recycling System to remain largely intact. "However, there will eventually be a synergy with the recycling of the other facade materials," he states. "By the way, we also very emphatically involve our members in this. Not only for the intake of materials, but especially for the deployment of recycled content. Now the average for a new plastic window frame is about 25-30%, but we have set the ambition to use an average of 50% of recycled content by 2030." What doesn't help is the limited supply. Plastic window frames last too long. According to Edwin, VKG encourages housing associations and individuals to replace the time-honored 3-chamber system from the 1980s and 1990s with modern high-insulating systems. "It is an environmentally conscious and sustainable choice, especially when you consider that the depreciated window frames are then recycled for 100%."