Environmentally Friendly
Window Of Opportunity, says WWF (world wide fund for nature)
Timber Window manufacturers have long maintained that their products are better for the environment than uPVC. Now they’ve received the major public relations boost of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) agreeing with them.
The report opens with strong criticism of the uPVC manufacturing process. “A product that uses a non renewable resource cannot be sustainable and oil makes up 43% of the raw material required to make uPVC,” it states.”uPVC windows (also) generate 43% more waste that timber; 82% of total uPVC waste goes to landfill, 15% is incinerated and only 3% is recycled.”
A study from TRADA also reports that the manufacturing of uPVC windows still uses eight times more energy than timber windows.
Quoting TRADA, the report points out that plastic windows “turned yellow and brittle by sunlight and can even develop hairline cracks” and once degraded in this way “are almost impossible to repair”.
The WWF maintains that repairing other damage to uPVC frames is not easy and there are technical problems producing paints to restore the appearance of the material. “On average, uPVC windows tend to be disposed of after 18 years, a significantly shorter period than timber and aluminium windows,” it says.
Looking at the wider environmental impacts, the WWF highlights research by the FAO, Defra and BRE. Among the conclusions are that the plastic sector has a greater greenhouse effect than the timber industry and contributes more to air acidification and photochemical oxidant formation.
A rticle taken from “Timber Windows Magazine” Spring 2005
Download full report in PDF format from the WWF Website.