Deceuninck to Recycle 40,000 Tons of PVC Annually Starting in 2024

Deceuninck, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of PVC profiles for windows and doors, will complete its five-year investment cycle in its own recycling plant in Diksmuide, Belgium, by the end of this year, increasing its recycling capacity from 8,000 tons annually, which was recycled in 2017, to 40,000 tons annually by the end of 2023. The total investment in enhancing the internal recycling strategy is valued at 25 million euros.

Deceuninck’s internal recycling begins with the collection of old PVC, including old windows. The material undergoes a process of crushing, cleaning, sorting, and granulation. The recycling plant in Diksmuide, the largest in Europe, currently processes an average of 10 trucks daily of old PVC profiles. The recycling process is almost fully automated, and with significantly fewer resources, Deceuninck produces several times more recycled PVC than its competitors.

The investment plan, which began in 2017, includes increasing crushing and cleaning capacity, and the improvement of the process has contributed to further capacity increases. Three additional granulation lines and additional storage will be accompanied by a move to a new hall by the end of 2023, which will be the final phase of the investment plan’s realization.

– We decided to invest in our leading position in the transition to sustainable products and sustainable production. We believe this is a key quality that sets us apart from our competition and the only way we can operate in today’s world – explains Bruno Humblet, CEO of Deceuninck.

The use of recycled material is an important criterion in Deceuninck’s research and development processes. The standard range of Deceuninck’s PVC profiles Elegant contains 15-30 percent recycled material, while the Phoenix profile leads with 100 percent recycled material.

By following a specific internal recycling strategy, Deceuninck secures guarantees regarding the long-term supply of quality recycled PVC. The company can control and ensure the flow of obsolete PVC products, thereby maintaining the necessary quality standards for its new products.

From an environmental perspective, there are several reasons to invest in recycling. Namely, old PVC windows do not end up in landfills, and processing recycled material uses 90 percent less energy and therefore causes lower CO2 emissions than the production of new material. In 2022, Deceuninck used 19,804 tons of recycled PVC in its production processes, thereby avoiding 37,000 tons of net CO2, which is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of a total of 4,900 Europeans.

In 2022, Deceuninck submitted its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for assessment to the SBTi, a global body that enables companies to set ambitious emission reduction targets in line with the latest climate knowledge. In September 2023, the SBTi assessment was completed, and Deceuninck’s short-term and long-term targets regarding net-zero criteria were officially approved. Deceuninck’s main short-term goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2030 compared to the reference year of 2021, while the long-term goal is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.