Three zero-landfill years

The CMS Group has reported another 12 months in which none of its production or post-consumer waste was sent to landfill, making it three zero-landfill years in a row.

In its last financial year (2019-2020) CMS handled 2,802 tonnes of waste, generated mainly from post-use windows and doors that its installers removed during replacement contracts but also including waste from its office and factory operations, all of which is strictly recycled as standard. Of this waste, 3.1% was reused, 96.5% was sent to be recycled (and, where possible, remade into new products, including new glass double glazed units), and the remaining 0.4% was used by waste-to-energy specialists.

This latest zero-landfil’ achievement reflects the long-term success of its business strategy. CMS said. Ever since its inception in 2006, the company has operated its own full-scale in-house waste processing facilities to collect and separate all waste resulting from its manufacturing, installation and office functions.

Any post-use windows and doors extracted from properties during replacement contracts are collected on site and taken to CMS’s Castlecary site to be separated into their constituent parts – mainly PVCU, timber, aluminium, glass and steel – which is then sent to specialist recyclers. The team also identifies products that can be re-used to ensure they completely avoid entering a waste stream, and the tiny proportion of materials that cannot be re-used or recycled are sent to waste-to-energy specialists.

CMS also ensures that its aluminium profile, PVCU systems and glass contain a high degree of recycled material for the manufacture of new facades, windows and doors. For example, double glazed units contain 38% of post-use recycled glass from Saint-Gobain Glass.

CMS Group CEO David Ritchie said: “Waste reduction and elimination is only going to become more important right across the construction and housing sectors as we work towards the zero-carbon target dates set by Scottish and UK governments, so it is pleasing that we are already providing a successful model for the fenestration industry.”