Noisy, violent and expensive

Veka Recycling has completed the installation of plant at its new Wellingborough PVCU recycling facility – phase two of a two-year site development programme.

The new installation, costing £2.5 million, is the initial stage of the recycling process that accepts post-consumer frames collected from installers around the country, removes metals, and hammers the old frames into manageable fragments before further refinement.

The installation – that includes site preparation, a purpose-built housing, silo, heavy-duty conveyors and the machinery that breaks down the frames – was completed on schedule despite the coronavirus lockdown and in time to receive the first batch of frames as the company’s gates reopen again.

Due for completion later this year, the facility, which will have cost more than £10 million in total, will become the most advanced of its type when it becomes fully operational, the company said. Veka Recycling is already supplying high-grade recycled polymer for remanufacture into window frames, electrical accessories and building components but will be totally self-sufficient when completed.

The result of a continued commitment to the UK by Veka Group, the Wellingborough plant has been built from the ground up after a long search for an appropriate site, and in a process that will have taken two years to complete.

Simon Scholes, managing director of Veka Recycling and who has managed the project throughout, said: “Despite the coronavirus lockdown we reduced to minimal staff for a month, opening for more regular business from May 1.

“Despite this, our engineers have managed to complete the construction work and plant installation on time. When we lifted the first frames on to the conveyor in what is a very noisy and violent process, it was music to our ears.”

The Veka Recycling will be linked to the group’s other sites in Germany, France and the Sendenhorst head office, in order to closely monitor and balance operations.