Hurst Doors renew carbon-cutting commitment with PVC-U recycling

Hurst Doors are continuing their efforts to cut their carbon footprint and become a greener, more sustainable business.

Published: 28th June 2022

Hurst Doors are continuing their efforts to cut their carbon footprint and become a greener, more sustainable business.

The Hull-based firm has recycled over 300 tonnes of PVC-U over a 12-month period as part of ongoing attempts to reduce landfill waste to an absolute minimum.

It’s just one part of the company’s broader commitment to sustainability, which has recently seen it adopt Mercedes Benz 250E hybrid vehicles for its sales team, helping cut its emissions from 132g per kilometre to just 32g.

“At Hurst, we’re passionately committed to being a responsible manufacturer – and in the twenty-first century, striving towards ever-greater sustainability is a vital part of that,” comments Sales Director Mark Atkinson.

“PVC-U is an excellent fenestration material that offers outstanding longevity, thermal performance, and ease of maintenance – but equally, we know that plastic pollution is a major threat to wildlife and the ecosystem more generally.”

“That’s why we’re determined to recycle as much of the waste PVC-U we produce as possible, we’re confident that we’re heading in the right direction.”

In addition to saving uPVC from landfill, Hurst has also recycled 134 tonnes of timber and recycles all its non-returnable timber pallets via a local pallet recycler.

The business also recycles all its glass waste, which is used to make reflective road marking products, in addition to all polyethene, polystyrene, paper, card, lead, aluminium, steel, toners and old office equipment, such as computers.

Similarly, the Hurst Group’s head office and manufacturing site in Bradford have made a significant investment in an on-site Talbott Biomass Boiler. Timber waste is combusted in the boiler to generate heating and hot water for the factory and welfare facilities, so reducing the amount of wood waste sent to landfill. This investment alone has reduced the businesses energy and running costs. It also reduces the reliance on natural gas and in turn reduces greenhouse emissions.

“We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made so far, but we want to go much further in our sustainability efforts in the months and years ahead,” Mark continues.

“We’ll continue to identify areas we can reduce our environmental impact, and keep working to towards recycling as much of our waste as practically possible.”