Guest Post by Martin Randall in response to this comment on a previous post
The timber industry is very active with spin about other materials but it would be best to stick with the facts.
PVC-U, UPVC or PVC does not give off fumes nor does it leach into the ground whether buried or not. PVC-U is a particularly inert material. Once it is manufactured into profile it lasts, and lasts, and lasts. Many of the windows installed in the 1980s by Local Authorities are being replaced with double glazed frames because they were single glazed to save money. Others are being replaced and upgraded so they are more secure or have better insulation, or because the hardware breaks down and is obsolete. But the PVC-U itself just goes on and on.
Early estimates of its lifetime have had to be revised upwards. PVC-U windows will clearly last 35 years with ease, but the material itself looks good for 70 years or more. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if, like concrete, it lasted much longer. The surface gets grubby and fades after a time, but that’s it. It resists burning and self extinguishes in fire. It doesn’t melt in normal fires. When it does burn, at very high temperatures, and long after timber has burned to a crisp, it does give off some fumes. All materials do. Timber for example gives off far more noxious dioxins than PVC-U which gives off just a trace.
The more we recycle the better. It’s just good house keeping. It’s a waste if we don’t, but buried PVC-U is not a hazard or danger to health.
Now if you are concerned about easily leached materials from the surface of window frames in landfill, consider the nasty materials from the coatings of old timber frames. Like PVC-U windows, timber windows can be recycled. They could be dismantled but you try scraping away the paint and breaking down the window into components. Most timber windows aren’t recycled as you can see from the contents of skips all around the country. Most replaced windows going into landfill are not PVC-U, they are timber. If you want to lie awake worried about window materials leaching into our water supplies, worry about old timber windows.
Martin Randall
Fighting Back With Facts
http://www.fightingbackwithfacts.com
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