Spectus Window Systems Announces Greener Business Model

Published: 1st April 2013

Leading PVC-u extrusion products manufacturer, Spectus Window Systems has made a major decision to revolutionise its business operation, moving sustainability even higher up the agenda, and moving towards more sustainable methods of manufacturing. Its first major step on this journey is the launch of a new flagship product, EcoSpec. EcoSpec contains post-industrial and post-consumer recycled PVC content while maintaining Spectus’ exemplary aesthetics and performance standards, delivering an additional selling point when faced with environmentally-conscientious specifiers across the public and private sectors. Where EcoSpec really stands out is in its scalability; this product is the first of many in Spectus’ sustainable range, and Spectus is making a bold move with plans to migrate the majority of its product offering to the EcoSpec brand. David Oliver, Spectus’ sales and marketing director, explains that 90 per cent of all orders will automatically be upgraded to an EcoSpec profile with immediate effect: “We are extremely proud of EcoSpec as a product, as it delivers recycled content as well as the performance and appearance credentials for which Spectus has become renowned. So confident are we in its capabilities that the long term plan is to only produce EcoSpec profiles going forward. “What truly differentiates us from any other extruder in the marketplace is our motivation behind the new product launch, which will be reflected by a company wide shift towards more sustainable ways of working. This is a permanent, holistic change that sees Spectus making systematic sustainability improvements across the board.” The EcoSpec product is constructed using post-industrial and post-consumer recycled PVC in the heart of the profile. This lowers the environmental impact incurred during the manufacturing process and diverts waste PVC from landfill – an attractive proposition for eco-friendly specifiers and consumers. EcoSpec’s recycled content is hidden inside the profile, so there’s no need to increase the profile’s environmental impact further by foiling it. Like all Spectus profiles, EcoSpec is a high performance product that improves a building’s thermal efficiency and can achieve a window energy rating (WER) of band A. What’s more, EcoSpec exceeds all regulatory requirements for security, safety, durability and thermal and acoustic insulation. EcoSpec technology means that profiles can be combined to create any style of window and can even be used in conservatory construction. Demonstrating its unwavering commitment to its new sustainable direction, EcoSpec has the full weight of Spectus behind it. The company is making it as easy as possible for installers to sell this proposition to its customers with a full suite of consumer-friendly literature and sustainability training for those installers that would like it. Choosing EcoSpec frames over standard profiles presents a major competitive advantage, enabling fabricators and installers to break into new markets and cater for the ever-increasing environmentally conscientious group of specifiers. David concludes: “We have taken the guiding principles of ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’ in the development of EcoSpec, to keep its environmental impact to the absolute minimum. To meet the ‘reduce’ requirement, EcoSpec needs less virgin PVC than traditional profiles, and for ‘re-use’ we put any waste PVC created during the manufacturing process into the core of the EcoSpec profile. And finally, we are strongly positioned within the UK to recycle post-consumer PVC windows back into EcoSpec windows and conservatories, rather than downcycling them into lower grade products such as drainage pipes. This all results in impressive savings; if every home in the UK was to install EcoSpec windows, for example, it could cut annual CO2 emissions by the equivalent of almost 50,000 return flights from London to New York. “We’re well aware that the PVC-U industry has far to go on the road to sustainability, but the launch of EcoSpec is a significant first step and marks an important fork in the road of Spectus’ history. By proving that it is possible to have performance, aesthetics and environmental credentials in a single product, EcoSpec has acted as a catalyst to our industry peers, encouraging them to scrutinise their own practices and develop more sustainable products. We hope that, like Spectus, they will take this commitment further and make sustainability improvements wherever possible.” To find out more about EcoSpec call 0800 328 5273.