Recycling PVC wins sustainability award

Recycling PVC has won the Sustainable Innovation Award at this year’s Oldham Business Awards.

The Awards were created to “celebrate excellence, innovation and impact across Oldham’s business community, recognising organisations and individuals that drive economic growth and positive change”, and the 2026 winners were announced at a ceremony in early October attended by over 500 guests.

Part of profine UK, Recycling PVC reportedly plays an important role in the group’s approach to sustainability by recovering and processing post-consumer PVC-U frames to create high-grade recycled polymer for its Greenline window and door system.

At the heart of the company’s award-winning approach is a closed-loop recycling process designed to tackle one of the key challenges traditionally associated with recycling PVC-U windows.

Old frames contain a combination of materials, including glass and steel reinforcement, which need to be effectively separated before the PVC-U can be processed and reused.

Recycling PVC has invested in specialist dismantling, shredding and separation technology to remove these materials and contaminants, producing a consistent, high-grade recycled polymer that can be used to manufacture new profiles.

According to the company’s award submission, its processes deliver significant environmental benefits.

Every tonne of recycled material can produce around 140 new window frames while saving about two tonnes of CO₂ emissions when compared with using virgin PVC-U.

Commenting on the award win, Ian Murray, Managing Director of Recycling PVC, said: “Winning the Sustainable Innovation Award at the Oldham Business Awards is fantastic recognition for the whole team and for the investment we’ve made in developing a genuinely circular approach to PVC-U.

“Old windows shouldn’t be seen simply as waste. PVC-U is a valuable material that can be recovered, processed, and used again for new products.

“By developing the technology and processes needed to do that consistently and at scale, we can reduce the reliance on virgin material along with keeping more end-of-life PVC-U out of landfill.

“What makes this award particularly important to us is that it recognises innovation which is already delivering real measurable results, and we’re incredibly proud to be doing that here in Oldham.”

The company now plans to increase its recycling capacity further and strengthen partnerships with housing developers and window manufacturers, pushing the boundaries of the circular economy and reducing construction waste and carbon footprints across the region. The expansion is also expected to create three new jobs.

To find out more about recycling old PVC-U frames with Recycling PVC, click here.