Sustainability

Windows that won’t cost the earth

At Salisbury Glass we make every effort to minimise the impact our business has on the environment.

From recycling the paper in our offices to recycling materials from our manufacturing plant we are committed to the integration of economic, social and environmental factors in all elements of the business. This awareness stretches through every part our business, from raw materials through to installation.

As a trusted local company we take our environmental responsibilities seriously. As well as recycling all types of waste, we recycle all aluminium and glass from our manufacturing plant. Both post manufacturing and post-consumer PVC-U waste is recycled and the materials are used in other PVC-U building products. This makes a fully sustainable closed loop of recycling by bringing thousands of tonnes of old PVC-U products back into use instead of sending them to landfill.

As well as recycling we also supply a range of energy efficient products. Our A, B and C rated windows are recommended by The Energy Savings Trust and could save you a substantial amount of money on your utility bills as well as lowering your carbon foot print.

Why Aluminium?

The current trend in environmental policies focuses in the main on sustainability and the recyclable credentials of building materials.

Salisbury Glass Centre is committed to working with our suppliers and customers in the use of sustainable resources and the promotion of the sustainable credentials of aluminium fenestration products.

The aluminium recycling process uses only 5% of the energy used to create primary aluminium from bauxite ore. The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) estimates that 55% of world aluminium production is powered by renewable hydroelectric power. The recycling process creates high quality aluminium which loses none of the physical properties of primary aluminium, meaning that it can be endlessly recycled for use as new products without losing physical quality.

Aluminium is the third most abundant material on earth after oxygen and silicon; the current reserves are estimated to last for at least 400 years without factoring in recycled aluminium. Because aluminium is endlessly recyclable these reserves become in effect inexhaustible.

The life cycle of aluminium products is measured in terms of decades rather than years. As a building material it is durable, requiring little long term maintenance. It is resistant to corrosion and common industrial pollutants giving aluminium products a much longer life cycle even in extreme environmental conditions. The EAA calls aluminium a “cradle to cradle” material because although a particular product may have an end of life, aluminium as a material can be continually recycled and manufactured into new products.

The use of sustainable building materials is only one part of the answer to the environmental issues that affect us all. By using aluminium products you are choosing a material whose production has minimal long term impact to the environment, is sustainable in terms of hundreds of years and endlessly recyclable. Aluminium can rightly be said to be the ultimate building material and the building material of choice for the future.