March 2022

PVC-U
HAVE WE GOT AN IMAGE PROBLEM?
As a new YouGov survey reveals almost half of UK homeowners would not purchase home
improvement products containing plastic, Rob McGlennon, Deceuninck Managing Director,
asks: what does this mean for PVC-U windows?
Consumers are increasingly buying products
based on their environmental credentials.
This shift in behaviour can be attributed to a
growing awareness of the effects of climate change,
thanks in part to prominent figures such as David
Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, and the highprofile
political summit COP 26.
A recent survey commissioned by Deceuninck, and
carried out by YouGov, proves that homeowners
are responding to those environmentally focused
messages.
It found that two-thirds of respondents would choose
home improvement products with a higher level of
recycled content than competing items, but with the
same performance level and the same price tag.
A significant number of those (37%) would pay more
for them.
The same survey also found that while clear
environmentally friendly messages were resonating
with homeowners who were choosing home
improvement products, they were sometimes
confusing and counterproductive.
“Either we have got a massive
challenge to overcome, or we’ve got a
fantastic opportunity on our hands”
hands,” Rob McGlennon, Deceuninck’s MD, said.
“On the one hand, we have educated homeowners
who are carefully selecting products based on their
content and sustainability credentials, but on the
other, some of those eco messages are getting lost
in translation.
“We have homeowners who are well-versed in the
damage that single-use plastics can have on the
environment, yet they lump PVC-U windows in that
category, which gives them something of an image
problem.”
Rob said that while the increased awareness
about the impact single-use plastics have on the
environment is positive, the fact that this survey
reveals that consumers aren’t drawing a line
between them and low maintenance, long-life and
fully recyclable plastic building products is a warning
of things to come.
“We need to act now and start to communicate
effectively with the homeowner,” he added.
PVC-U is a highly recyclable building material with
a Building Research Establishment Green Guide
to Specification A and A+ rating for domestic and
commercial application.
This is founded on a recognised Reference Service
Life of at least 35 years and the fact that PVC-U can
37% of homeowners said they would choose
products with a higher recycled content
Significantly, the survey found that 44% of total
respondents rejected the prospect of buying home
improvements manufactured in ‘plastic’.
This is despite the fact that 69% of those surveyed
said the windows in their homes were currently
manufactured from PVC-U.
Meanwhile, wood is seen as the most sustainable
material (46%) when compared to aluminium and
PVC-U, yet only 23% of respondents have timber
windows.
“Either we have got a massive challenge to
overcome, or we’ve got a fantastic opportunity on our
60 T I MARCH 2022 PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST