The EPA estimates that 230 million to 530 million tons of construction waste are produced annually — and much of that material ends up in landfills. The bulk of construction and demolition waste is old bricks, masonry, concrete, wood and metal; but it’s not exclusively that. Some plastic-based building materials — such as windows, flooring and decking — that could be recycled aren’t, because companies haven’t yet figured out how to collect and reuse the plastic at the heart of these products. Chicago-based The AZEK Company has cracked this code.
AZEK manufactures PVC decking for residential homes and other structures. TimberTech® AZEK decking is a co-extruded PVC deck board with a cap layer that creates a beautiful wood-look aesthetic while protecting your deck from the elements. In October 2018, the product was made with 30 percent recycled content. Today TimberTech AZEK decking is manufactured using 63 percent recycled content, 47 percent of which is sourced from external scrap materials.
“We’re on a mission to convert the building products industry from its uninspiring past to a dynamic and sustainable future,” said Bruce Stanhope, PhD, AZEK’s Vice President of Research and Development. “To accomplish this takes reimagining current products to find a way to make them better.”