Recycling spacers: from offcut to raw material
Sustainability is possible even where you might least expect it at first glance – in the details. At Technoform, this applies to our state-of-the-art warm edge spacers for insulating glass. They are made of polypropylene, stainless steel, and a small proportion of steel, and are further processed by insulating glass manufacturers around the world. When producing spacer frames for insulating glass units, spacer offcuts are inevitably generated – during cutting to length or as a result of faulty production.
Although these offcuts consist of high-quality materials, they have often ended up as waste and been incinerated – partly because practical alternatives have been lacking. Due to the metal content, this approach is not only inefficient, but also questionable from an ecological perspective.
This is exactly where we come in. Our aim is to ensure that valuable materials are not lost, but kept consistently within the material cycle. At this stage, this approach is being piloted with selected customers in Germany and other European countries. As part of this pilot project, we take back spacer offcuts generated by these customers and have them sorted by material type by a specialized partner company in Germany. Polypropylene, stainless steel, and steel are precisely separated - a crucial prerequisite for a genuine circular economy. This allows the materials collected in this project to be reused as raw materials and helps avoid waste.
The recovered polypropylene is particularly exciting for us. Can the cycle truly be closed and the material used again in spacer production? Our internal tests provide a clear answer: yes. Our spacers can be produced without difficulty using 35 %, 75 %, or even more recycled polypropylene – without any loss of quality or visual limitations. The first pilot customers are already testing this approach under real-life conditions.
This brings an important milestone within reach: a spacer made entirely from recycled material.
Thanks to our EPD, Stage A1, we know exactly that the greatest lever for reducing CO₂ lies in raw material procurement. For us, using recycled material is therefore much more than a sustainability measure: it reduces emissions right at the beginning of the value chain. A spacer made entirely from recycled material can offer our customers a product with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.
For our customers, this creates real added value. No waste, no materials sent for incineration, no downcycling – instead, a closed material flow that directly reduces the CO₂ footprint.
The spacer is only a small component of an insulating glass unit. But especially when components like these become circular, it becomes clear how effective sustainable thinking in the details can be. With our recycling program, we close material cycles, conserve resources, reduce CO₂, and make a concrete contribution to future-ready construction. Together with our customers, we turn good material back into a good product – and bring a genuine circular economy to the window and facade industry.