Entering into force on January 1, 2022, RE2020 has emerged as a major lever for action in the fight against global warming. This new regulation aims to improve the performance of buildings, the comfort of the inhabitants, but also to take into account the carbon impact of the building over its entire life cycle.
Since its creation in 2003, Geplast has been working to respond to these issues by offering innovative products that are part of a sustainable approach.
Symbol of Geplast's commitment
Aware of the importance of reducing its environmental footprint for the good of the planet, Geplast makes maximum use of so-called “renewable” resources.
The GEKO project was therefore born out of a desire to create a visual identity to bring together all the projects implemented and to come which are part of an “eco-design” approach.
Like a “gecko”, a type of lizard present in several parts of the world, the products in the range respond to three fundamentals:
- eco-responsibility → nature
- product quality → agility
- personalized solutions → great adaptability.
Matter is never “prime”
From their design, GEKO brand products fit into a carbon-free and sustainable life cycle. In principle, and as much as possible, matter is never “prime”. All offcuts are sorted, crushed and re-extruded. At Geplast, in 2022, 35% of their transformed materials will be recycled materials.
In addition to recycled material, GEKO also uses alternative composites, from almost inexhaustible agricultural resources or even bio-sourced materials composed of 60% natural material, rice husk also called Loryza®.
Since 2008, recycled material has been used as an underlayer for the production of PVC trim and joinery profiles. Today 95% of angles, flats, flaps are made by coextrusion. The proportion of recycled material in these products is greater than 80%, this being located on the non-visible part of the profile.
Some other of our products fall within this approach: IrYs chest designed from 98% recycled materials or the new Oryzon collection from the Eclipse range made of Loryza®.
Reduce carbon footprint
The eco-design of Geplast products also involves reducing our carbon impact. Since 2018, Geplast's R&D department and the EVEA firm have been calculating the carbon costs of their recycled materials and measuring the energy consumption of some of their extrusion lines in order to establish Life Cycle Analyzes (LCA) to carry out Environmental and Health Declaration Sheets (FDES) for each product, which will be published in the Inies database and checked by the inspection bodies.
Geplast then submitted to the loss prevention audit of GPI (Industrial Plastic Granules in the environment). Since January 1, 2022, all sites producing, handling and transporting industrial plastic granules must implement preventive measures to avoid losses and releases into the environment.
After the audit carried out with the LNE firm, Geplast obtained a certificate valid for 3 years. It demonstrates its approach to preventing the loss of GPIs (from the arrival of the material to its extrusion and recycling) and the environmental risks in order to comply with the AGEC law (Anti-Waste and Economy Circular) decree n°2021_461.