A 4,000m2 printed building wrap has been converted into fuel energy with zero waste by Embrace Building Wraps. It is the first project of its type undertaken by Embrace with waste management partners Reconomy and Fespa UK.
The building wrap, which covered Smallbrook Queensway SBQ in Birmingham for Embrace client CEG Commercial Estates Group (CEG), was installed in 2020 and has has now been removed and sent into the waste-to-energy scheme.
The company said its waste partners have certified that 100% of the spent 4,000m2 printed PVC mesh wrap - weighing 1.81 tonnes - has been diverted to Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) recovery. The waste-to-energy processing was conducted in a confidential environment at an approved facility in the UK. RDF is used to turn waste into fuel that is used at Energy from Waste facilities to generate power and heat. This produces green energy for electricity into the National Grid instead of sending a multitude of waste to landfill.
All the printed substrates used were fire-rated with associated test reports and certificates. When mixed with various combustible components the spent banners can be processed to create fuel, alongside non-recyclable plastics, paper cardboard, labels and generally ‘corrugative’ materials.
Greg Forster, managing director at Embrace Building Wraps, said: “Doing good and responsible business does not have to cost the Earth. Of course, there is an additional cost associated with using the service. However, I see this as an investment in our futures.
“I would add when we installed this wrap, in the summer of 2022, we also funded the planting of 1,000 new trees in our global forest and invested in 20 tonnes of carbon offsets as part of our Climate Action Initiative.”
To date Embrace has funded the planting of 13,804 new trees across 18 projects and supported the prevention of 228.57 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) from being emitted through 49 verified carbon avoidance projects across the globe.
Reconomy director and sustainability expert Jon Hutton, added: “We are thrilled to be working with Embrace Building Wraps and be part of their sustainability journey. This is the largest single project so far that we’ve diverted from landfill, at 4,000 square metres, and the first of other scheduled takeback campaigns. Embrace are helping to pioneer solutions to some of the challenges faced in the digital print market and managing end-of-campaign material is a key strategy.”