Outdoor Engineering ECODEK
UK made system with real
eco credentials
For a product to achieve its Green credentials in the construction industry, it sometimes has to tick a few unexpected boxes. Here we take a look at Ecodek, a wood polymer composite decking system made from 95% recycled material which is winning friends for its real-world waste reduction benefits as well as its environmental properties.
The term ‘Eco’ is often tagged on to all sorts of products, services and expressions as an indication of their environmentally responsible credentials.
A quick Google search describes the extended term, Eco-friendly as an adjective - meaning not harmful to the environment, as in: “I only use eco-friendly products.”
Similarly Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, describes eco-friendly as “a marketing term referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that inflict reduced, minimal, or no harm upon ecosystems or the environment.”
In the tough, real-world environment of the UK construction industry however, eco-friendliness tends to encompass much more down-to- earth concepts. These include minimal use of virgin commodities, maximum use of recycled materials, low embodied energy and near evangelistic measures to help reduce on-site waste and the cost of its disposal.
With these broad definitions in mind, CPD Specifier takes a look at a British made product that ticks a lot of these boxes in its quest to provide a building system that can make justifiable claims for its Eco credentials.
Ecodek, part of the Epwin Group, manufactures an innovative decking board system made entirely from ethically sourced hardwood waste and recycled high density polyethylene (old plastic milk bottles, to you and me).
According to Ecodek’s Technical Director, Alex Collins, Ecodek is made from 95% recycled materials and is itself, 100% recyclable. “Ecodek is a wood polymer composite (WPC) made up of 55% hardwood waste - mainly sawdust and wood shavings - and 40% recycled high density polyethylene - the material that plastic milk bottles are made from”.
The hardwood waste is certified under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Ecodek says Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certification can be provided depending on the accreditation of the supply route chosen by the customer.
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Ecodek is made from 95% recycled materials and is itself, 100% recyclable
Alex continued, “We supply most customers with boards cut to specified lengths so it’s a genuine zero-waste material. We even provide a buy-back facility for product off-cuts so that customers can send any waste material back to us for recycling.”
This bespoke, cut to order facility has proved extremely popular in the booming London property market where high-end redevelopment sites are using Ecodek for balcony decks and terraces to luxury apartments.
Contractors building these developments generally work complex hours and require carefully co-ordinated delivery times to minimise on-site holding and storage of materials.
Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square London is overlooked by this stylish Ecodek terrace
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