25-Year-Old Gutters. 98 Brand-New Homes. One Closed-Loop Cycle.
Customer Case Spotlight: Polytech Gives 25-Year-Old Gutters a Second Life
What happens to a gutter that has been in service for a quarter of a century? In most renovation projects, the answer is simple: it ends up in a waste container. During a major sustainability renovation of 98 homes in the Componistenbuurt district of Assen, however, Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma, Polytech and Plastchem chose a different approach. Their collaboration demonstrates exactly what circular construction can achieve in practice.
The Project
Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma is upgrading the sustainability performance of 98 homes in Assen. A project of this scale also requires a new roofline, often slightly higher than the original design. As a result, the existing gutters, PVC gutters supplied by Polytech and installed 25 years ago, had to be replaced.
The question was not whether new gutters would be installed, but what would happen to the old material.
From Old Gutter to New Raw Material
Instead of being disposed of as construction waste, the old gutters were locally recycled by Plastchem in Hardenberg into high-quality PVC raw material.
Using this recycled material, Polytech in Musselkanaal manufactured new prefabricated gutters in the Dakgoot Klassiek model, adapted to the newly elevated roofline of the homes. H&W Totaaldak carried out the installation on-site.
The result is a truly circular process: old PVC becomes new raw material, the raw material becomes a new product, and that product will serve for decades to come.
Because the gutters were supplied prefabricated and made to measure, installation was faster than traditional on-site fabrication. It also reduced transportation requirements and generated virtually no waste on the construction site.
More Than Just One Project
For Plastchem, this case is not an exception. It is a practical example of what Plastchem Circular stands for: PVC that remains valuable enough after decades of use to become raw material once again.
Projects like this contribute to a clear goal. By 2030, we aim to source at least 30% of our raw materials from recycled streams. Every tonne of old PVC that returns to a new product is a tonne that does not end up as waste.
Watch the video below to see how the project was carried out in practice:
Do You Have a Project with Aging PVC Ready for a Second Life?
This approach is not limited to gutters. Wherever PVC reaches the end of its service life, the material can become a valuable raw material again instead of waste.
Are you facing a similar challenge in your project, construction company, or organisation? Get in touch with us. We would be happy to discuss how your PVC waste streams can be reused and given a second life.
