- You can recycle your old windows in return for discounts on new ones
- Double glazing improves your home’s insulation, keeping you warmer
- It also helps reduce outside noise and increases your property’s value
Installing double glazing is a great way to improve your home’s insulation, which’ll help you save money on your energy bills. In fact, the average three-bedroom home will save around £140 a year (Energy Saving Trust, 2024).
Double glazing costs can be high, but there are ways to reduce the overall cost. One method is to recycle your old windows, which if you do via Anglian Windows, could save you money on the total cost of installing double glazing.
This is definitely worth considering if you’ve bought an old house with single glazing.
The Anglian scrappage scheme, as it’s known, offers an average subsidy based on the savings of using recycled materials. Not only is this good for your bank balance, but it’s good for the environment too! That’s a win-win in our eyes.
Let’s take a look at this scheme, why it’s worth getting double glazing, how the Anglian scrappage scheme is good for the environment, and whether you can qualify for the scheme.
Why should I consider getting new windows and doors?
Double glazing for your windows and doors is a big benefit for any type of home. You’ll not only save on your annual energy bills by making your home more insulated, but you’ll also reduce outside noise and increase security.
Double glazing is a great tool to increase a home’s efficiency too, which is important as around two thirds of homes in the UK fail their efficiency tests. On average, homes in the UK lose roughly £180 worth of heat through their windows and doors. Double glazing helps mitigate this.
It’s definitely worth considering replacing your hold windows and doors by recycling them, as you’ll not only save money, but reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Old, single-pane windows can get a new lease of life when properly recycled!
What is the Anglian Scrappage Scheme?
The Anglian Scrappage Scheme was set up to help people recycle their old windows and doors, rather than just get rid of them. It’s meant to help people not only save money on new windows and doors, but reduce the environmental impact of discarding old ones.
When you use the Anglian Scrappage Scheme, you can get savings of around £1,000 off new windows and doors. This is pretty helpful considering the generally high costs involved with installing double glazing throughout your home.
How does Anglian’s Scrappage Scheme work?
When you choose to recycle your windows and doors via the Anglian Scrappage Scheme, Anglian Windows will send a team of professionals to your home. They’ll remove your old windows and doors, ready to be properly recycled and given a new lease of life.
The uPVC will be removed and sorted at Anglian’s recycling centre in Norwich. After cutting the uPVC into shorter lengths, it’s then fed through a machine and converted back into uPVC pellets. These pellets can then be melted and moulded back into new uPVC frames for new windows and doors.
This is called co-extrusion, where the recycled uPVC becomes the core of new windows and doors. New uPVC is still required to create a new frame, but overall this process is better for the environment because less ‘virgin’ uPVC needs to be used.
It’s a similar process for the metal and glass, which are both removed from the recycled windows and doors. The glass, for example, can be grounded up and used in road surfaces. Metal, on the other hand, can be recycled for use again and again.
How much could I save by recycling my old windows and doors?
Recycling your old windows and doors and replacing them with new double glazing can save you roughly £1,800 on your energy bills after 10 years.
The Anglian Scrappage Scheme isn’t backed by the government, so it’s not tied into any existing government grants. By improving home efficiency however, it will contribute towards the UK government’s net-zero by 2050 ambitions.
Be aware too that there are currently no government grants for new windows and doors, so the Anglian Scrappage Scheme is your best bet at getting the costs of installing double glazing reduced.
How much gets recycled through Anglian’s scrappage scheme?
Choosing to recycle your windows and doors via the Anglian Scrappage Scheme is one way to lessen your impact on the environment. Anglian claims that each year it recycles roughly:
- 108,000 windows and doors
- 1,900 tonnes of uPVC windows
- 2,268 tonnes of glass
- 282 tonnes of metal
That means less windows and doors with plastic frames either being burned or sent to clog up landfill.
How do I qualify for the Anglian Scrappage Scheme?
If you’re a UK homeowner, then you’ll be able to qualify for the Anglian Scrappage Scheme. You’ll also need to intend to use Anglian Windows to replace your old windows and doors – you won’t qualify if you use another supplier.
Summary
- You can recycle old windows and doors via the Anglian Scrappage Scheme.
- The scheme helps you save roughly £1,000 on the purchase of new windows and doors from Anglian Windows.
- You’ll qualify for the scheme if you’re a UK homeowner and plan to replace your windows and doors through Anglian Windows.
- Recycling old windows and doors is better for the environment, as less waste goes to landfill.
- Double glazing can save you around £1,800 on your energy bills after 10 years.
