Circular economy at the heart of customer relations

Saint-Gobain Building Glass and Velux, the global leader for skylights, are joining forces to mitigate their environmental impact. This partnership earned Saint-Gobain the 2019 Velux trophy for the most active supplier in the area of sustainable development.

In a series of workshops, the Building Glass and Velux teams discussed together ways in which they could mitigate their carbon footprint. As a result, a roadmap was implemented with several ambitious short- and medium-term measures. The first joint action was launched in the last quarter of 2019. It is a circular economy project involving the recycling of one of the raw materials required to manufacture glass. All glass offcuts and unsold products from Velux’s plant in Germany are trucked 200 km away to the Saint-Gobain facility in Torgau (Germany).

The recovered glass (cullet) is then directly fed back into the Saint-Gobain Glass furnace helping mitigate its carbon footprint (one metric ton of cullet fed into the furnace cuts carbon emissions by 0.5 metric tons and saves 300 kg of raw material). Other projects are currently being examined with Velux to reduce the environmental impact of their industrial activities. 

 Back in 2018, the Danish window manufacturer refocused its strategy around the environment and eco-responsible production in order to become a leader in this field. In presenting this award to Saint-Gobain, Velux is honoring the Group’s efforts around its commitment to sustainable construction.