idigbo

[wobs]

I'm always put off by the environmental cost of uPVC. While the chemicals in modern ones are less harmful (even Biff admits this on his website), they are a swine to dispose of.

I have visited a number of waste sites that have a pile of waste frames, and all complain what a pain they are to dispose, as they need to be broken up by hand, owing to the composite nature of the units. They have metal inside the uPVC section, and double glaze units. This equates to a more complex unit to dispose than wooden frames.

There are recycling plants set up for them, but transfer stations first accumulate them, and need to sort them out. And I don't know how effective it is to actually recycle the uPVC.

In addition to this, I attended a seminar on waste management yesterday, which had a talk on incineration. Turns out that two of the worst materials to go into incineration from household waste are tires and uPVC window frames. When either of these items get loaded into the system, the demand for emission abatement goes up, and they consume more lime as a result, to treat the sulphur and HCl.

So not only is is difficult to recycle, its not particularly nice to incinerate as well.

(Speaking as someone who is in favour of incineration generally).

 

[davidbrac]

Bit late in on this, how is progress.

Idigbo is a good wood to use for this construction it will last a long time if treated right. The reason its on the red list is that it isn't being grown much in the plantations as its use has declined in woodwork, most probably due to the PVC incline. I have used idigbo and its dusty stuff when being worked but a very stable wood that makes good joints and planes well. It is cheaper than oak
I have never used linseed paint so cant comment on that
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/idigbo/