Profile Group is New Zealand’s only vertically integrated window and door supply chain, completing a window system from design to distribution.

“To help illustrate the scale of the diversion, we converted the annual tonnage into something more visual — around 350 shipping containers of waste are kept out of landfill each year,” said Bex McQueen, Sustainability Project Manager. “While it’s a simplified comparison, it gives a clearer sense of the volume of material being recovered through our waste programmes.”

Diverted streams include organic waste, metals, glass, soft plastics, PET (polyester) strapping, mixed recyclables such as plastics and aluminium cans, and e-waste. “By separating these materials at source and working with specialist recyclers and recovery partners, they can be recycled or repurposed rather than sent to landfill,” said Bex.

“Tracking this data closely on an annual basis helps identify opportunities to improve recovery rates and move more materials back into productive use rather than treating them as waste.”

Bex also highlighted the sizeable annual benefits of the group’s move away from single-use packaging to reusable materials during calendar 2025, a project several years in the design and implementation. Materials used are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic and INEX low-carbon aluminium extrusion.

This initiative sees packaging used again and again, and fully recycled at the end of its life. A key component in this circularity journey is Profile Group’s transport fleet through APL Direct which backhauls used packaging from window manufacturers nationwide for reuse at the Waikato manufacturing units.

Over 1,000 tonnes of single-use timber will now be saved annually, as well as 48 tonnes of steel strapping, and 1,000 cubic metres of polystyrene. Ten types of packing items are now being returned through the reverse logistics system.

“As New Zealand’s largest manufacturer of aluminium windows and doors, we recognise the responsibility that comes with our scale,” Bex states. “We’re continuing to look at how we create our products and choosing smarter, more circular ways to use and reuse the materials in our care.”