RJ Facade Systems and Hydro UK have worked in partnership over the past decade, and in 2021, the collaboration have embarked on a redesign of all RJ Facade Systems' imported Facade systems into a UK designed and manufactured range.

Today, 100% of RJ Facade Systems’ systems are manufactured by Hydro. This has helped them reduce their carbon footprint, increase service levels, and has helped the company provide a fully UK manufactured range of facade systems to their customer base.

Hydro’s 4.0 Low-Carbon Aluminium
RJ Facade Systems transitioned from 6.0 aluminium to 4.0 aluminium in 2023, this was a three-month process, and they have now been using 4.0 aluminium for about a year.

Hydro’s 4.0 aluminium is made with 44% recycled post-consumer aluminium, making it the best low-carbon aluminium made by Hydro suitable for Facade systems (3.0 and 2.0 aluminium are currently not available in 6063 T6 aluminium required for Facade systems).

Using recycled aluminium in the production process means that only 5% of the normal amount of energy is used, when comparing to primary aluminium. This energy usually contributes to CO2 levels in the atmosphere. By reducing the amount of energy required to create the material, they're proactively reducing their effect on climate change.

Hydro & RJ Facade Systems Recycling Scheme
In 2024, RJ and Hydro launched a recycling scheme in which post-consumer scrap (scrap aluminium from previous cladding) is recycled and made into useable aluminium, making a closed-loop recycling process. Wastage material from offcuts and non-used billet in the manufacturing process is also used.

The first project they trialled this scheme was an 850m² project. Most of the post-consumer scrap that came from this site was aluminium flashings and subframe, and the strategy of removing the post-consumer scrap was organised by Hydro’s recycling partner & the contractor.

Overall, this recycling scheme was a success, albeit a few challenges during the process, including the site being difficult to access and limited onsite storage. Nevertheless, the recycling scheme has offset a majority of the carbon made by the use of Hydro’s 4.0 aluminium.