THE world will soon learn just how far PVC – a plastic once demonised by so many – has come. Details of how many tonnes of PVC were recycled last year will be published at the VinylPlus General Assembly in Prague in May this year.
"We are reasonably bullish that yet again VinylPlus will provide a step increase in recycled volumes for 2018 but tonnages have yet to be audited," said Dr Jason Leadbitter, Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at INOVYN.
That said, he’s confident that the figures will demonstrate that PVC, one of the most widely used plastics in the world, deserves to be at the heart of the circular economy.
Since 2000 Recovinyl – the recycling arm of VinylPlus – has recycled more than four million tonnes of PVC window frames, pipes, flooring, cables, packaging, tarpaulins, furniture and medical devices.
Jason said it had been possible because everyone in the value chain – the PVC manufacturers, the additives’ producers, converters and recyclers – had been involved.
What’s more, VinylPlus, which has pledged to recycle 900,000 tonnes of PVC by 2025 and at least one million tonnes by 2030, is a voluntary commitment and has not been imposed on industry.
“Voluntary commitments provide a huge incentive to create win/win opportunities for both industry and regulators because they save on red tape,” he said.
Another initiative from the VinylPlus programme has been the recent launch of a label that helps customers to easily identify products which have been responsibly manufactured.
So far six window manufacturers have been given permission to display the new VinylPlus® Product Label – Vinyl Verified – on their products.
“The label is a differentiator in the market,” said Jason. “It has been seven years in the making but it’s exciting that it’s finally been launched and adopted already.”
The initiative, initially aimed at the construction industry, has been developed by VinylPlus, with help from BRE Global and The Natural Step, and INOVYN is proud to be part of it.
“The label itself allows companies to raise the bar from a sustainability perspective,” said Jason.
To meet the demanding criteria, INOVYN has also played its part in demonstrating responsible manufacturing of the PVC resin itself.