Recycling | additives
perceives yellowness as dirty or hazy, while blue light is seen as cleaner and clearer,” says Prusak. “What is most significant is how we can shift that blue value so dramatically with just 0.05% additive loading.”
Sustainable PVC Launched in March 2000, the European PVC industry introduced the ten-year Vinyl 2010 programme, which started the voluntary recycling of more than one million tonnes of PVC waste. The successor to this programme, VinylPlus, has recently published an ongoing progress report on PVC – On the Road to Sustainability – which outlines how the polymer is now being recognised as a material for the future due to its durability, full recyclability and low carbon footprint. VinylPlus says that in 1999 no PVC recycling
infrastructure existed and the material was widely regarded as unrecyclable. PVC recycling is now well established and benefiting the environment and economy.
The VinylPlus programme comprises 30 measurable
targets organised around five challenges. It is based on The Natural Step System Conditions for a Sustainable Society; an internationally-recognised method for sustainability planning that integrates the science of sustainability with business decision-making. According to VinylPlus, the programme looks at PVC holistically. This means not just how it is manufactured and disposed of, but also how PVC can contribute to a sustainable society where economic growth and human wellbeing fit with reduced natural resource consumption. Midway through this ten year programme, VinylPlus says that progress is being made on all the five
challenges and some targets have already been met. Recycling is a top priority. In 2014, 481,018 tonnes of PVC waste, such as rigid PVC films, pipes and fittings, window profiles and related products, as well as flexible PVC (cables, membranes and flooring) were recycled through the European-wide network of 155 Recovinyl- accredited recyclers (Recovinyl is the European Union’s PVC industry recycling organisation). The target is to recycle 800,000 tonnes of PVC per year by 2020. The use of lead-based stabilisers decreased by 86% in the EU-28 countries between 2007 and 2014 and is on track for complete replacement by the end of 2015. Energy consumption by PVC resin producers has also fallen by 10.2% in line with the 20% reduction by the 2020 target. “Judging by our substantial progress to date, it is clear that the European PVC industry is on the path to
Left: Vinyl flooring installed in a school in the UK produced using PVC recycled from the London 2012 Olympic Games
MAAG – 4 STEPS AHEAD FOR YOUR SUCCESS GEAR PUMPS, FILTRATION, PELLETIZING AND PULVERIZING SYSTEMS
Come and see us at Chinaplas: Hall E1, Booth J21
www.maag.com
PHOTO: VINYLPLUS
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