MARKETS | PVC
plant is being planned for the PVC separation technology and design and development of a business model for a product stewardship scheme for PVC coated textiles. If successful, it will divert up to 20,000 tonnes of PVC and polyester annually from landfill, to be reprocessed and recycled into quality new products. Australia has also been in the vanguard of
recycling PVC hospital waste. In 2013, the VCA, with members Baxter Healthcare and Welvic Australia, launched the PVC Recycling in Hospitals scheme, which collects and recycles high volume PVC products such as IV bags, oxygen masks and tubing into useful new products. Through 265 participating hospitals around
Australia, the program has collected over 500 tonnes of PVC medical waste, equivalent to 25m IV fluid bags. Following its success, the VCA has inspired similar PVC medical recycling schemes in Europe, UK, South Africa, Canada, and Thailand. The Vinyl Institute of Canada, for example, launched the PVC 123 Medical PVC Recycling Pilot partnership in Canada in September 2020. At the time, it said hospital operating rooms, which produce the highest volume of IV bags, oxygen mask, and oxygen tubing waste, would be the first point of collection, after which, collected materials will be remanufactured into new products. Several hospitals across the country are now involved in the project. In North America, the Washington, DC-based
Vinyls Council says that of the approximate 1.25m tonnes of vinyl materials that it estimates is avail-
able to be landfilled (from industrial or post-con- sumer material streams), around 500,000 tonnes are captured and recycled annually in the US and Canada; these comprise 435,000 tonnes of pre-consumer vinyl materials and 65,000 tonnes of predominately non-packaging post-consumer vinyl materials (essentially construction materials). The Vinyl Sustainability Council, which is composed of members from throughout the US vinyl value chain, is focused on increasing recycling of post-consumer vinyl recycling. It is working with the Chemical Fabrics and Film association on a vinyl roofing recycling pilot program; and the Vinyl Siding Institute on a vinyl siding pilot program in Northeast Ohio. The Vinyl Roofing Division of the Chemical
Fabrics and Film Association (CFFA), in Cleveland, Ohio, is composed of the leading manufacturers of PVC roofing membranes in North America. In the US, post-consumer PVC roof recycling has been predominantly dependent on individual company initiatives. As a result, recycled volumes are significantly less than in Europe, says the CFFA’s Jenny Oblock. “Nonetheless, the technical feasibility of post- consumer PVC roof recycling has been proven by several US roofing companies.” One of the exam- ples she cites is the Rogers Centre, home of Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays (see photo). “Collectively, the member manufacturers of the CFFA Vinyl Roofing Division recycled a combined nearly 1m pounds [approx 450 tonnes] of PVC roof- ing membranes at the end of their service lives in 2020,” she says. “The CFFA Vinyl Roofing Division is evaluating a
path to transition the roofing pilot program to a national program by building a business case for investment needed to increase post-consumer recycling of PVC roofs.” Since late 2020, the Vinyl Siding Institute in
The original 43,000m2 PVC roof on the Rogers Centre in Toronto needed
to be replaced after storm damage. The complex structure was replaced by another PVC system developed by Sika Sarnafil. This company administers a roof take-back program through which roofing contractors can help the manufacturer reclaim used PVC material that will find new life in roof membranes or walkways. The program has recycled more than 36,000 tonnes of processed material
26 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | January/February 2022
Alexandria, Virginia, has been working on a fact-finding mission to develop a recycling pro- gram model that may be replicated throughout North America. Last September, several prominent players created an alliance in the geographic heart of the industry that they say will make a strong impact on polymeric siding’s recycling program development. This is the Northeast Ohio Vinyl Siding Recycling Coalition (NEOH-VSRC), serving Cuyahoga County (metro Cleveland) and surround- ing areas. The objective is to set recycling standards and
coordinate consumers, contractors, distributors, waste collectors, transportation groups, cleaners/ recyclers, manufacturers and other relevant
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
IMAGE: SIKA SARNAFIL
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