SUSTAINABILITY | PVC
PVC recycled in the VinylPlus framework comes from a number of waste sources Source: VinylPlus
Below: The 13th VinylPlus Sustainability Forum took place in Paris in May, attracting more than 200 delegates from 23 countries
by 5,584 tonnes or 1.4% between 2023 and 2024. This sector accounted for 396,777 tonnes or 54% of the total in 2024. There were some other growth areas in applications which use proportionately less PVC than profiles. The pipe sector, for example, generated about 33,400 tonnes, or 4.6%, of rPVC in the VinylPlus framework in 2024, which was 9.8% or 2,987 tonnes higher. But the story was different in other larger end-use segments, pulling the amount of PVC recycled in 2024 down. The volume of flooring, the second largest end use sector, fell from 118,000 tonnes to 117,000 tonnes. The volume of PVC recovered from the cable sector was down 5% at 92,000 tonnes, while at 54,000 tonnes the volume of material recovered from flexible PVC applica- tions was down almost 20%. This is explained partly by the decline in the building and construction sectors in 2024. This is the largest market for PVC products. The German, Belgian, Polish, French and Italian building and construction markets all shrank. So, in these key markets and other smaller markets there was less waste PVC available to be recycled. Sluggish demand meant that suppliers tried to sell older
materials first, while non-EU producers were also more successful at importing virgin and recycled PVC.
Schellerer said that “despite these challenges
PVC waste recycling within the VinylPlus framework remained largely stable, even exceeding expecta- tions” in 2024. “Many companies have enhanced their circular operations, enabling us to register recycling volumes close to those of 2023,” he said.
Pathways to growth The goal is for recycled PVC to be seen as a different material to virgin PVC and VinylPlus would like to see a “growing demand for recycled materials, decoupling them from raw materials [price] volatil- ity.” Luc Castin, Sustainability Business Manager, Ineos Inovyn, said: “VinylPlus would welcome legal obligations to collect plastics for recycling. We also encourage the adoption of measures to enhance the competitiveness of the European plastics value chain, creating a level playing field for EU and non-EU actors, and to revitalise industries such as building and construction.” Looking at 2025, the group added that the lower
price of virgin PVC poses a larger risk to small recyclers. But larger, integrated PVC product makers with their own pre-consumer waste streams will be more resilient. VinylPlus said it is working at the European and global levels to ensure that business’s voice is heard in the UN’s (delayed) work towards a global plastics treaty. VinylPlus lobbied for the industry at the Ottawa and Busan treaty meetings with its counterpart the Global Vinyl Council. VinylPlus has been driving PVC reuse through
three pathways: improving collection and recy- cling; supporting chemical recycling and sorting technologies; and investigating how to detect, sort
34 COMPOUNDING WORLD | November 2025
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: VINYLPLUS
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