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VinylPlus: PVC recycling on target to meet 2020 forecast


PVC recycling rose by nearly 11% in Europe last year, putting it on track to reach its 2020 target. Recycling levels exceeded


560,000 tonnes last year according to Brigitte Dero, general manager of VinylPlus – the European PVC industry’s 10-year voluntary commitment to sustainability. The target is to recycle


800,000 tonnes per year by 2020, and if the rate of growth achieved in 2016 can be sustained the industry will hit its 2020 target. The 2017 progress report


(reporting on 2016 activities) has now been published. It reveals that VinylPlus projects recycled a total of 568,696 tonnes of PVC in 2016, compared with 514, 913 tonnes in 2015.


“VinylPlus is now considered by many as a frontrunner for the circular economy,” said Dero. “We reached this position by achieving significant and concrete results and have consistently demonstrated our commitment through action.” More than 3.5 million tonnes


of PVC has now been recycled since 2000, with the largest volumes from window profiles, followed by cables and flexible applications, pipes and fittings. Recycling of flexible PVC


rose by nearly 5% during 2016: the RoofCollect and Recovinyl projects together recovered almost 92,000 tonnes in 2016, compared with around 88,000 tonnes in 2015. The RoofCollect project on its own – which


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Above: Dero: “Vinyl- Plus is now considered a frontrunner for the circular economy”


Right: RecoMed is a UK-based project that recovers PVC waste from hospitals


recycled waterproof roof membranes – saw a 56% increase in collection rates, to more than 5,000 tonnes. Recycling of rigid PVC films – under the ERPA project and others – remained flat at around 24,000 tonnes. In 2016, ERPA and IVK Europe reviewed their recycling schemes with the aim of boosting cooperation between converters, recyclers and customers. There are also industry-


focused project – such as the UK-based RecoMed, which last year collected nearly 1,400kg of medical PVC waste from hospitals.


VinylPlus has decided to


withdraw a project that was intended to develop new technologies for “difficult to recycle” PVC material. The project was intended to recycle 100,000 tonnes/year of material. Although the project has been shelved, the overall target of 800,000 tonnes per


year remains in place. VinylPlus said that analysis by its Controlled Loop Committee had found the project to be unrealistic. “None of the explored


technologies or projects – some of which are promising but still at an experimental stage – is expected to be able to contribute sufficient recycling quantities by 2020 to achieve the objective [of 100,000 tonnes/year],” said VinylPlus is its progress report. However, it said it would


continue to look for technically and economically feasible ways of handling these types of material. “We have demonstrated


through the VinylPlus Voluntary Commitment that we can divert from landfill significant volumes of PVC waste, thereby contrib- uting to resource efficiency,” Dero added. Other recent achievements include the development of an


Additives Sustainability Footprint (ASF) – a new systematic framework for assessing the sustainable use of additives in PVC products. The first ASF is almost complete for window profiles, and another for flexible applications will follow this year. The Natural Step, a


consultancy that acts as an external advisor to VinylPlus, said that successes such as the complete removal of lead stabilisers from PVC should not lead to complacency – as many targets still needed to be met. “It is clear that downstream


actors and public sector organisations are in need of tools to help understand and select PVC products that meet the highest sustainability performance and management standards,” it said. “We emphasise the relevance of the VinylPlus labelling scheme as a critical tool in light of this.” ❙ www.vinylplus.eu


May 2017 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 5


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