PVC | MARKETS
The PVC industry in Europe and North America is acting to address regulatory concerns as well as aiming to increase post-consumer recycling of PVC. Jennifer Markarian reports
IMAGE: RETURN POLYMERS
PVC makes progress despite challenges
Although recycling of post-industrial PVC is well established, post-consumer recycling (PCR) has been on a smaller scale until more recently. The industry has recognised the need for broader recycling of post-consumer materials and is working to solve challenges, such as collection and sorting, to widen the scope. Durable PVC goods, such as vinyl siding, roofing, piping, flooring and other long-lasting products eventually reach end of life. There is also a drive to recycle single-use PVC parts, such as those in healthcare, in the move toward a circular economy. The European PVC industry (including the
EU-27, the UK, Norway and Switzerland) has a long-term commitment to sustainability called VinylPlus. This group has been active for more than 20 years in reducing the environmental impact of PVC, and members are currently working towards the VinylPlus 2030 commitment. A big piece of this commitment is to move the European PVC value chain towards circularity by increasing the volume of PVC that is recycled into new
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products to 1m tonnes per year by 2030. VinylPlus reports that in 2022, more than 813,000 tonnes of PVC waste (nearly 38% of which was post-consumer waste and the remainder pre-consumer) was recycled in the VinylPlus framework. These data come from the Recovinyl organisation via its RecoTrace system that collects traceable and audited volume data from recyclers and converters. Recovinyl is approved by the Circular Plastics Alliance and complies with its audit protocol and monitoring requirements. Ingrid Verschueren, General Manager of Recovinyl, said in the last Progress Report in May 2023 that its network of converters is expanding. Vinyl window profiles continue to be a signifi-
cant portion of PVC recycled in the VinylPlus framework. The European Trade Association of PVC Window System Suppliers (EPPA) aims to increase the amount of post-consumer windows recycled into unplasticised recycled PVC (rPVC-U) and the amount of rPVC-U used. The group said in the Progress Report that “consumers are increasingly
January/February 2024 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 25
Main image: Scrap PVC collected by Return Polymers from its customers
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