PVC | REGULATION


four-year authorisation for uses of DEHP in recycled PVC by three PVC recycling companies. This was challenged by environmental NGO ClientEarth which took the Commission to the European Court of Justice over its decision. The case was still pending at the time of writing. The PVC industry has concerns that the regula- tory conflict over legacy additives could hinder investment in PVC recycling. In June, the VinyLoop PVC recycling business in Ferrara, Italy was closed due to financial losses. VinyLoop, a 60/40 joint venture between Inovyn and Texyloop, used a proprietary solvent process for hard-to-recycle soft PVC items. A fall in demand for the special type of recycled PVC produced at the VinyLoop plant, driven by increasing product regulation, severely impacted the business, it said at the time of the closure. Francesco Tarantino, VinyLoop General Manager, said demand for its VinyLoop R-PVC had recently collapsed: “This has been driven primarily by tighter regulations relating to VinyLoop R-PVC that contains DEHP.” In October, the remaining VinyLoop plant assets


and related land, service contracts and all current employees were transferred to Benvic Europe. Benvic intends to convert the assets for its business focussed on polymer compound production. This may be seen as a setback for PVC recycling


in Europe, yet work continues on treating difficult- to-recycle PVC waste, for example at the Oreade- Suez plant in France where trial reprocessing is being scaled up. Companies in the large volume PVC markets also report continuing commitment to recycling. Major PVC extruder Deceuninck said in its 2017 annual report that it focused last year on improving post-sorting and pelletising technologies and investing in further automation at its recycling plant in Diksmuide, Belgium. Deceuninck recycled 12,000 tonnes of post-industrial and post-consumer rigid PVC waste in 2017, part of which the group reuses in added value products, such as new window profiles and thermal reinforcements. Veka, another major PVC profiles extruder, is making a major investment in PVC recycling in the UK this year. It says it is spending more than £8m to convert a former metals recycling plant in Wellingbor- ough into a PVC window recycling operation using post-industrial and post-consumer waste. The German company expects the plant to open this year and to be fully operational from spring 2019, with up to 50 jobs expected to be created. With the addition of the new UK plant to the two it operates in Germany and France, Veka will have combined capacity of more than 100,000 tpa of PVC window waste. Simon Scholes, Commercial Director at Veka


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


Recycling in the UK, said: “This will give us the ability to produce the highest quality polymer for use in a range of construction products, including brand new window and doorframe profiles. We will have the ability to promote and deliver PVC-U windows as truly sustainable at a time when plastic generally is under close scrutiny, and to make the most of what is a tremendous resource.” British window maker Eurocell is another group with a commitment to PVC recycling. Over the past six years, Eurocell has invested £5m in an expan- sion at its PVC recycling operation in Ilkeston, Derbyshire. In October, the company rebranded the operation from Merritt Plastics (which it acquired in 2009) to Eurocell Recycle. The plant has contributed heavily to the 61,500 tonnes of end-of-life PVC Eurocell has diverted from landfill over the last 10 years, said the group. Chris Coxon, Head of Marketing at Eurocell, said: “We have owned the facility for almost a decade as Merritt Plastics. The time has come to bring it under the Eurocell name and the rebrand allows us to raise awareness and expand further, venturing into different locations, whilst remaining consistent with our brand and messaging throughout. We look forward to our future as Eurocell Recycle and continuing to carry out positive work within our industry.” In July, Eurocell was named Manufacturer of the Year at the UK National Recycling Awards.


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.vinylplus.eu � www.bpf.co.uk � www.axiongroup.co.uk � www.eppa-profiles.eu � www.rewindo.de � www.thenaturalstep.org � www.deceuninck.com � https://vekauk.com � www.eurocell-recycle.co.uk


November/December 2018 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 15


Above: Major PVC manufacturers, including Deceuninck (pictured), have PVC recycling operations


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