INNOVATION | PVC
Eurocell prevented from going to landfill last year. Eurocell Recycle now offers a complete closed-loop process for collecting and processing used PVC-U frames in the UK to be re-extruded and turned into new windows, doors and building products. The company says that products manufactured
from recycled PVC-U are stronger than those made with virgin plastic because of the chemical transfor- mation of the polymers it contains when it goes through the recycling process. Research shows that it can be recycled up to ten times with no degrada- tion in quality, giving it a lifespan in the construc- tion industry of 350 years. Inovyn has introduced a bio-attributed PVC
range, Biovyn, using a supply chain fully certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB). The material is fully recyclable. Manufactured at Rheinberg, Germany, Biovyn is made using bio-attributed ethylene, a renewable feedstock derived from biomass that does not compete with the food chain. Biovyn is certified by RSB as delivering a 100% substitution of fossil feedstock in its production system, enabling a greenhouse gas saving of over 90% compared to conventionally produced PVC.
“Driven by the increasing global focus on the
circular economy, there is growing demand for a specialist, renewable PVC that decouples its production from the conventional use of virgin fossil feedstocks – Biovyn meets that demand,” says Filipe Constant, Business Director. “Biovyn demon- strates that we can substitute the use of virgin fossil feedstocks without compromising the unique product qualities such as durability, flexibility and recyclability that make PVC one of the most widely used, sustainable plastics in the world.”
Biovyn is expected to have numerous value- added applications across a range of industry sectors, including highly specialised end-uses such as automotive and medical. Inovyn has been working closely with Tarkett since the early stages of product development, which will source it for a new flooring collection. Another initiative raising the profile and potential
of PVC recycling and reuse is Designing in a Circular Economy, a project run by the British Plastics Federation’s VinylPlus UK Group. The aims of the project were to raise the awareness of the PVC sector within the design community as well as to showcase vinyl’s sustainability and cost effective credentials. Through collaboration with the design community, VinylPlus UK also wanted to identify the design opportunities of PVC products at their end of life. Working with the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) and the Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE), VinylPlus UK sought to engage designers, manufacturers and materials experts to learn about the properties, applications and sustainability credentials of PVC material. This was done through a “whitewater workshop” facilitated by MaDE, which involved bringing together different industries to identify possibilities through learning and “playing” with design. The PVC: Reused, Recycled, Revisited event was
a workshop combining the expertise of the materi- als and product design communities to revise the understanding and opportunities for PVC product reuse. The workshop provided the vehicle to fully understand a chosen material and develop novel thinking toward innovative future use. Providing a second life for a material, such as
The winner of VinylPlus UK’s design competition was Karen Silva of London South Bank University, for her Yuna portable water filtration and storage device for the poorest communities in third world countries
42 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | November/December 2019
PVC, can be provided by recycling but also through innovative reuse. The circular economy aims to redefine the conventional “make, sell and discard” model through innovation and careful design to reuse materials for a second life. Such a model goes well beyond conventional recycling but requires novel thinking and careful design to minimise material waste and maximise circularity. As part of this initiative, the VinylPlus UK, IOM3 and MaDE PVC Redesigned competition aimed to engage the design community to encourage devel- opment of new product ideas from PVC products that have reached their end of life. While recycling is well established within the PVC industry, the competition wanted to seek new ideas in the reuse space, taking items and innovating new products without the need for mechanical and/or chemical recycling. This involved various applications of the material, both rigid and flexible, industrial and consumer.
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
PHOTO: BPF
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