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VinylPlus Steering The PVC Industry Towards A Circular Economy
VinylPlus, the voluntary commitment to sustainable development of the European PVC industry, recycled 771,313 tonnes of PVC in 2019 - more than 96% of the programme’s 2020 target.
The PVC industry is well on track to meet VinylPlus’ ever more challenging recycling targets for 2025, in line with the Circular Economy and the ambition of the Circular Plastics Alliance and EU policy initiatives to encourage recovering, recycling and reusing plastics.
“Over the last 20 years, VinylPlus has worked tirelessly to tackle the challenges of circularity. We continuously aim to improve our sustainability performance embracing the European Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan and other policy initiatives impacting the plastics sector.”
– Brigitte Dero
Managing Director, VinylPlus
Traceability and certification
PVC has become a plastic material of choice for medium and long-life applications, primarily in building and construction products such as window frames, pipes, flooring and cables. PVC is reusable and can be recycled multiple times without losing its essential properties. This recycling effort is reinforced by traceability and certification schemes that ensure the safety and quality of recycled materials and processes.
Voluntary Commitment
Through its Voluntary Commitment, the European PVC industry has recycled 5.7 million tonnes of PVC since 2000, preventing the release of 11.4 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Following the European Commission’s pledging call for the entire plastics industry to boost recycling, VinylPlus has committed to recycling at least 900,000 tonnes of PVC per year into new products by 2025 - securing further its place in achieving Europe’s Circular Economy strategy and the aspirations of the cross-industry European Commission’s Circular Plastics Alliance, set up in 2019 for the cooperation on the uptake of recycled plastic.
Recycling of end-of-life PVC products
Continuous recycling of valuable PVC material is in the best interest of a sustainable society. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has confirmed recently that the recycling of end-of-life PVC products is the best waste management option from both an environmental and human health point of view. Recycling of PVC significantly reduces potential greenhouse gas emissions as for each kilo of PVC recycled, two kilos of CO2 are saved.
Achieving targets
The VinylPlus’ 2020 Progress Report confirms that the voluntary programme is achieving its targeted objectives. To guarantee maximum transparency, participation and accountability, a Monitoring Committee, composed of representatives of the EU Parliament, the EU Commission, trade unions, consumer organisations and academia, supervises VinylPlus’ achievements and progress.
Jo Dewulf, professor at Ghent University and Chair of the Monitoring Committee, said: “Industry initiatives, like VinylPlus, that look beyond recycling and put sustainability along value chains in focus are increasingly essential when developing strategies for a circular economy.”
Picture: The 2020 Progress Report is available at www.vinylplus.eu
Article written by Cathryn Ellis
09th July 2020