Vinyloop: Recycled PVC Cuts Global Warming Potential by 39%

15 November 2012 PVC recycling specialist VinyLoop has published a white paper aimed at raising awareness among manufacturers, retailers, policymakers and the public that recycling can substantially reduce the environmental impact of PVC and increase its sustainable credentials. According to the white paper VinyLoop's recycled PVC cuts primary energy demand by 46% compared to producing virgin PVC compound. R-PVC was also said to slash the global warming potential by 39% and water consumption by 72%. VinyLoop is a partnership between SolVin, one of Europe's largest PVC producers, and a major French manufacturer of composite membranes Serge Ferrari. The White Paper shows how VinyLoop's 'Life Cycle' approach considers the environmental impact from all stages of a product's lifetime. "We have also calculated an LCA for a final product containing recycled materials to showcase the influence of recycling," explained Christian Thamm, marketing and development manager of VinyLoop. Thamm cited the example of a garden hose made using 50% VinyLoop R-PVC, which would save almost 20% of Global Warming Potential. "This White Paper aims to create more demand pull for recycling," added said Paolo Groppi, general manager of VinyLoop. According to Jo Dewulf, chemistry professor at Ghent University, PVC is a "textbook example" of how to cut resource use through recycling. "Everyone is claiming sustainability. But sooner or later you need backup information to prove it. In this context, this study makes sense," he commented. Vinyloop said that the white paper is part of a call to action in the framework of the industry's VinylPlus campaign to recycle 800,000 tonnes of PVC per year in 2020. Read More Self Regulation: Lessons from PVC Recycling Having reached a voluntary target to recycle an additional 200,000 tonnes of material by 2010, the European PVC industry has moved the goalposts with the launch of the VinylPlus commitment. Ben Messenger looks at what this means for self regulation across Europe. PVC Recycling Rises but Cooperation Key to Continued Growth The results from the first year of the European PVC value chain' new ten year sustainability initiative, VinylPlus, indicate that the industry is on track to achieve the its sustainability goals for 2020 and recycled over 257,000 tonnes of PVC in 2011. UK's Largest PVC-U Recycling Facility Opened UK based window supplier, Eurocell has opened of a new £3 million PVC-U recycling plant in Ilkeston, Derbyshire to process up to 12,000 end-of-life window frames per week. Free Magazine Subscription Free Email Newsletter