The European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM, Brussels / Belgium; www.pvc.org), a division of PlasticsEurope (Brussels; www.plasticseurope.org), will hold the sixth edition of the "VinylPlus Sustainability Forum" in Madrid / Spain. The event will run from 16-17 May 2018, with the focus on "Meeting Societal Needs". This theme will examine how the PVC industry can contribute sustainable solutions for the expanding global population, including in infrastructure, water supply, energy supply, food and medical care. There will be a focus on policy frameworks and agreements by governments, political groups and industries to identify drivers that include business incentives as well as alignments with the UN's sustainability goals.

VinylPlus general manager Brigitte Dero says the role of industry voluntary commitments like VinylPlus is crucial. "Population growth is a major issue worldwide. This presents society with current and future critical challenges in providing essential services that support people’s lives." She adds that the whole PVC value chain must collaborate "to provide quality and durable products which, at the end of their useful lives, can be recycled back into new goods for the benefit of consumers, the economy and society as a whole."

In 2017, more than 170 people from 30 countries attended the VinylPlus Sustainability Forum – see Plasteurope.com of 06.07.2017. Attendees included representatives from academia, governments, the UN, the European Commission, designers, architects and many sectors within the PVC industry.

VinylPlus (www.vinylplus.eu) is the European PVC industry's voluntary sustainable development programme. Through its framework, 568,696 t of PVC were recycled in Europe in 2016 – see Plasteurope.com of 11.05.2017.