PVC RECYCLING
Focus on European and global markets / Policies for sustainability issues / VinylPlus programme recognised by WEF circular economy award initiative
 Participants of a panel discussion at “VinylPlus Sustainability Forum 2017” (from left): Alexander Janz (German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety), Werner Bosmans (European Commission), Norbert Kurilla (Slovak Ministry of the Environment), Rüdiger Baunemann (PlasticsEurope) and Cess Luttikhuizen (Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment) (Photo: VinylPlus) |
This year's "VinylPlus Sustainability Forum – Towards Circular Economy" was held in Berlin / Germany on 10 and 11 May. Organised by VinylPlus (Brussels / Belgium; www.vinylplus.eu), the two-day event focused on global and European PVC markets, national and EU circular economy policies as well as design and innovation. Academia, governments, the UN, the European Commission, designers, architects and various sectors of the PVC industry were represented in the more than 170 attendees from 30 countries.
Thomas Hulsmann, managing director of Germany’s working group for PVC and the environment (AGPU, Bonn; www.agpu.com), talked about the booming German construction industry – more than 350,000 new buildings were built in 2016 – that makes up almost three quarters of PVC consumption in the country. In China, Cathy Wang, vice general manager at Yunnan Zhengbang Technology (Shanghai; www.ynzhengbang.com), showed that the majority of PVC used, at 31% in 2016, is for pipes. According to Plasteurope.com's Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), Germany's PVC capacity is 1.8m t/y and China's is 23m t/y, which is 42% of the world's share.
The European Commission's Werner Bosmans highlighted three issues for the EU plastics industry to tackle: production that is highly dependent on fossil feedstock, low reuse and recycling (the majority being incinerated or landfilled) and leakage into the environment. Josef Ertl, VinylPlus' chairman, stressed the need for politicians to work closely with the PVC industry to analyse circular economy policies and "ensure that the process is developing smoothly without too many frictions. We in the PVC and plastics industry will support such an approach."
Christophe Yvetot, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) representative to the EU, outlined PVC’s contribution to the "2030 Agenda", through its durability, longevity and recyclability, for materials used in future urban developments.
VinylPlus is the European PVC industry's sustainable development programme. In 2016, 568,696 t of vinyl were recycled in Europe within VinylPlus' framework (see also Plasteurope.com of 11.05.2017), with Recovinyl (Brussels; www.recovinyl.com) remaining the main contributor with a registered 560,492 t of recycled PVC waste. VinylPlus was recently given "Highly Commended" recognition by the "Circulars", a circular economy award initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF, Geneva / Switzerland; www.weforum.org) and the Forum of Young Global Leaders.
Thomas Hulsmann, managing director of Germany’s working group for PVC and the environment (AGPU, Bonn; www.agpu.com), talked about the booming German construction industry – more than 350,000 new buildings were built in 2016 – that makes up almost three quarters of PVC consumption in the country. In China, Cathy Wang, vice general manager at Yunnan Zhengbang Technology (Shanghai; www.ynzhengbang.com), showed that the majority of PVC used, at 31% in 2016, is for pipes. According to Plasteurope.com's Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), Germany's PVC capacity is 1.8m t/y and China's is 23m t/y, which is 42% of the world's share.
The European Commission's Werner Bosmans highlighted three issues for the EU plastics industry to tackle: production that is highly dependent on fossil feedstock, low reuse and recycling (the majority being incinerated or landfilled) and leakage into the environment. Josef Ertl, VinylPlus' chairman, stressed the need for politicians to work closely with the PVC industry to analyse circular economy policies and "ensure that the process is developing smoothly without too many frictions. We in the PVC and plastics industry will support such an approach."
Christophe Yvetot, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) representative to the EU, outlined PVC’s contribution to the "2030 Agenda", through its durability, longevity and recyclability, for materials used in future urban developments.
VinylPlus is the European PVC industry's sustainable development programme. In 2016, 568,696 t of vinyl were recycled in Europe within VinylPlus' framework (see also Plasteurope.com of 11.05.2017), with Recovinyl (Brussels; www.recovinyl.com) remaining the main contributor with a registered 560,492 t of recycled PVC waste. VinylPlus was recently given "Highly Commended" recognition by the "Circulars", a circular economy award initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF, Geneva / Switzerland; www.weforum.org) and the Forum of Young Global Leaders.
06.07.2017 Plasteurope.com [237294-0]
Published on 06.07.2017