VinylPlus (Brussels / Belgium; www.vinylplus.eu), the voluntary commitment to sustainable development of the European PVC industry, has unveiled a pilot medical recycling scheme called VinylPlus Med in Belgium. It aims to accelerate sustainability in healthcare across Europe through the recycling of discarded single-use PVC medical devices.

PVC is the most common plastic used in life-saving disposable medical devices, including oxygen and anaesthetic masks, tubing, and IV and dialysis bags. Many of these devices, used once and for a short period of time on non-infectious patients, can be recycled. The scheme will focus on clean and REACH-compliant PVC waste that can be reworked into a wide range of value products marketed across Europe.

In partnership with hospital chain Europe Hospitals, the high-quality PVC waste of various departments is to be collected and recycled. Most of this waste has not been in contact with patients. The other project partners are waste management company Renewi (Milton Keynes / UK; www.renewi.com), recycler Raff Plastics (Houtulst / Belgium; www.raffplastics.be) and the PVC industry itself.

VinyPlus was founded by the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM, Brussels; www.pvc.org), the European Stabiliser Producers Association (ESPA, Brussels; www.stabilisers.eu), the European Plastics Converters (EuPC, Brussels; www.plasticsconverters.eu), and European Plasticisers (Brussels; www.europeanplasticisers.eu).