VinlyPlus Recycled almost 740,000 tonnes of PVC pipe in Europe in 2018

VinylPlus® is the Voluntary Commitment to sustainable development of the European PVC industry.In 2018, 739,525 tonnes of PVC waste were recycled within the VinylPlus framework, a 15.6% increase compared to the previous year.

The contribution from Recovinyl was 734,568 tonnes, which were entirely recycled in Europe. During the year, Recovinyl further sharpened its certification and audit schemes to ensure maximum reliability of collected data and of recyclates traceability, both from recyclers and converters.

Thanks also to the experience gained by recyclers working with Recovinyl, audits and on-site visits showed a significant general improvement in the professionalism of the recyclers network and in the quality of the recyclates.

In Europe, the demand for recycled rigid PVC is currently very high compared to the supply, indicating the potential for further strengthening collection and recycling schemes.

According to the data from TEPPFA, 82,635 tons of PVC pipes and fittings were recycled in 2018. Compared to the alternative materials, PVC pipes are more energy-effective during production and are cost-effective in terms of durability and maintenance-free lifetime of service. PVC pipes are more durable than alternative materials and are very applicable for water, waste and drainage systems as their service time is considered to be in the range of hundreds of years.

Source:

VinylPlus Progress Report 2019, VinylPlus, https://vinylplus.eu/documents/51/59/VinylPlus-Progress-Report-2019 

PVC Waste Treatment in the Nordic Countries,p. 29, Nordic Council of Ministers, 2019.