VinylPlus secures PVC’s place at heart of the Circular Economy
Since 2000, VinylPlus, the voluntary commitment to sustainable development of the European PVC industry, has been a pioneer in the Circular Economy. It has backed the European Commission’s pledging call to increase recycling of plastics by committing to recycle at least 900,000 tonnes of PVC per year into new products by 2025, a significant contribution to the overall 10 million tonnes objective set by the Commission for the plastic industry. Looking further ahead, VinylPlus has also committed to recycling a minimum of 1 million tonnes per year by 2030.
“For nearly 20 years, VinylPlus has led the way to a circular economy by improving the sustainability performance of PVC. Because our programme brings together the entire value chain - PVC manufacturers, additives producers, converters and recyclers - we responded immediately to the Commission’s call for voluntary pledges from the plastics industry. We welcome this initiative, which highlights the foresight shown by VinylPlus in establishing its first voluntary commitment.” says Brigitte Dero, VinylPlus’ General Manager.
Thanks to VinylPlus’ unique role in engaging an entire value chain, the voluntary commitment has succeeded in recycling more than 4 million tonnes of PVC since 2000.
PVC is made from salt and oil or natural gas and is one of the most widely used plastics in the world with a wide range of applications such as window frames, pipes, flooring, cables, packaging, sport equipment, furniture and medical devices.
Ensuring targets are met is of paramount importance to VinylPlus’ success. Recycled volumes are verified by an independent auditor and presented to the VinylPlus Monitoring Committee, composed of representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament, consumer organisations, trade unions, academia and industry.