VinylPlus Progress Report 2018

VinylPlus Progress Report 2018

Dit rapport vat de voortgang en prestaties van VinylPlus in 2017 samen in elk van de vijf belangrijke duurzaamheidsuitdagingen die zijn geïdentificeerd voor PVC.

Deze vijf duurzaamheidsuitdagingen zijn:

1. het sluiten van de keten,
2. het terugdringen van organisch-chloride emissies,
3. een duurzaam gebruik van additieven,
4. een duurzaam gebruik van energie en grondstoffen,
5. en het bijdragen aan meer begrip en kennis rondom duurzaamheid.

De kunststof leidingindustrie wordt in deze vertegenwoordigd door haar Europese koepelorganisatie Teppfa (www.teppfa.eu).

Op pagina 8 van het rapport staan de belangrijkste resultaten die de kunststof leidingindustrie met recycling heeft bereikt, beschreven.
En op pagina 26 staat een overzicht van de investering van de industrie in duurzamer PVC, met daarbij ook een onderverdeling per sector.

This Report summarises VinylPlus’ progress and achievements in 2017 in each of the five key sustainability challenges identified for PVC in the Voluntary Commitment of the European PVC industry on the basis of The Natural Step (TNS) System Conditions for a Sustainable Society.

The European Commission’s recent release of its European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy marks a crucial step for our industry and our Voluntary Commitment. With the adoption of the strategy, recycling is gaining a steadily more prominent place at the centre of European policies, and it will have a strong influence on the entire plastics value chain.

VinylPlus is certainly ready to take up the challenge. Together with five other organisations from the plastics value chain, we have committed8 – in cooperation with the European Commission – to further expand existing plastics recycling activities, and hence, as VinylPlus, to contribute to the recycling and reuse of 50% of plastics waste by 2040, as well as 70% of plastic packaging.

Recycling is a critically important aspect of our Voluntary Commitment. I am therefore very pleased to say that the volume of recycled PVC registered further growth in 2017, reaching 640,000 tonnes. Recovinyl plays a central role in the achievement of our recycling targets. That’s why in 2017 we carried out a strategic reorganisation of both its management structure and its system for collecting and reporting data in order to further improve its performance.

I will never get tired of saying that our Voluntary Commitment targets can be achieved only if we can recycle also products that were put on the market many years ago. Around 70% of PVC is used in durable applications with a long service time. We trust that the great amount of work and large number of studies we are contributing to the discussion on legacy additives can lead to pragmatic solutions that allow PVC recycling to continue and develop, saving valuable resources.

However, our Voluntary Commitment does more than contribute to the circular economy. It also tackles many other sustainable development themes, including energy and climate change, social progress and research and innovation. All these have been integrated into our VinylPlus® Product Label, which was implemented for the window profile sector in 2017, with the first four companies completing audits to obtain certification.

In 2017 we also made substantial progress in the implementation of the innovative Additives Sustainability Footprint methodology, developed with The Natural Step to evaluate the use of additives in PVC products. We have now finalised the first ASF, for window profiles. Other applications will follow soon.

To continue our journey towards sustainability and inspire more and more companies in Europe, we recognise the need to cascade further our progress within the value chain. To facilitate this process three national organisations (BPF in the UK, AGPU in Germany, PVC Forum Italia) have joined VinylPlus as associate members to share resources and expertise. I am looking forward to their support to step up our efforts in 2018 and extend the VinylPlus community!

Full document available  in the attachments below
Het volledige bericht is beschikbaar in de bijlage hieronder.