In the fourth quarter of 2022, PVC Forum Italia issued an important document entitled “Decarbonization – The production, innovations and contribution of PVC” aimed at companies in the PVC supply chain so that they contribute to achieving the decarbonization objectives established both internationally both European.
In particular, the document suggests an intervention in these four areas:
- Energy mix
- Eco-design planning
- Circular economy
- Digitization
Diversifying energy sources (or buying them from operators who declare them renewable), designing products – like pipes – thinking about the impact it causes during construction, use, maintenance and recycling, implementing the company’s circularity processes and inserting 4.0 systems are fundamental steps for decarbonisation according to the Forum.
While these 4 strong points apply to all companies, the document identifies 4 more specific areas for those who produce PVC:
- Lower consumption of fossil raw materials (less carbon) and use of renewable raw materials (sodium chloride)
- Creating products that can be recycled multiple times without performance degradation
- Use of chlorinated gas abatement and recovery technologies 4
- Hydrogen production in chloralkali plants
We recall that the European PVC industry has implemented an important tool to guarantee and promote a sustainable product also in terms of decarbonisation, to which ADFlex adheres: the VinylPlus Product Label.
The VinylPlus Product Label has already obtained various recognitions, including that of 6 August 2022, the latest: the inclusion in the latest version of the construction CAM (minimum environmental criteria), which entered into force just a few days ago, as product certification to demonstrate the percentage value of recycled or recovered material content of by-products in PVC products. So: windows, floors but also pipes.
In short: we are on the right track to make PVC an increasingly environmentally friendly material.
