Vinyl : Sustainability by Responsible Management

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible Management

• Self-Adhesive Graphic Arts Conference

Amsterdam, November 17th, 2005
Xavier van KesterenPVC Promotion
Benelux xavier.vankesteren_at_solvay.com
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible Management

• Agenda
• PVC production and market
• PVC and environment Compatible !
• Conclusions

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC production and market

• PVC from Raw Materials to Resin

Chlorine and ethylene to vinylchloride monomer
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salt
Electrolysis makes Chlorine
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Polymerisation to PolyVinyl Chloride resin
4 to all plastics ( PVC lt 1 )
PVC resin backbone of PVC needs additives
91 energy, transport, heating, petrochemistry
Cracking to ethylene
5 to  other 
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC production and market

• Types of PVC Resin
• Depending of the production route
• PVC-S PVC resin made by the Suspension
  technique (white cristalline powder)
• PVC-E PVC resin made by the Emulsion technique
  (white flour-like powder)

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC production and market

• PVC from Resin to Compound

• Various possible additives
• Stabilizers
• Plasticisers
• Pigments

Formulated PVC compound Haute Cuisine recipe
!!
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC production and market

• PVC from Compound to Product

Calendaring
Production techniques include
Extrusion
Injection
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC production and market

• PVC Versatility of look and feel
• Rigid windows, pipes, wall cladding,..
• Flexible tubing, sheets, membranes, cables,..
• Coloured, white, translucent, opaque,

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC production and market

• PVC market
• Worldwide annual production
• 30 million tons of resin
• Main market building and construction (65)
• Because of durability, fire resistance,
  maintenance friendly, leightweight, ..

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC production and market

• PVC Resin World demand

Sources CMAI Solvay
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC production and market

• PVC Western Europe, Applications

Others, 24
Pipes, 24
Flooring, 5
Flexible film and foils, 6
Profiles, 27
Cables, 8
Rigid film and foils, 10
Graphic arts, labels and decals
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !
In the 80s and 90s, chlorine industry and PVC
used by NGOs and greens
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• EU Commission (1996 2000 )
• Number of studies on PVC waste (incineration,
  waste management, landfill, recycling )
• Green Paper on PVC (march 2000)
• Main conclusions need of more recycling, and
  concerns about some additives

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• Initiative of the
  PVC industry
• ECVM ( European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers )
• ECPI ( Plasticisers industry )
• EUPC ( Converters industry )
• ESPA ( Stabilisers Industry )

Dear politicians, dear NGOs, we commit to take
care of your concerns !
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• In order to answer to the environmental
• concerns, two major issues rose
• How do PVC products behave compared to other
  materials ?
• How can we even improve this ?

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

• All products have an environmental impact during
  their life cycle

The evaluation of this impact has to be done
according to a standardised scheme, to compare
products having the same performance
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• gtgt There is an ISO Standard as reference method
• ISO 14040  Life Cycle Assessment 
• Official description "Provides an overview of
  the practice, applications and limitations of
  Life Cycle Assessment to a broad range of
  potential users and stakeholders, including those
  with a limited knowledge of life cycle
  assessment"
• EU is in favour of this  Life Cycle  approach

(but why dont they apply it always ?)
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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• This method has been applied to PVC products
•  Life Cycle Assessment of PVC and of principal
  competing materials 
• commissioned by the European Commission
• A large study on gt 100 documents, selecting 30
  representative LCA studies on PVC and their
  alternative materials, finalized in April 2004

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

•  Life Cycle Assessment of PVC and of principal
  competing materials 
• Some conclusions
• Discussions interms of PVC, yes ? or PVC, no
  ? are misleading
• LCA dont show anything that justifies
  discrimination against PVC
• As any other materials, PVC has strengths and
  weaknesses
• No substituting or banning of materials, if no
  better alternatives exist proven by the LCA
• LCA comparisons must be undertaken at application
  level rather than at material level
• Other studies available with same conclusions

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• In order to tackle the environmental concerns,
  two major issues rose
• How does PVC behave compared to other materials ?
  
• How can we even improve this ?

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• By applying the Commitment of the EU PVC Industry
  
• Improving all the parts of the PVC life cycle
  regarding the environmental impacts
• Production routes of the resin better
  production techniques, monitoring, emission
  limits audits
• EU Risk Assessments of additives
• Phase out of
• Cadmium salts ( 2001), Lead salts (ongoing till
  2015)
• Follow up of Phthalates
• Responsible Management of end of life of PVC, new
  recycling techniques developed

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• By doing this, the PVC industry complies
• with the modern and responsible way of thinking
• known as Industrial Ecology

• Minimise the fossile carbon use
• Maximise the life cycle
• Close the life cycle loop
• Avoid toxic emissions

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• Minimise the use of fossile carbon
• PVC is made from (only) 46 of fossile C, used
  in longlife recyclable products !
• PVC has perfect thermal insulation performances,
  hence additional fuel savings (Kyoto !)

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• Maximise the life cycle
• Rigid PVC (pipes, profiles ) replacement only
  after some incident when the building is
  renovated
• Flexible PVC (flooring, roofing ) medium life
  time, at least as long life cycle as competing
  material
• PVC sheets and films mostly short life time by
  definition. Balanced by other advantages
  (printability, ease of processing and use,
  wheather resistance, )

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• Close the life cycle loop
• First priority recycling as many times as
  economically feasable
• If not possible close the loop for the two raw
  materials Oil (ethylene) and salt
• Done by clean incineration with energy recovery
  (substitute for oil, second use !)
• And salt recovery through adequate flue gas
  treatment (Neutrec technology by sodium
  bicarbonate, or wet system by caustic soda)

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible
Managementgtgt PVC and environment Compatible !

• Avoid toxic emissions
• By applying strict emission and discharge limits
  for pollutants PVC industry as BAT and BEP
  experts at OSPARCOM
• Results audited by Det Norske Veritas (DNV, 2004)
  
• 93 compliance for S-PVC
• 71 compliance for E-PVC
• Continuous improvement is scheduled

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible Management

• Conclusions
• PVC is a material as any other
• Science and standards proved the inherent
  properties of PVC
• A Proactive and Responsible Management is the
  right way to ensure sustainability, providing
  budget provision and good communication
• The EU PVC industry takes its responsabilities,
  and will always take it

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible Management
Technical realisation of this evolution

• Your input ?

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Vinyl Sustainability by Responsible Management

• Our job ? promote following responsible
  applications,
• to build and maintain customers confidence

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Thank you for your attention !Question time