ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PLASTICISERS
Did you know that flexible PVC contributes to a circular economy? Thanks to its durability and recyclability, it plays a key role in creating a sustainable society and bring important benefits to everyday life through its wide range of applications!
Uses and benefits
Plastics are among the most innovative and significant inventions of the 20th century. They have become key materials, not just to build our homes and offices with, but also to manufacture an increasing number of products that bring essential benefits to our everyday lives.
PVC, made flexible thanks to the use of plasticisers, is not only a very versatile material that can be used in countless applications, but it can also withstand physical stress without breaking. Its resiliency, together with its durability, makes flexible PVC a very sustainable material that can also be recycled and transformed into new products, allowing important energy savings and resource efficiency. Over 86% of all plasticisers produced in Europe are used in PVC applications.
Automotive
Cables and wires
Cladding and roofing
Coated fabrics
Film and sheet
Flooring
Food packaging – Cling wrap
Inks and waxes
Medical applications
Personal care and cosmetics
Toys
Tubes and hoses
About VinylPlus
VinylPlus, of which European Plasticisers is a founding member, is the sustainable development programme of the EU PVC industry. VinylPlus is taking the next important steps in tackling the sustainability challenges for PVC and also in establishing a long-term framework for the on-going sustainable development of the PVC value chain.
VinylPlus has proven to be a frontrunner with regards to the Circular Economy by working to continuously increase PVC recycling so as to reinject high volumes of quality recycling PVC back into the economy. In 2003, VinylPlus set up Recovinyl, an industry-wide recycling platform gathering recyclers and converters from all over Europe. Recovinyl is the main contributor to PVC recycling in Europe.
The VinylPlus programme has been developed bottom up in workshops and with an open process of stakeholder dialogue, including the industry, NGOs, regulators, public representatives and users of PVC. Five key sustainable development challenges have been identified for PVC together with a set of working principles and are based on The Natural Step System Conditions for a Sustainable Society.
The VinylPlus® Product Label is a labelling scheme which makes it easy for customers and markets to identify the most sustainable and high-performance PVC products. Currently, the scheme covers the PVC building products as defined in Article 2 and Annex I of the EU Construction Products Regulation 305/2011. The VinylPlus® Product Label has been developed by VinylPlus®, in collaboration with Building Research Establishment (BRE) and The Natural Step (TNS).
VinylPlus: a registered SMART partnership for the achievement of the UN SDGs
Through the VinylPlus initiative, the European PVC industry created a long-term sustainability framework for the entire PVC value chain and improving PVC products sustainability and their contribution to a sustainable society. This chart summarises the direct contribution of each of the five sustainability challenges of the VinylPlus Voluntary Commitment, assessed on the basis of the SDG Compass approach.
THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND VINYLPLUS
VinylPlus has proven to be a frontrunner with regards to the Circular Economy by ensuring continuous progress towards clearly defined sustainability goals. VinylPlus works to continuously increase PVC recycling so as to reinject high volumes of quality recycling PVC back into the economy. In 2003, VinylPlus set up Recovinyl, an industry-wide recycling platorfm gathering recyclers and converters from all over Europe. Recovinyl is the main contributor to PVC recycling in Europe.
Factsheets
23 March 2018
Flexible PVC in sports [factsheet]
Flexible PVC in sports Plastics, and PVC in particular, have become one of the most widely used materials in offices, households and buildings, playing a vital role in our everyday life. In sports...
23 March 2018
Flexible PVC in wire and cable [factsheet]
Flexible PVC in wire and cable Wire and cable are the largest application sector for flexible PVC in Europe. They are widely used to power countless appliances and electrical equipment. From fridges,...
25 October 2016
The power of many. Different plasticisers for different applications [factsheet]
The power of many. Different plasticisers for different applications Whenever PVC needs to have high elasticity and flexibility, plasticisers are there to do the job. But, did you know that they can...