Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
June 19, 2000 02:00 AM

Group creates eco-code for PVC

Richard Higgs PLASTICS NEWS CORRESPONDENT
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Retailers and PVC makers in Britain have drawn up a code designed to reassure the general public that PVC products have been manufactured in "an environmentally responsible way." The "Eco-Efficiency Code of Practice" is the first step in a wider Environmental Charter effort, launched a year ago by the PVC Coordination Group. The group includes leading national supermarket chains and two PVC manufacturers with plants in the United Kingdom: EVC International NV and Norsk Hydro ASA.

    "All parties have shown a commendable willingness to work together in improving the environmental performance of the U.K.-based PVC industry, although all agree this is really just the start of a much longer process," said Jonathon Porritt, the group's chairman, and also a leading British environmentalist.

    Included in the code are minimum environmental standards for PVC production and measurable targets for continued improvement in the producers' environmental performance.

    Specific issues addressed include the release of vinyl chloride monomer and other chlorinated materials from PVC plants and the generation of dioxins in manufacture and waste treatment. Other areas include energy and raw material use efficiency and nuisance issues such as odor and visual intrusion in the local community.

    Targets are set in terms of total environmental load per metric ton of PVC manufactured, as well as the load associated with each production site. The code requires VCM atmospheric emissions to be less than 5.25 ounces per 2,205 pounds of PVC produced, while the ethyl dichloride emission limit is set at less than 8.75 ounces per 2,205 pounds of PVC.

    Also included is the requirement to limit carbon dioxide released from emissions, imported energy and from the transport of PVC, VCM or EDC.

    "In preparing the code, it was recognized that manufacturers of VCM and PVC must continually operate at the leading edge of technology in terms of emission controls. Total losses from factories are already less than, or in the order of 0.05 percent of the material processed," the group stated in a news release.

    "Even so, the manufacturers accept the need to demonstrate to the public that there is no evidence of harm caused by their processes."

    Retail members of the group include Britain's top supermarket chain, Tesco plc, as well as Asda (part of U.S. giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc.), the Waitrose food division of John Lewis Partnership, and the Cooperative Wholesale Society.

    The consultation process stems from action taken by the environmental action group Greenpeace in 1996. At that time, Greenpeace lobbied major retailers to phase PVC out of their packaging and construction materials, according to Roger Mottram, a spokesman for EVC (UK), the Runcorn, England-based unit of parent company EVC International.

    Retailers formed the coordination group, which at first included Greenpeace but no PVC producers.

    A 1997 report commissioned by the retailers by the National Centre for Business and Ecology, a research consultancy based in Salford, England, concluded there was no need to phase out PVC in stores and packaging as long as PVC is manufactured "using best practice" and disposed of responsibly.

    In 1998, the group asked national PVC producers to help define the best manufacturing practices.

    NCBE, now renamed the National Centre for Business and Sustainability, developed the code. The company is developing standards for the waste management of PVC, according to NCBS project manager Penny Street.

    "At the start of the process, we challenged the PVC industry to clean up, or we would phase out PVC packaging from our business," said CWS's trade liaison manager Duncan Bowdler, who sits on the Coordination Group.

    "We are pleased that the industry has responded by coming up with the Eco-Efficiency Code of Practice. We wish it a fair wind and we will be watching its progress."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Barr, CompuMold win top AMBA honors
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    20/20 adds Southern exposure with Vantage acquisition
    2
    Shell nearing completion of Pennsylvania PE facility
    3
    Berry pledges to further cut greenhouse gas emissions
    4
    Barr, CompuMold win top AMBA honors
    5
    Dynamic Tool buys former Kohl's site
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
        • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified