The twelfth VinylPlus® Sustainability Forum (VSF2024), which took place on 23 May 2024, reconfirmed that policy and industry can achieve faster results and positive change in the EU and globally through shared goals in the areas of innovation, industry transformation, competitiveness and sustainability. Participants discussed important key topics such as life cycle analyses, whole life cycle (WLC) carbon emissions, advanced recycling technologies and industry transformation.
The VSF2024 took place in Cologne on 23 May 2024 under the motto "Together Towards Higher Ambitions". More than 190 participants from 22 countries took part in the event. They included experts and decision-makers from the German federal and state governments, science, architecture and design as well as the PVC value chain.
"Together Towards Higher Ambitions" was more than just the slogan of this year's event. Rather, the motto expresses the awareness of the need to work towards common goals - not only along the PVC value chain, but also through active cooperation with national and European institutions, with science and research and with other stakeholders and industries. This awareness is increasingly shared. Initiatives such as the future EU Industrial Development Strategy can significantly boost the industry's commitment to sustainability by driving deep, resilience-focused systemic change while enabling and accelerating the transition to higher sustainability targets in Europe and globally.
"The title of your forum contains two very important elements: togetherness and ambition," said Mona Neubaur, Deputy Minister-President and Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. "The challenges facing society and the economy should be tackled together. Solutions must be supported by everyone and dialogue about the right path is essential. The current industrial transformation is a task that we must accept and shape together. And we must keep our ambitions high, because high standards are necessary to maintain competitiveness."
"We need a fundamental restructuring of the economy: climate protection, the circular economy and social justice should be at the centre of our economic activities," demanded Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. "We need the commitment of the private sector like VinylPlus. Their commitment to a sustainable material, more recycling and less waste is very important. I would like to encourage you all to systematically continue your efforts in your work."
VinylPlus® Progress Report 2024
At the presentation of the most important results for 2023, which can be read in detail in the new VinylPlus® Progress Report 2024VinylPlus Chairman Dr Karl-Martin Schellerer emphasised that 2023 was a very challenging year for the sustainability programme. The PVC industry continued to face unprecedented regulatory and macroeconomic challenges, which naturally had an impact on PVC recycling and the demand for recyclates. In 2023, despite a significant decrease in PVC demand, 737,645 tonnes of PVC waste were recycled under VinylPlus, which is only a slight decrease compared to the previous year. At the same time, however, the proportion of recycled and registered post-consumer and pre-consumer waste remained stable. "Nevertheless, VinylPlus intends to remain a pioneer in the circular economy, to further promote recycling and to ensure the safe and sustainable use of recyclates. Recovinyl® has played a leading role in the creation of PolyREC® and its shared data collection system RecoTrace®, which now serves as a blueprint for many other industries. I would also like to emphasise our commitment to carbon neutrality and reducing our environmental footprint, as well as our continued research and support of innovative recycling technologies. In addition, our VinylPlus® Product Label has been accredited at European level and several VinylPlus partners have committed to achieving VinylPlus® Supplier Certificates."
VinylPlus Managing Director Charlotte Röber commented on the first event session "Towards Meeting EU and Global Ambitions": "An open dialogue like this shows how important it is to continue to be inspired by different experiences and to include different perspectives and points of view. VinylPlus has been a pioneer in sustainability and the circular economy for over 20 years. However, to achieve this, it is essential to work together, as a united value chain, but also with policy makers, other industries and partners from science and research. At European level, we have recently demonstrated our commitment through our active and important contribution to the preparation of ECHA's review report on PVC and PVC additives. At a global level, together with other regional PVC and plastics associations, we are proactively contributing to the discussion on how to eliminate plastic pollution worldwide through science-based policies."
Research and innovation are central to VinylPlus' efforts to further develop the circular economy. Discussions in the second session focussed on the potential of future PVC recycling and the processing of possible data gaps in order to improve forecasting accuracy. The latest technologies for PVC waste streams that cannot be mechanically recycled were also presented, such as chlorine recovery in waste incineration plants, PVC-compatible pyrolysis and gasification as well as chemical depolymerisation and dechlorination technologies.
The third session addressed the question of how the PVC industry can make further progress towards carbon neutrality and minimising its environmental footprint. Sustainability experts presented examples of concrete initiatives to achieve ambitious decarbonisation targets and turn waste into high-value resources.
The day concluded with the VinylPlus Sustainability Certification Award Ceremony. Asua, Eurocompound, Finstral, Internorm and Vinilchimica were honoured as VinylPlus partner companies that successfully completed the certification processes for the VinylPlus® Product Label for PVC processors and the VinylPlus® Supplier Certificate for manufacturers of PVC additives and compounds in 2023.
Dr Karl-Martin Schellerer concluded the Forum by saying: "Today's discussions have confirmed the vitality of our industry and our will to continue contributing to the sustainable transformation of the economy in Europe and globally. Innovation and collaboration remain key to achieving the VinylPlus 2030 goals and we are ready to continue to work cooperatively, transparently and constructively with regulators, in line with a science- and evidence-based approach. To do this work effectively, the industry needs a level playing field, which is why we are calling for a comprehensive action plan to make competitiveness a strategic priority in Europe."
