At the VinylPlus® Sustainability Forum 2021 #TOWARDS2030 (VSF2021) on 17 June, "VinylPlus 2030" was presented. The European PVC industry's new commitment to sustainable development for the next ten years was developed in a bottom-up approach by the entire PVC value chain together with its stakeholders. It builds on 20 years of experience as a pioneer in the circular economy. VSF2021, which attracted more than 530 participants from 44 countries, was held in Brussels as a hybrid event.
In addition to the official launch of the new commitment, VSF2021 also recognised the completion of the European PVC industry's second 10-year voluntary commitment and its key advances over the past 20 years - in PVC recycling, product stewardship, research and innovation, and improving the environmental footprint of PVC. During the VinylPlus® Product Label Awards Ceremony, the four VinylPlus partner companies Epwin, Finstral, Internorm and profine were honoured for their successful certification in 2020. The product label is awarded to companies that offer PVC products with the highest sustainability performance. The VinylPlus® Product Label is the first ever certification scheme to be recognised under BREEAM®, the world's best-known green building standard, as a certification scheme for responsible sourcing in the manufacture of plastic building products.
Looking back on two decades of leadership in sustainability and the circular economy, Brigitte Dero, Managing Director of VinylPlus, said: "As a united European PVC industry, we have achieved a lot. While we have much to be proud of, we know that these achievements are only milestones on the road to a sustainable future. To launch an even more ambitious programme, together with Accenture we went through a three-month open consultation process last year to gather input on the key sustainability drivers, challenges and opportunities for the PVC industry that we need to respond to over the next ten years."
This year's event was moderated by EurActiv Editor-in-Chief Frédéric Simon. Keynote speakers were Ondrej Knotek, Member of the European Parliament, who spoke about the importance of strengthening European industry's recovery and resilience in the post-covid era, and Werner Bosmans, Policy Officer at the European Commission's DG ENV, who explained the EU strategy on plastics in the circular economy. Ondrej Knotek commented: "The
European PVC industry, through VinylPlus, plays an important role in the large-scale renovation efforts identified by the European Commission as a key area for investment, thanks to its ability to improve the environmental footprint of buildings across the EU and create jobs."
After the keynote speeches, the new VinylPlus 2030 Commitment was presented. The next 10-year PVC value chain commitment identifies three "pathways": Expanding the circularity of the PVC value chain, progressing towards CO2-neutrality and minimising our environmental footprint and building global coalitions and partnerships for the SDGs. The three pathways comprise twelve key action areas with 39 targets that include concrete steps for the European PVC industry to further improve PVC's sustainability performance.
VSF2021 #TOWARDS2030 ended with the signing ceremony and thus the start of the new VinylPlus 2030 Commitment. It builds on over 20 years of progress and achievements by the united European PVC industry and will further accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and circular future with even more ambitious targets.
Myriam Tryjefaczka, on behalf of the converters among the VinylPlus partners, said: "More than ever, in the context of acute environmental and climate crises, cooperation in the PVC value chain is crucial to accelerate the transition to a circular economy and support climate action. The VinylPlus Commitment 2030 foresees investments in technical projects to develop take-back, logistics and recycling technologies. This will contribute to VinylPlus' goal of reaching 1 million tonnes of recycled PVC per year in Europe by 2030, in line with the ambitions of the Circular Plastics Alliance, while contributing to the objectives of the European Green Deal."