The Sustainability Programme VinylPlus
Launched in 2011, VinylPlus® was the second 10-year Voluntary Commitment to sustainable development of the European PVC industry. Developed through open dialogue with stakeholders – including industry, NGOs, regulators, civil society representatives and PVC users, the VinylPlus programme addressed five key sustainability challenges identified on the basis of The Natural Step System Conditions for a Sustainable Society.
The regional scope of the programme covered the EU-27 plus Norway, Switzerland and the UK.
Through the VinylPlus initiative, the European PVC industry aimed to:
- recycle 800,000 tonnes of PVC per year by 2020, 900,000 tonnes by 2025 and at least one million tonnes by 2030
- promote a sustainable use of additives
- improve PVC products sustainability and their contribution to sustainable development
- reduce progressively GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions as well as energy and resource consumption along the entire production chain
- move towards a low-carbon circular economy
- build sustainability awareness along the value chain and among stakeholders.
The COVID-19 pandemic provoked severe market disruption during the first half of 2020 and recycling operations decreased throughout Europe. In view of these circumstances, and against all odds, PVC waste recycling within the VinylPlus framework still reached an outstanding volume of 731,461 tonnes, only a 5% decrease from 2019.
An annual report summarises the progress and results of the VinylPlus programme in terms of objectives. All results are checked and verified by an independent body.