PVC - Facts and figures

The Australian PVC industry has prepared information for the purpose of providing a brief review of facts relating to PVC and its health and environmental impacts. They endeavour to present research findings in a balanced manner and to update information as new scientific findings are published.

The PVC industry provides this information and invites dialogue as part of its commitment to the principles of Responsible Care®, which aim to meet community expectations for protection of people and the environment.

What is PVC?

Polyvinyl chloride, PVC, is a chlorinated hydrocarbon polymer - its basic building blocks are chlorine, carbon and hydrogen. These elements are obtained from sea salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) and crude oil or natural gas, both of which are mixtures of hydrocarbons.

PVC is a thermoplastic. This means that it softens as it is heated, and hardens as it cools.

It was first made in 1872. To start with it was nothing more than a laboratory curiosity because no one really knew what to do with it. In fact, the first PVC wasn't very good. When heated or exposed to sunlight, the molecules broke up and an acidic gas was given off.

Decades later, scientists discovered that chemicals could be added which would make it stable and resistant to light and heat. This meant good-quality PVC products could be manufactured.

PVC was first used instead of rubber to insulate the wires in electrical cables. This was about 60 years ago, during Word War II, when rubber was in short supply. Since then it has replaced rubber for insulation and found many other applications. These days, it's the second most popular plastic in the world.

How is vynil used to make products?

PVC can be supplied to factories either as a powder or, when additives are included, in pellet or granular form. This raw PVC is then heated and shaped into a final product using a number of different techniques.

When softened by heating, the PVC powder or pellets can be moulded or extruded to achieve the desired shape.

PVC can be fashioned into just about any shape or form. It can be made into pipe, sheet, wire or tape. It can also be used as a coating for other materials, like paper, cardboard or metal.

Extrusion: hot, soft plastic is squeezed through a hole of the correct dimensions. It hardens as it cools. Used for making continuous lengths like plastic sheets or pipes.
Injection moulding: hot plastic is forced into a mould of the desired shape. The mould is then cooled and opened up to remove the solid plastic object. Used to make more complicated shapes like pipe fittings.
Blow moulding: air is blown through a tube of hot plastic, pushing the PVC outwards to the sides of the mould. Good for making hollow objects such as bottles.
Calendering: Squashing PVC between heated rollers to make thin sheets.

PVC can be made with excellent transparency or it can be changed to almost any colour.

It can be blended with certain additives to give it special properties like scratch resistance, flexibility and sunlight resistance. Many different mixtures of PVC can be made depending on the final purpose.

Vinyl Chloride Monomer

Like most manufacturing processes, the production of PVC involves the use of materials that can be hazardous if improperly handled. The raw material vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is the chief concern.

In the 1970s, the industry and scientists discovered a link between prolonged, high-level exposure to VCM among PVC production workers and a rare form of liver cancer called angiosarcoma. Radical changes to technology and processes

were then rapidly introduced to protect the health of workers.

Today, the PVC production process is closed, with activities involving VCM taking place in sealed vessels. This minimises potential worker exposure, reduces environmental emissions and maximises production efficiencies.

Approximately 200 VCM-related angiosarcoma deaths have been recorded worldwide among VCM/PVC plant workers. No case of angiosarcoma has been identified in any VCM/PVC production worker employed after the introduction of the

revised processing technology in the mid to late 1970s.

There has been one death in Australia. The worker was employed at a New South Wales production site at Botany, now closed.

No member of the general public is known to have suffered any harmful effect from VCM.

The manufacturing of PVC in Victoria, Australia complies with the requirements of the State Environment Protection Policy (The Air Environment). V CM levels in the workplace are well under the safe exposure levels recommended by Worksafe Australia.

Vinyl Recycling

Recycling of post-consumer vinyl products has been done in Australia for many years, in particular, vinyl bottles and electrical cable insulation.

An estimated 600 tonnes of post-consumer vinyl electric cable insulation waste is recycled here each year. This material is returned from building demolition or renovation waste after the copper core has been recovered. It is washed and ground, and then used to make new end-use vinyl products such as the inner core of hoses, industrial flooring and mud flaps.

Post-consumer vinyl bottles are also recycled .via the Vinyl Cycle program (see below). Bottles which are returned at the kerbside via council collection schemes are separated from other plastic bottles, then shredded, washed and ground into a fine powder. The powder recyclate is used to make new vinyl products such as pipe fittings, packing trays and floor tiles.

Landfill

PVC is non-toxic and inert and can be disposed of safely in landfill. There is no evidence that PVC contributes to the toxicity of leachate in landfill. A 2003 report by Dr. John Scheirs for Environment Australia¹ found "On the basis of the available research and evidence the landfilling of end-of-life PVC seems to be environmentally acceptable when mechanical recycling and thermal treatment processes are not possible. The overall conclusion of the most recent studies is that PVC products do not constitute a substantial impact on toxicity of landfill leachate and gas".

Vinyl chloride formation can occur in landfills as a degradation product of chlorinated hydrocarbons. Studies report that because PVC shows no sign of degradation in landfill, any vinyl chloride gas does not originate from the PVC. Nevertheless, sending PVC or other waste to landfill cannot be considered a complete solution, in view of the increasing scarcity of suitable sites; it will often be better to recycle or incinerate it.

The Green Building Council of Australia’s Green

Star tools

The Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) Green Star tools are an example of a tool including prescriptive criteria when it comes to material credits.

Of concern is the inclusion of a PVC Minimisation clause where up to two points (from a total of 20 in the materials section) are awarded where it is demonstrated that the total PVC content cost for PVC applications is reduced by replacing with alternative materials.

The alternative material used does not need to produce a better outcome for the environment; it just needs to not be PVC.

In taking a discriminatory stance against PVC, the Green Building Council is saying that environmental impacts caused by the manufacturing and use of PVC are significantly greater than those of other materials.

This is simply untrue. The manufacturing of all building materials and products, and their respective product life cycles, have environmental impacts. The CSIRO has reviewed the life cycle of PVC three times (1996, 1998, and 2001) and each time has found PVC has no more impact that the alternatives. Important studies in Europe have come to similar conclusions. There is no scientific basis for encouraging the elimination of PVC products in building.

Yet, despite the science, Green Star is trying to force people to move away from this proven material, to use alternatives that lack critical risk assessment and life cycle environmental impact data. A lack of data for alternatives does not mean that alternatives are risk free.