Recovinyl provides financial incentives to increase the capture of the material to supply European markets. It is backed by the British Plastics Federation and supported by the Waste and Resources Action Programme.
Its latest figures show that 15,000 tonnes of PVC-U had been recycled by the end of June. This puts recyclers on course to meet an end-of -year target of 30,000. The 15,000 tonnes collected in the first half of this year, exceeds the total amount of post-use PVC collected for the whole of 2006.
Investment
Plastic recycling company Axion Recycling is helping to roll-out the Recovinyl scheme in the UK and director Roger Morton said: “Major investment in new plant and equipment by many of our recyclers has resulted in significant increases in volumes, with particular growth in post-consumer windows.
“We are now seeing a great deal of interest in flexible PVC, with greater amounts
of cable from building and construction projects coming through. We are starting to receive increased interest in flooring and signage which we expect to result in significant tonnage growth over the next 12 month period,” he added.
Recovinyl, which was launched in 2005, has welcomed the increasing use of 100% recycled PVC-U in new building products, such as cladding. It is also working with manufacturers who are keen to include high grade recycled content in their products, including the DIY and computer sectors.
Mr Morton said: “Advanced recycling techniques are providing high quality PVC and other plastic recyclate that can successfully be re-used in a variety of new products.”
Recovinyl is funded by Vinyl 2010, a European-wide agreement, which puts initiatives and campaigns into practice to boost PVC recycling. Recovinyl is one of these schemes.
In April, it urged more retailers to stock products made from recycled PVC, following a surge in the amount of material being collected (see letsrecycle.com story).
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