VinylPlus
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

VinylPlus was founded by the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM), the European Stabiliser Producers Association (ESPA), European Plasticisers and the European Plastics Converters (EuPC) in 2011 when the
PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...
industry renewed a previous initiative called Vinyl 2010. VinylPlus is a ten-year, industry-wide voluntary commitment to develop more ecologically responsible ways to produce, use and recycle PVC. The programme aligns with the principles and targets of the UN’s
Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...
(SDGs) and the
circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity or CE) is a model of resource Production (economics), production and Resource consumption, consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, Reuse, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and ...
. VinylPlus includes all European PVC industry sectors: resin and additives producers, as well as plastics converters and recyclers. It covers the EU-28 plus Norway and Switzerland. VinylPlus is included in the
Rio+20 Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...
Registry of Commitments, and is a member of the Green Industry Platform, the global partnership led by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environment Platform Programme (UNEP). VinylPlus is also registered as a partner on the UN Partnerships for SDGs platform where it is recognised as fulfilling the SMART criteria.


History

VinylPlus succeeded Vinyl 2010, which was the European PVC industry's first voluntary commitment. Vinyl 2010 was set up in 2000 around the principles of Responsible Care adopted by the European chemicals industry in the 1980s . Its programme aimed to shift the PVC industry to a more sustainable model by improving recycling and substituting hazardous additives. At the same time, the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
also started addressing environmental concerns about plastics, notably developing the
Waste Framework Directive The Waste Framework Directive (WFD) is a European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geogr ...
(EU Directive 2008/98/EC), which laid down key EU recycling rules. Vinyl 2010 also set up a monitoring committee, which was kept upon the creation of VinylPlus. The committee was designed as an independent verification of the programme's activities, and includes representatives from the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
, the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
, trade unions, consumer associations and academia.


Recycling

One aspect of the programme is to improve recycling figures. VinylPlus sets public recycling targets that it publishes online and in an annual progress report. VinylPlus accredits Recovinyl to helping with recycling. Recovinyl was set up by VinylPlus in 2003, and is an industry-wide platform that gathers European recyclers and converters.


The VinylPlus Sustainability Forum

VinylPlus organises an annual forum: The VinylPlus Sustainability Forum. The first one took place in Istanbul in 2013. The event aims to encourage dialogue on sustainability by assembling representatives from the PVC industry, policy makers, consumer groups, retailers, architects, designers, recyclers and NGOs. The themes from past forums have been: * 2013: Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth for Europe and Beyond * 2014: Enhancing the Value of Partnerships * 2015: More Vinyl, Less Carbon * 2016: Smart Vinyl For Our Cities * 2017: Towards Circular Economy * 2018: Meeting Societal Needs *2019: Accelerating Innovation.


Governance

VinylPlus's management Board represents all European PVC industry sectors: resin and additives producers, as well as plastics converters. The Monitoring Committee offers guidance and advice, while ensuring an independent evaluation of the initiatives undertaken in the Voluntary Commitment. The Monitoring Committee currently includes representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, trade unions, consumer associations and academia, as well as representatives from the European PVC industry. The Monitoring Committee's stated goal is to ensure VinylPlus's transparency, participation and accountability.


References

{{reflist Sustainable development Plastic recycling