For some years now, people have been concerned as to the sustainability credentials of PVC. Fortunately, because of this level of scrutiny, PVC has become one of the most researched polymers in the world and we now have a lot of information on how PVC affects the environment.
The evidence suggests that PVC, when manufactured responsibly, is much kinder to the environment than many alternative products. PVC is non-toxic, formed from 58% salt and 43% oil. It also typically uses significantly less energy and lower average temperatures than other materials during the manufacturing process.
PVC is also readily recyclable. We are constantly working to improve our processes to minimize waste and increase the use of recycled materials. Almost 100% of our post-production material is recycled back into the 2 base layers of our products, reducing our need for virgin PVC. In the US, up to 60% of one of these base layers is now produced from reclaimed post-industrial PVC waste, further reducing our need for virgin PVC. This is something we’re researching at the moment with a view to introducing in the UK. Although not all of our waste PVC can be recycled within our production process, we make every effort to ensure it can be re-used outside of our business in low-grade plastics, such as traffic cones and plant pots.
In Europe, we are members of Recovinyl who facilitate the collection, sorting and recycling of post-consumer PVC waste. Although there are difficulties in collecting and sorting end-of-life PVC, our flooring is fully recyclable and we continue to work with Recovinyl to progress this.
Amtico International is also a member of EPFLOOR, committed to Vinyl 2010, the European PVC industry voluntary program on sustainable development.