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says Hruska. He hints they are up
against powerful NGOs such as
Greenpeace bombarding consumers
with messages like ‘phase out PVC –
the poison plastic’. Hruska argues that
one regrettable outcome is that peo-
ple with little working knowledge of
recycling tend to believe all plastics
are bad. ‘In the meantime, we’ve been
contacted by entrepreneurs from India
who think our business model may
help them kick start their own PVC
recycling sector. Sounds like we must
be doing something right, doesn’t it?’
big hoPes, big aCtions
The media delegation met up at one
of the Dutch facilities of PVC producer
Vynova Group, owned by the
International Chemical Investors
Group, based in Geleen. Launched in
1930, the company has a workforce of
more than 110 employees responsible
for the production of PVC powder
that forms the raw material for a
range of products, such as plastic pipe
systems, window and door frames,
flexible and hard films, cable sheath-
ing and car dashboards.
Specifically, Vynova creates suspen-
sion PVC (S-PVC) through a process of
polymerisation. During this process,
vinyl chloride monomer is polymerised
in water and additives. Polymerisation
takes place in a series of reactors, dis-
tributed along four production lines.
‘We have a production capacity of 225
000 tonnes per year,’ says company
vice president Jonathan Stewart. By
implementing a ‘clean sweep’ ideolo-
gy, Vynova Group minimises pellet
and powder loss, greatly enhancing
efficiency.
Stewart cites an increase of 100 000
tonnes in recycled PVC used in
European industry in 2018 compared
to 2017. ‘You may call this a huge
improvement but there is still room
to do better,’ he notes. To achieve
full circularity, he adds, it would be
wise to focus more on chemical recy-
cling.
‘Circular ethylene is here,’ Stewart
says, meaning the Vynova Group is
developing a new range of renewable
PVC resins linked to biomass-derived
ethylene in partnership with MEO
Carbon Solutions.
Meanwhile, an estimated 10% of
Europe’s demand for plastics (51 mil-
lion tonnes per year) is geared
towards PVC. Speaking of the
Netherlands, Stewart reports that
some 30 000 tonnes of PVC waste is
available annually and half of this vol-
ume is currently recycled. Most of the
material is pipe waste, which is unsur-
prising as 195 000 km of PVC pipes
have been installed throughout the
densely populated country.
Additionally, around one-third of PVC
scrap consists of door and window
profiles.
‘These figures aren’t bad. But what
will the future hold?’ Stewart wonders.
One trend is that the automotive
industry is turning to PVC to create
synthetic leather for car interiors. The
businessman believes this potentially
massive market could lead to a new
peak in demand for recyclates. He
claims the companies making lofty
promises aren’t automatically the
innovators. ‘At the end of the day,
you’ve got to walk the walk. Talking is
not enough.’
automotiVe demand
The second plant visit took the dele-
gates to Cifra, in the German town of
Neukirchen-Vluyn, and the company
currently owns two other sites in the
Netherlands and France. Facility man-
ager Jack Snijders says they process
annually 20 000 tonnes of PVC, poly-
ethylene and polystyrene into soft Vynova Group’s vice president Jonathan Stewart (pictured left) is happy to give a plant tour.
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