Today is Earth Day so let’s take a minute and look at vinyl and sustainability.   I’m frequently asked about the sustainability of vinyl.  This is a loaded question in my opinion because the word “sustainability” means different things to different individuals.  The true understanding of sustainability gets lost when it is lumped in with vague terms such as ‘green’, which gets thrown around to encompass a wide array of environmentally conscious terms and practices.  My favorite explanation comes from “PVC: Reaching for Sustainability” by Dr. Mark Everard:

Sustainability is enabling our growing human population to live equitably within the supportive capacities of the natural world on an indefinite basis.

If we take that concept and look at vinyl from this point of view, what we find is very surprising to many people.

Back to the question of ‘is vinyl sustainable?’  My answer is yes, very much so.  Here is why – PVC resin is derived from co-products of abundant resource production, natural gas and salt.  Also, vinyl is very easily recycled back into second generation products.

Let’s talk about natural gas.  I live in Texas and you don’t have to convince me that there is a natural gas boom going on in the U.S.  45% of our energy in Texas comes from natural gas and over 1.2 million Texas jobs are supported by natural gas, so yes, we get the whole natural gas boom thing.  But how much natural gas does the US have and does that make is sustainable? 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the U.S. has 2,543 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves – enough to power our economy for generations.  That’s right, generations!

Now on to salt.  PVC resin is 57% chlorine which is derived from common salt.  This is an abundant material in the earth’s crust.  The production of chlor-alkali production from NaCl salt produces two co-products, chlorine and caustic. Hundreds of chemicals are made directly from these two by products.

Natural gas and salt are two abundant resources and there is ample supply of both right here in the U.S.

Now we must consider the recyclability of vinyl.  I’ve mentioned in a recent blog that over the last 5 years, Presco has recycled over 13 million lbs. of post industrial scrap back into the vinyl film we manufacture.  For the PVC industry as a whole, 1 billon lbs. of post consumer scrap is recycled annually and over 50 million lbs. of post consumer vinyl scrap is recycled back into second generation products.

I do feel it is appropriate to think of vinyl on this Earth Day.  Thanks for taking a minute to read this – now go plant a tree!