Document 1Qw729v4M9yXJgM78MZ1Nbwea

New VI Research Program To Study Markets For Recycled Vinyl A new research program funded by the Vinyl Institute will help a Vermont company identify potential markets for recycled vinyl. The program, to be carried out by Vermont Republic Industries (VRI) of St. Albans, Vt., will investigate ways to retrieve vinyl from non-packaging applications and recycle it into high-volume uses. VRI will evaluate the properties of the material that could be recovered and assess its appropriateness for reuse in other products. "While the Vinyl Institute has funded a number of projects focusing on PVC packaging in the waste stream, this is the first one that looks at other vinyl products that might be destined for landfilling or incineration," says VI Executive Director Roy Gottesman. The vinyl industry believes such discards may represent a valuable source of near-prime material that could be recycled into other appli cations, such as drainage pipe, which require less demanding properties. Vermont Republic Industries, founded in 1984, is New England's largest recycler of PVC scrap. VRI provides plastics recycling services for industrial waste management and resource-saving programs by salvag ing plastic scrap from end-use appli cations and reselling it to companies that recycle the material into'other products. The company will be assisted on the project by faculty members from the University of Vermont's business school who will analyze the business and social requirements needed to establish a profitable PVC recycling industry. The Vinyl Institute hopes that the information gained from the project also can be applied to vinyl packag ing, where most recycling activity cur rently is focused. Results of the VRI program are expected in about 12 months. In attendance at the press conferu^^ were (I to r): Goodman, manager of technical proj ects for the PVC division of OxyChem and Vinyl Institute Technical Committee liaison with VRI; Robert Arns, professor at the University of Vermont; Albin D. Voegele, president of VRI; and Roy Gottesman, VI executive director. New Vinyl Recycling Video Released The Vinyl Institute has released a revised, 9V2-minute videotape, "Vinyl: Part of the Recycling Solution." The video discusses the role plastics play in the municipal waste crisis, then goes on to explain why vinyi and other plastics can be part of the recycling solution. The video also includes footage of demonstration projects showing the feasibility of collecting used vinyl bot tles and recycling commingled plas tics (including vinyl) into useful products "This video was originally created to inform state and local legislators that PVC, like other plastics, is eminently recyclable," says VI Executive Director Roy Gottesman. "That use is continu ing, but several of our members have found that the video can also be used to educate employees, community groups, and customers. In some places, companies have even arranged for the video to be sho^wi local-access cable television." CTL016274 2 environmental update Industry Prepares For Next Phase As SARA Title III Deadline Passes The July 1 deadline for companies to disclose their emissions of toxic together focus groups and contacted community activists in advance of the chemicals as called for under Title III of the Superfund law (SARA) passed fairly quietly around the country, according to spokespersons for the July 1 deadline. The plant managers at most of our plants invited area residents and the media to come in for a tour." chemical industry and PVC producers. Companies typically began the This was contrary to some predictions communications process with their that the media would use the event own employees. "We held a meeting to portray the toxic emissions as a at the plant for all our people where national crisis. But most of the spokes we explained our emissions data and persons cautioned that the issue distributed a pamphlet describing the hasn't gone away just because the new requirements," says Jerry Mitzner, first hurdle has been passed. manager at OxyChem's Burlington "Overall, media coverage of the North PVC plant in Burlington, N.J. issue has been evenhanded, and the "We are looking to them to be our response in most communities has ambassadors to the community." been ho-hum," reports Jon Holtzman, vice president for communications at the Chemical Manufacturers Associa tion. "I think the chemical industry was able to diffuse the first wave of reac tion by talking about it openly. I "But remember, with a few excep tions, the public hasn't seen the aggregate data yet," Mr. Holtzman continues. "There is definitely a second wave coming. The environ mental groups are hard at work, and although state legislators have been quiet so far, we expect to see bills proposed in several states to restrict emissions of some substances." PVC Producers Prepared Companies in the PVC industry were well-prepared to meet the com Working Through Coalitions In the major chemical-producing parts of the country, PVC producers also addressed the issue through industry-organized community aware ness and emergency response com mittees. Some of these industry committeee went beyond straight reporting of emissions by individual plants in an effort to stay in front of the issue. In Geismar-St. Gabriel, La., for example, PVC producers joined with a number of other companies to fund an independent community air-sampling study conducted by Louisiana State University. Preliminary results showed the compounds detected were in the low ppb range. Three PVC/VCM producers in the munications requirements of SARA Baton Rouge area did their own Title III, according to the five pro cumulative impact modeling for vinyl ducers Advisory contacted. The com chloride monomer in advance of July 1. panies typically gave their plant man As a result, they were able to provide agers wide discretion about how to assurances that levels of VCM expo communicate the emission information sure to the surrounding communities while providing them with support in are extremely low. the form of videotapes, fact sheets and material safety data sheet infor mation. Most of the companies also arranged for their plant managers to attend risk communications training In Lake Charles, La., PVC producers and other chemical companies formed a coalition with representatives from environmental groups, government, labor, the medical community and programs. McNeese State University to study the "We met with each of our plant jnanagers last year to evaluate their Respective situations," recalls Mike Reynolds, manager of public relations for Vista Chemical and chairman of effects of chemicals released into the local environment. The companies are committed to make whatever emis sions reductions the study finds are necessary to protect public health. the Vinyl Institute Communications Committee. "In some cases, we put CTL016275 continued, page 5 3 Vinyl Fencing Catching On For hundreds of years, farmers and ranchers have had no choice but to put up with the expensive mainte nance requirements of wooden fenc ing - not to mention its other draw backs. In recent years, however, some property owners have discovered an alternative that is economical, attrac tive and virtually maintenance-free: vinyl. styles, the most popular being round post & rail and plank style. Until this year, vinyl fencing was available only in white; however, one resin maker has developed a compound for a lowgloss brown vinyl fence that resem bles natural wood. "Large horse farms have been the early innovators in this market," says VI Executive Director Roy Gottesman. The beauty and minimal mainte nance requirements ot vinyi fencing have made it the preferred fencing product among leading horsebreeding farms. Introduced in the early 1980s, vinyi fencing is becoming increasingly popular, particularly among horsebreeding farms. The market is still in its infancy, but it has very good long term potential, according to industry sources. Vinyl fencing is initially more expen sive than wood, but it will maintain its original appearance for years without painting or staining. Vinyl fencing is also impact-resistant and will stand up to wide temperature extremes without fading or cracking. Users can choose from a number of "As word spreads about the advan tages of vinyl fencing, we expect it to become more popular among other farm owners as well as commercial and residential developers." To help promote demand for the product, the Vinyl Institute recently issued a press release and photo to publications in the farming, architec ture, shelter and building & construc tion markets publicizing this trend towards vinyl fencing. Coverage of the Institute's release in these magazines is expected to appear in the coming months. Paper On PVC Fire Properties Issued The Vinyl Institute has issued a new technical information paper on "Fire Properties of Polyvinyl Chloride." The eight-page paper was authored by Dr. Marcelo Hirschler of BFGoodrich, who is also the VI Technical Committee project leader on fire and combustibil ity research. The paper incorporates the latest information about the fireperformance properties of PVC, in cluding results of recent tests done at Southwest Research Institute on the health effects of hydrogen chloride (HCI) and the phenomenon of HCI decay in a fire atmosphere. The report concludes that PVC has excellent fire performance properties compared with wood and other con struction materials and is less flam mable and no more toxic than most organic materials. Research has shown that HCI is unique among common fire gases in that it decays by reacting very rapidly with most con struction surfaces and consequently does not pose a threat in real fires. Copies of the paper may be ob tained from VI headquarters. 4 CTL016276 L Environmental Update... continued Looking to the future, PVC pro ducers feel ready to deal with the chat lenges presented by SARA. "We've had such a strict program for so long that these new requirements haven't been a big problem for our plants," remarks Sandie Kroeger, director of corporate communications for Occi dental Chemical. "We reduced our hazardous waste generation by 80% company-wide between 1980 and 1986, and our goal is a 5% reduction during each of the next five years." Companies ought to view SARA as an opportunity as well as a challenge, Mr. Reynolds feels. "The way we see it, it's in our direct business interest to tighten measurement techniques, keep emissions as low as possible and operate safely. Showing a real commitment to continually improving our operations is the best way to re spond to a skeptical community." Bottle Sports New Recycling Symbol Consolidated Royal's shampoo bot tles are among the first containers to sport the Society of the Plastics Indus try's new recyclable vinyl symbol. SPI unveiled the voluntary container cod ing system earlier this year to help recyclers sort plastic containers by resin composition. The letter "V" and number "3" code for vinyl is one of seven symbols de veloped by SPI to be placed on the bottom of plastic bottles 16 ounces or more, or trays and tubs which contain at least eight ounces. This system is the plastics industry's way of demon strating its commitment to sound en vironmental policies. The coding sys tem is expected to come into wide use within two years. BFGoodrich, whose vinyl com pounds are used in the new shampoo bottles, worked closely with Schoeneck Containers and Consolidated Royal to assure that the recyclable vinyl symbol would appear on the new packaging. Schoeneck incorporated the symbol into the mold it created for blowmolding the bottles. A shampoo bottle is one ot the first packages to display SPI's new recyclable vinyl symbol. "One of the main reasons we select ed vinyl for our packaging was be cause of its recyclability," said Bill Field, president of Consolidated Royal, located in Chicago. According to Bill Smith, president of Schoeneck Containers, recyclers are interested in vinyl for many of the same reasons packagers are. "Vinyl is strong, shatterproof, multichemicalresistant, cost-effective and has end less design possibilities. I like the idea that the bottle my company made to day may be a pipe, fencepost, pos sibly even a welcome mat tomorrow." CTL016277 New Marketing Task Forces Target Pipe, Electrical Materials Markets As a result of discussions at the September executive board meeting, the Vinyl Institute has established two new task forces to focus on the pipe and electrical materials markets. Each group held an organizational meeting in October to develop a mis sion strategy and programs and to make initial committee assignments. William Reading of Occidental Chemi cal chairs the Pipe Task Force, while Rick Smith of Vista chairs the Electrical Materials Task Force. "The formation of these task forces resulted from the VI executive board's decision to embrace a proactive pro gram to expand the market for PVC," says Roy Gottesman, VI executive director. "Pipe, electrical materials and pack aging were identified as the three ini tial target areas," he continues. "The packaging market, of course, is already the focus of the Packaging Council, which was formed last year and has been very successful. We expect that the Packaging Council will serve as a valuable prototype for these new task forces as they organ ize and move forward." i-1 (` & =3 Hei c A division of The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. 155 Route 46 West Wayne, NJ 07470 (201) 890-9299 oo eogo C l-CHO i>0t) >> co <o oo a, CO JS> V ' C"OXO *==. rt:--. ai SgwOo'o-- ap- f5k3 Oo CO -- S> ac O 3 C >.(13 tf) 5 1o O O Ea> aO 8Q.,C9) S2 8.3 oo cOo <0 cn 3 ? b .2 co g LU idPl. ro g 3 < UJ > 5 raO 2 fc-5 . g&8|Ol]= is igggs 3I : *c | S 2 a >) 3s nc5 Ug>ircrot T-oJ --- | ,, ioPOhOam? t-- * THE VINYL INSTITUTE NOVEMBER 1988 Vinyl Packaging Council Going After The Expanding Bottled Water Market With a projected growth rate of 12%-15% a year for the next five years, bottled water is the fastestgrowing segment of the domestic beverage industry. Already, 83% of the one billion gallons of water bottled in the U.S. comes in plastic containers, and the trend continues to be away from glass. keeping with the show's future orienta tion, the Vinyl Packaging Council exhibit featured the theme: "Vinyl: The Shape of Things to Come." A new pamphlet highlighting the advantages of vinyl water bottles was distributed at the show. The Council also instituted an ad campaign on the recyclability of vinyl The Packaging Council exhibit (or the 1988 Bottled Water Show featured the theme: "Vinyl: The Shape of Things to Come." Unlike some other segments of the beverage industry, water bottlers are not set in their ways as far as pack aging is concerned. High-density poly ethylene and polycarbonate are the most popular plastics for bottled water today, but a number of bottlers are looking at the advantages of vinyl bottles. "We continue to see a good oppor tunity for vinyl in the U.S. bottled water market," says Rohm and Haas' Carrie Solin, chairman of the Vinyl Packaging Council. "Not only does vinyl meet the industry's need for a reasonably priced, clear material that won't affect the taste of the water, but it's proven itself in Europe, where it is the market leader." ^ The Packaging Council is actively |bncouraging bottlers to try vinyl. In early November, the Council exhibited at the 1988 International Bottled Water Show in Atlanta, where more than 2,000 attendees were expected. In bottles. The ad has appeared in Bottled Water Reporter as well as several other plastics and packaging publications. Most recently, an article on trends in bottled water packaging written by Greg Boyd of Kaneka Texas, a Vinyl Institute affiliate member company, appeared as the cover story in the August/September issue of Bottled Water Reporter magazine. Reprints of the article, which describes the advan tages of vinyl bottles, are available from VI headquarters. NEW TECH COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN The Vinyl Institute is pleased to announce that Dr. Charles Bush, vice president-research & development for the Geon Vinyl Division of BFGoodrich Co., is the new chairman of the Vinyl Institute Technical Committee. CTL016273