Document 89gKjO5mdX9op37mEBX3eRpZ

Vinyl Plastics1 Part of Everyday Life Page 1 of 2 Vinyl Plastics: Part of Everyday Life Used in hundreds ofproducts, by nearly every industry. Largest usefor vinyl is in construction. One ofthe most time-tested synthetic materials in use today. Critical to many quality-of-hfe products. Vinyl Plastics: Part of Everyday Life Vinyl (polyvinyl chloride, or PVC), is the second largest volume plastic produced in the world. U.S. production alone currently exceeds 10 billion pounds annually; over 40 billion pounds are produced worldwide each year. Applications are found in virtually every industry, including health care, communications, aerospace, automotive, retailing, textiles, construction, durable goods and agriculture. Major Uses for Vinyl Construction-house siding; water distribution, irrigation and sewer pipe; wire and cable insulation; electrical conduit; Automotive-body side moldings, windshield system floor and wall coverings; window frames; gutters and components, interior upholstery, under-the-hood wiring, downspouts; single-ply roofing; landfill liners; piping used in under-the-car abrasion coatings, floor mats; adhesives a food processing, chemical processing and other sealants; other components such as dashboards and arm manufacturing; fire-sprinkler piping; fencing. Consumer goods- toys, sporting goods, footwear, credit cards, swimming pool liners, patio furniture, garden hoses, upholstery fabric, shower curtains. Electronics/appliances- keyboards; component housi jacketing for electrical cords; fiber optics; floppy disk ja various parts and components in phone systems, power t refrigerators, washers, air conditioners, computers. Medical products- surgical gloves, blood bags, IV bags, tubing, heart catheters, single-dose medication packaging. Packaging-rigid bottles, flexible meat wrap, shrink wr blister packaging, tamper-evident shrink bands, bottle ca liners. Facta at a Glance Over 50 percent of all vinyl produced is used by the construction industry, and more vinyl is used in construction than any other plastic. Hence, vinyl is often referred to as the "infrastructure plastic." Vinyl products were first introduced over 50 years ago, making it one of the most time-tested synthetic materials in use today. (The first major use was as a rubber insulation replacement for wiring on U.S. ships during World War II.) PVC water pipe economically delivers pure water to even the most remote location; PVC irrigation pipe helps increase crop yields; PVC sewer pipe helps insure the integrity of waste water handling systems. Vinyl medical goods and pharmaceutical packaging provide a higher, safer standard of health care. Vinyl's inherent flame retardance has made it the dominant material for many electrical uses, and has helped make electrical service safer and more dependable. Vinyl's durability and comparative low cost helps make housing more affordable. Vinyl packaging helps reduce food spoilage and waste, and is virtually unreplaceable in meat wrap. 1993 U.S. Vinyl Production By Market (in millions ofpounds) Pipe, fittings, conduit 4,490 Siding and panels 1,130 Electrical/electronics 530 Packaging 494 Windows, other profiles 432 Flooring 408 Transportation 120 Furniture 89 Wall coverings 61 Toys 41 Lighting fixtures 31 Resellers, compounders 440 CMA 112482 http://c3 org/libraiy/everyday.html 5/20/97 Vinyl Plastics: Part of Everyday Life Housewares 201 Exports 1,340 Vapor barriers, pool liners 164 Other 290 Appliances 148 TOTAL 10,409 (Source: Modem Plastics, January 1994) The Vinyl Institute January, 1994 Page 2 of: http://c3.org/library/everyday.html CMA112483 5/20/97