Document gE83KLmY02M98p9MeRKpLRrzq

//] z*-'"***^ X, /VcG,/~<'xy &U, Wayne Interchange Plaza II 155 Route 46 West Wayne, New Jersey 07470 Sept 30, 1988 To: Vinyl Institute Executive Board Vinyl Institute Committee Chairman received OCT 0 3 1988 P&PG PURCHASING EXECUTIVE ADVISORY The purpose of this advisory is to inform you of some late-breaking and significant developments. 1. Norsk Hydro VCM Plant Explosion Upon learning on September 19 of the explosion at Norsk Hydro's VCM plant in Norway, we contacted Harold Clayton of Norsk Hydro in England and Willem Prinselaar of EVC to get further details. We received a call from Mr. R. Saether, Head of the Petrochemicals Division of Norsk Hydro advising that as a result of the fire and explosion, there was some "damage to the PVC plant" but no injuries or fatalities. Mr. Saether stated that the plant will be down for at least one month, their adjacent chlorine plant is down as well and they will have to cut back on their PVC production as well. On September 28, we received a telefax from Ian Owston, Purchasing and Distribution Manager, Hydro Polymers, Vinyls Division in England indica ting that he was "seeking to contact all U.S. producers of PVC resins with a view to making some short/medium term purchases." We replied supplying him with requested contact information on VI member companies who are PVC producers. You may have already heard from him or can ex pect to be contacted shortly. Finally, in a telephone conversation yesterday with Willem Prinselaar, I learned that the explosion was apparently caused by corrosion of pipes in the EDC plant. Mechanical completion of the repairs are now expected to take 2 to 3 months. Willem further advised that because of environ mental concerns in Norway and the company's environmental record, it may take some additional time for the Norwegian authorities to allow the repaired plant to resume production. As you may be aware, the Norsk Hydro plant has a reported capacity of 1 billion lbs. of VCM per year. 2. European Vinyl Manufacturers to meet with Greenpeace Willem Prinselaar informed me yesterday that certain European vinyl manufacturers had learned that Greenpeace, the environmental activist organization, was planning some demonstrations on an international scale against PVC producers. Rumors were that Greenpeace was planning CTL017623 Executive Advisory Page 2 September 30, 1988 demonstrations in front of PVC production plants such as chaining themselves to plant fences and gates, etc. Some of you may be aware that Greenpeace representatives, opposed to ocean dumping, recently tied up New York City rush hour traffic by having twelve demonstrators dangle from ropes off the Triborough Bridge. Through the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers, Greenpeace was contacted in various countries with the aim of sitting down and establishing a dialogue. This was categorically rejected by all except fbr Greenpeace, International in England. A meeting is now scheduled to be held on October lU with European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers representatives and Greenpeace. I am advised that two U.S. Greenpeace representatives will be attending that meeting: a Dr. Costner of Greenpeace in Washington and a Mr. Marco Kaltofen who is identified as being with Boston Chemical Data Corporation. At the first meeting it is expected that both groups will exchange ideas about how to establish a dialog and provide Greenpeace with information hopefully to change their views about PVC. Because U.S. representatives of Greenpeace will be at this meeting, I have asked that Dr. Freiesleben of EVCM call me and advise me of the outcome in the event that Greenpeace approaches the Vinyl Institute or any of its member companies in the future. We will, of course, keep you advised and ask you to let us know if your individual companies are contacted by Greenpeace. 3. Lead and Cadmium in Incinerator Ash Could Spell Problems for PVC As you know, EPA has a Task Force developing a a Municipal Solid Waste Strategy. Their draft report entitled "The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action" has just been issued and public hearings are to be held in October in Long Beach,CA, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta,GA. Page 62 of the draft report contains the following statements: "EFA has initiated studies of certain waste materials to allow for the evalu ation of potential bans on specific waste stream constituents. EPA studies are initially focused on potential sources of lead and cadmium." While lead and cadmium use as stabilizers for PVC are not the major potential sources of these metals in incinerator ash, we must recognize that there are perceptions that they are. A report on "The Contribution of the Plastics Component of MSW To The Heavy Metal Content of MWC Ash" is being completed by a consultant to SPI, Dr. William Considine. The draft version of this report which I have reviewed indicates that pigments are the largest contributor of cadmium to plastics where they are used in ABS, HDPE,PP, LDPE and styrenics. Heat stabilizers of the Barium/Cadmium type account for 15% of the cadmium consumed in the U.S. Lead based heat stabilizers are primarily used in wire insulation and the report by Dr. Considine estimates that only 1% of the lead consumed in the U.S. is used in stabilizer manufacture. CTL017624 Executive Advisory Page 3 September 30, 1988 Rather than wait for a ban on these metals to happen, I plan to explore the technical realism of the phasing out of the use of such metals from vinyl plastics at the next meeting of the Vinyl Institute Technical Committee in Cleveland on October 18. In the interim, I would ask that each of you consider whether the Vinyl Institute should adopt a policy position on this issue, viz. voluntary phase out, restriction on uses, elimination, in advance of any governmental action. I will plan to put this on the agenda for the next Executive Board meeting for discussion. If you have any questions or comments on any of the items in this advisory, please call. RTG:g CTL017625