PVC and Sustainable Practice from uPVC Windows Alliance

Australian PVC companies seek better data sharing with
global supply chains to demonstrate sustainable practices

The Australian PVC industry has launched its latest annual report, showing the progress of its members in meeting their product stewardship responsibilities across the PVC value chain in 2013.

One of the major shifts in result from 2012 is the significant increase seen in compliance against manufacturing commitments within the PVC industry's Product Stewardship Program.

"These commitments relate to the very start of the supply chain, activity which largely takes place overseas", Chief Executive of the Vinyl Council of Australia, Ms Sophi MacMillan explained. "Collecting the relevant information from upstream suppliers can be a real challenge for Australian-based companies at the end of the supply chain".

The Vinyl Council was successful in sourcing crucial performance information from some overseas industry players for its members, enabling them to verify their compliance against the commitments.

"The difficulty for our Program Signatories is first, to map out their supply chains for all their PVC products, and second to convince their suppliers to share relevant information and data", commented Ms MacMillan. "It requires considerable engagement and education of supply chain partners."

The PVC industry's Product Stewardship Program (the Program) is a voluntary initiative launched by the Vinyl Council of Australia in 2002. Since then, it has delivered major changes within the industry to improve the life cycle of PVC products, as can be seen through the history of annual reports.

Signatories commit to the delivery of key undertakings in PVC manufacturing from feedstocks to end product; the safe use of additives and open disclosure; waste management; life cycle thinking in design; research and public reporting.

One of the Program's measures of success is for 80 percent of Signatories to achieve compliance with at least 80 percent of relevant commitments in the Program. 2013 has seen significant progress against this milestone, with a 19 percent jump from 2012 in the number of Signatories reaching or exceeding the target. Almost two-thirds of the Program's Signatories met or surpassed the 80 percent target, with eight Signatories achieving full compliance.

To recognise their efforts, the past year has also seen the introduction of an award for Product Stewardship Program Excellence given to those Signatories that achieve full compliance against the Program's commitments.

2013 saw the official launch of in the PVC Recovery Hospitals program, an initiative aimed at diverting high quality, recyclable PVC medical product waste towards recycling solutions. The Program is proving to be of much interest in the sector, with 19 healthcare facilities signed on and an estimated 13 tonnes - or 91 cubic metres - of waste diverted during its first year of implementation.

"Interest is growing within the healthcare industry in Australia, and the Program has attracted interest from a number of countries around the globe", commented Ms MacMillan. "We are very proud to have started this initiative and to be inspiring others to develop similar programs."

An evaluation of the effectiveness of implementing the PVC Product Stewardship Program over the period 2007 to 2012 was conducted in 2012-13, and the findings published in December 2013. The report identified the progress of the industry during that period in meeting commitments, such as the dramatic reduction in lead stabiliser use, but also some of the challenges ahead.

One of the recommendations of the Five Year Review was to strengthen the commitments around waste reduction and management. As a result, a new commitment is being developed for the Program which will include new recycling measures and targets for the PVC sector. The new commitment will become part of the Program in 2014.

"The Program has been deliberately designed to evolve, enabling it to address issues as they arise, but also to build on past achievement", explains Ms MacMillan. "The key is continuous improvement, and in that regard we are pleased to see the Australian industry is often leading the way".

Download a copy of the report here.

More information on the Program available here.

For further information:
Ms Sophi MacMillan - 03 9368 6171 or email info@vinyl.org.au

www.vinyl.org.au