Eco-profiles and environmental declarations for PVC

Abstract

The ‘eco-profiles' (cradle to grave life cycle inventories) of the major thermoplastics published by PlasticsEurope since the early 1990s provide a recognised reference for environmental impacts of plastics up to and including resin production. The suspension and emulsion PVC eco-profiles were fully updated in 2005, on the basis of 2004 averages collected in the plants of ECVM members and sister companies. The results are very robust, covering more than 90% of West European production of VCM and PVC. The results show a decrease in both energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. Many other emissions, related to energy production (SO₂, NO_x) or directly related to VCM and PVC processing (e.g. VCM), also decreased very significantly. The data obtained have been aggregated into environmental declarations for suspension and emulsion PVC, the first such declarations available for polymers. These documents provide a compact summary of the main impact categories as well as other relevant information for downstream users.