An EU life cycle assessment has renewed conflict over PVC

An EU life cycle assessment has renewed conflict over PVC

The European Commission has released an environmental review of PVC and competing materials. Vinyl 2010 and Greenpeace have clashed over its conclusions.

The review compiled publicly available information on materials’ Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) information for several applications. For windows it said there was no “winner” in terms of a preferred material and optimisation of design had most potential for lowering environmental impacts.

Linoleum flooring had comparable or slightly fewer environmental impacts than PVC flooring. In roofing applications polymer solutions had lower environmental impact than bitumen systems. Vinyl 2010 said the study independently confirmed that PVC was as good as any other material. A spokesman for Vinyl 2010 told PRW.com: “It has shown there is no real reason to deselect PVC - no reason to deselect any material.”
Greenpeace’s reaction was to ask the Commission to promote alternative materials to PVC. It said the report clearly showed that alternative materials were environmentally preferable to PVC in many applications.

A spokeswoman told PRW.com: “Alternative materials including alternative plastics [should be promoted] where available.” The Vinyl 2010 spokesman responded: “It is the opposite of a distraction. It is a tool to finalise initiatives on PVC.”