A total of 435,083 tonnes of waste PVC has been recycled through the industry voluntary agreement Recovinyl in Europe last year.
The UK has contributed over 20 per cent with 88,648 tonnes in 2013 alone out of the 16 European member countries and 141 companies.
Recovinyl is a ten-year voluntary commitment of the European PVC industry that aims to tackle the sustainability challenges for PVC and deliver current recycling targets to 2020.
Waste PVC-U profiles comprised 50,421 tonnes of the UK’s recycling effort in 2013, with pipes, rigid and flexible PVC films and cables making up the rest.
This profile fraction is equivalent to the replacement of 3 million individual frames, or more than 300,000 homes based on an average of ten windows per house. The assumption is based on the weight of an average PVC-U window frame.
Axion Consulting, which is the Recovinyl UK agent, project manager Jane Gardner said: “These latest figures show that PVC recycling is maintaining its upward trend, with demand continuing to grow for good quality recycled material that can be reused in a variety of new products, from windows to flooring and advertising banners.
“Once again, the UK has made a significant contribution to the success of PVC recycling, thanks to ongoing commitment from the sector and sustained investment in recycling infrastructure across the country.”
Having already achieved significant volumes of PVC recycling, Recovinyl now want to create a ‘pull-market’ for recycled PVC material from the converting industry.
Potential new recycling opportunities would include non-infectious medical PVC waste from hospitals such as IV Fluid and oxygen bags.
