PVC legacy additives: Europe takes action now

Eric Grange, Benvic Marketing Manager, explains how Europe’s building and construction infrastructure is shifting in relation to PVC legacy materials – and why that industry’s supply side must prepare for significant change in the coming weeks and years. The EU’s starting pistol on these matters is fired at the end of next week…

As a recycler/compounder, Benvic has developed significant PVC compounding experience over several decades. Throughout that long period, Benvic PVC compounds have been continually redesigned to be safer by replacing many hazardous additives.
Formulations have regularly evolved to make PVC applications as safe as possible. But Benvic’s PVC compounding journey is not just a matter of supplying materials to processors in order to make final parts. These parts are many and varied, and used for a long service, namely: window frames, pipe and fittings, cable and cable conducts, flooring and other building products.

Insight

Regulations strengthen the recycling

Today’s circular economy now demands that the supply chain needs to recover all such products in order to give them a second life.  Indeed, voluntary pledges and various upcoming regulations - ESPR, CPR, ELV – now make this process mandatory.

For many years now, Benvic has been investing in and integrating its in house recycling capabilities to play its part and to be a significant orchestrator of the 2nd life process.

It also needs to be noted that PVC recycling is not ordinarily an easy business, even though PVC materials have very strong recycling credentials. The first bottle neck relates to the particular chemistries of the PVC compounds that are used in various applications.

Every customer, and every building product application typically needs its own specific material formulation.  Benvic is fully recognized as an expert in these matters and has successfully grown compounds for various applications through its customers, using additives, colors, stabilizers and other materials to attain the necessary fitness for purpose.

And Benvic is also now fully recognized as an expert in post-use PVC recovery and recycling – understanding, for example, how post-first-use parts can be upcycled into a mix of general PVC recyclate. We typically say that ‘to be a compounder today is to be a recycler’.

Benvic’s material (re)formulation expertise is a key part of the recycling jigsaw and our increasing capacity in delivering volume-based PVC recyclate is another.

Regarding the landscape at this point – with any eye to the upcoming EU legislation - the major technical recycling challenge relates more to the chemical composition of the available feedstock.

PVC compounds are typically designed for long serving applications with several decades of use as durable materials, often substituting for ceramic, cast iron and other metals.

However, such products were installed at a time before the circular economy. The legislative requirements for the same environment and the same infrastructure are now very different.

The phase-out of a few specific PVC additives is relatively well known - lead based stabilizers, for example, and some plasticizers. But what about those additives already in service as part of the existing PVC infrastructure?

Benvic’s material (re)formulation expertise is a key part of the recycling jigsaw and our increasing capacity in delivering volume-based PVC recyclate is another.

Ready to meet new requirements

A way of transition now needs to be found so that the industry can effectively negotiate these additives in order to achieve circularity, sustainability and closed loop status through post-consumer recycling in some cases.

Last year, the EU regulation 2023/923 was published in order to effectively manage such a transition. The regulation says that 0.1% in weight concerning lead is the maximum level allowed for all r-PVC compounds. However, it also opens adaptations for some specific use cases. Indeed, this threshold can be extended to 1.5% in weight for rigid r-PVC for the following categories:

  • profiles and sheets for exterior applications in buildings, excluding decks and terraces;
  • profiles and sheets for decks and terraces, provided that the recovered PVC is used in a middle layer and is entirely covered with a layer of PVC or other material, compliant in terms of lead concentration.
  • profiles and sheets where they are inaccessible during normal use, excluding maintenance.
  • profiles and sheets for interior building applications, where the surface is covered by a material compliant for lead concentration
  • The middle layer for non-drinking water pipes
  • Non drinking water fittings

These measures are now applicable from next week, beginning Nov 29th 2024: and the new regulations will oblige product manufacturers to label corresponding products accordingly.

A further requirement in terms of circularity for applications for tubes and fittings will also come into force. This begins in May 2026. This scheme will be reviewed in 2028 to evolve, and is dependent on the future evolution of PVC recycling in terms of coverage/volume and process technologies.

It is important to consider that some rigid applications such as EEE (Electrical & Electronic Equipment), due to side regulation such as the RoHS, and also all applications using soft PVC are out of this derogation.

That exclusion creates an additional challenge in terms of generating enough rPVC recyclate feedstock.

The good news, however, is that Benvic has kept pace with these developments and that we have significantly developed our capacities and expertise in rPVC compounding with a tranche of new investment arriving in Q4 this year.

Benvic engineers have reorganized our activities in order to qualify recyclates, and reformulate and certify rPVC compounds in line with EU Regulation 2023/923. The move is entirely within the scope of our new mission statement – Redesigning plastics. For Good.

Our door is open to all customers who are bound by the necessities of these new regulations and we look forward to being of service.

More general information on these developments can also be found on the Vinylplus page:  https://www.vinylplus.eu/circular-economy/regulatory-framework/

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