VinylPlus, the Voluntary Commitment to sustainable development of the European PVC industry, recycled 639,648 tonnes of PVC within its framework last year, presenting the results at its VinylPlus Sustainability Forum 2018 in Madrid.
The forum held on 16th-17th May 2018, took the theme of ‘Meeting Societal Needs’, exploring how the vinyl sector and its products can help meet the challenges of providing services for a growing population in areas such as healthcare, housing and related infrastructure.
Representing the European Commission, European Parliament, the United Nations, consumer organisations, academia, specifiers, recyclers and the PVC value chain, the forum attracted more than 140 stakeholders from 30 countries.
The forum consisted of presentations and panel discussions from industry speakers focussed on key topics, including policy frameworks and drivers, guiding businesses towards sustainable practices and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Daniel Perez
Aligning industry with circular economy principles and how the industry can respond to increasing environmental pressures were among the topics raised by keynote speaker Anders Wijkman, Co-president of the global think tank Club of Rome.
Sessions on ‘Towards the future: Meeting the challenges of the era of peak global population’ and ‘Sustainability Policy Frameworks’ sparked lively debate.
Justin Zeulner, Executive Director of the Green Sports Alliance, delivered insights into how the sports industry is seeking to address its environmental impacts with examples of stadiums’ good practice and responsible industries’ partnerships with the sports movement.
Josef Ertl, VinylPlus Chairman said: “Today plastics are facing turbulent, yet exciting times: times of changes, times of new challenges and times of opportunities. Now more than ever our industry must show the great contribution of its experience and progress to the well-being of society and in meeting societal needs worldwide.”