Brussels, 26/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission proceeded this Wednesday to adopt a Green Paper, which evaluates environmental issues related to industry's use of PVC and will act as a platform for broad consultations with interested parties extending until the end of November. The Green Paper is the result of a 3-year study programme on technical, scientific and economic aspects of the PVC life cycle.
The PVC industry in Europe has spawned jobs for 530,000 people working in 21,000 companies accounting for a total production of 5.5 million tonnes in 1998: 20% of plastic output worldwide. The market value is put at Euro 73 billion.
The two major issues the Green Paper singles out are the use of additives and the management of PVC wastes. A European Commission experts claims that among the group of additives used, a distinction should be made between stabilisers, to make the material more resistant (lead, found in 70% of PVS, and cadmium), and plastifiers, used to manufacture flexible PVC products (primarily phthalates), whose risks for the environment and human health are now on appraisal. Nigh-on one million tonnes of phthalates are used each year for this purpose. About 3.6 million tonnes of post-consumer PVC waste are generated annually in Europe. The Commission expects increase of PVC waste quantities of about 80% in the coming 20 years. The average life spans of certain PVC products may be 20 or even 50 years. The main applications of PVC are in the building sector, which accounts for 57% of all uses. Waste management relies little on recycling (3%°). The main systems are (17%) and above all landfilling. The Green Paper recommends meeting a recycling target of 18% of all waste by 2020. It highlights the problems bound up with incineration, particularly the production of chlorine gas, which is inadequately neutralised by lime.
The Commission is planning to act early next year to table proposals for solving these issues. It has an array of legislative instruments to deal with the environmental impact of PVC. The institution said on Wednesday it hoped the interested parties would provide an input to help it direct the processes underway. Replacing products deemed to be toxic is feasible. A Commission expert said replacements could be used in certain applications but this did not mean a total ban. These products include polypropylene (PET) and polyethylene (PE). Cadmium is prohibited in some Member States. Surveys are being carried out on how PVC affects human health. Steps have been taken to minimise the impact on workers exposed during the manufacturing process. The Commission claims there is still no proof about the danger for users. As for the waste-related stage, the Commission experts stressed the need to gauge the direct impact in the light of incineration procedure in the various countries.
The Green Paper may be consulted on the site http: //europa.eu.int/comm/environnement/ pvc/index.htm.