Vinyl Institute says the vinyl industry is committed to earth-friendly manufacturing

-- Packaging Digest, 8/1/2007

An article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune claims that a number of retailers are moving away from use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) due to environmental and health issues.

However, the Vinyl Institute says the vinyl industry is committed to operating its manufacturing facilities in a manner that protects the earth and its inhabitants.

Vinyl is among the largest volume plastics produced around the world, the institute reports. “We believe it contributes a great deal to life's necessities and conveniences. PVC is used in hundreds of products all of us rely on every day: pipe, house siding, doors and windows, flooring, electrical wire and cable insulation, medical tubing and blood bags, electronic and automotive parts and packaging materials.”

The institute says that vinyl packaging offers numerous benefits, including: -- Energy Efficiency - Vinyl uses at least 20 percent less energy than common alternatives.

-- Low Use of Fossil Fuel - Fifty-seven percent of the PVC molecule is derived from salt and only 43 percent from natural gas or crude oil, while 100 percent of traditional alternatives come from fossil fuel.

-- Safety - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the use of vinyl in packaging, provided residual vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) levels are below 10 parts per billion (PPB) in rigid PVC and five ppb in plasticized, flexible PVC.

-- Environmentally responsible - Life cycle analyses done by the European Commission and Plastics Europe indicate that vinyl often is the best environmental choice for packaging.

-- Low dioxin source - Vinyl manufacturing accounts for less than half of one percent of dioxin emissions, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data.

-- Safe manufacturing - Government data show that vinyl workers' injury and illness rates are less than the average for all manufacturing.

For further information, please visit www.vinylinfo.org/packaging.html.