OTTAWA,
ON, April 17, 2024 /CNW/ - Canadian vinyl
industry leaders along with United Nations Environmental Program
(UNEP) delegates from around the world will attend the fourth
session (INC-4) negotiations towards a global treaty on plastic
pollution from April
23-29th, at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, Canada.
Supporting a balanced approach to
increase vinyl recyclability
During INC-4, the Vinyl Institute of Canada (VIC) is advocating that the United
Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and governments world-wide
work with industry to achieve global targets for reducing plastics
pollution. "The VIC has worked collaboratively and successfully
with ECCC for over twenty years on both environmental protection
and recycling programs. We have proven together that the
collaboration model works to tackle and reduce pollution much
faster with this approach" said Aiñe Curran, President, and CEO of the
association.
Vinyl products serve three key sectors in society: Health care,
Housing and Water Supply, and are durable products; meaning the
products carry extensive life cycles such as PVC windows (30-40
years), underground watermain pipe (100+ years), and building and
construction products (20+ years).
PVC is 100% recyclable and the industry, globally, operates
advanced recycling programs by collecting and converting
end-of-life PVC products and reusing them again in the same
products or into new recycled applications such as
soundproofing, garden products, and commercial and industrial
products.
PVC 123 : As the First Medical PVC Recycling
program in Canada, the
PVC 123 program collects Intravenous bags, oxygen masks, and tubing
from hospitals. The program was developed through a collaborative
partnership between the vinyl industry and Environment and Climate
Change Canada to build recycling infrastructure for hospitals. To
date, there are thirty-five hospitals registered in the program
which will officially scale province-wide in Ontario in April
2024. Curran goes on to say
"Hospitals embrace PVC 123 and so do we...it great for the
environment and hospital morale…our sights are set on Quebec as the next province to develop
recycling infrastructure where we are currently on-boarding our
first hospital in Gatineau,
Quebec.
Recycling of vinyl window profiles is a robust industry
in Europe and is the next sector
of recycling infrastructure the VIC and its partners are aiming to
develop in Canada with plans to
launch the pilot program "Win-Finity" in the fall of 2024. Vinyl
windows accelerate the adoption of energy efficient technologies,
key to meeting GHG targets.
Vinyl products have contributed to reduced carbon emissions for
decades through "lightweighting" technologies.
Transportation being one of the largest applications going back
decades saw plastics replace metals in cars, airplanes, and public
transit allowing various modes of transportation to burn less fuel,
carry more passengers, and help more Canadians to overcome the
geographical challenges in all parts of the country and around the
world. The vinyl industry is looking forward to working with UNEP
and government delegates from around the world during INC-4 to
support the development of workable solutions to ending plastic
pollution.
About the Vinyl Institute of Canada - The Vinyl Institute of
Canada advocates on behalf of the
vinyl industry in Canada by
forming strategic alliances between government and industry to
identify and solve issues which advance manufacturing standards in
all applications that serve the public, industrial, and commercial
sectors across Canada. For more
information https://vinylinstituteofcanada.com
SOURCE The Vinyl Institute of Canada - Institut du vinyle du Canada