BPF hopeful on Leicester City Council PVC review

Following guidance from the British Plastic Federation (BPF), Leicester City Council has advised of its intention to review its ‘Guide to Sustainable Procurement’, which was published in 2008 and permeated with misinformation about plastics, in particular PVC.

The guide, which reflects an outdated anti-PVC campaign backed by Greenpeace in the 1990s, encourages the use of products made from PVC alternatives, based upon concerns surrounding its production and use. The recommendations lacked balance and proper scientific scrutiny, portraying a distorted image of the material. In addition, the guide contradicts a section on the council’s own website relating to benefits of using PVC window frames and doors in comparison to timber products.

The BPF wrote to the Council’s Environment Team to highlight the inaccuracies, providing further information about the production of PVC, its life cycle costs and recyclability, as well as detailing its energy from waste (EfW) properties.

Similarly, the BPF outlined how the European plasticiser market has gradually shifted towards high molecular weight phthalates (high phthalates), which today represent over 80% of all plasticisers consumed in Europe. These plasticisers have been registered with REACH and do not require any classification for health and environmental effects, nor are they on the Candidate List for Authorisation.

Finally, the BPF referred to the important role PVC played during the Olympics in creating some of the finest and most environmentally conscious venues in the world. This was based firstly on the achievements of Vinyl 2010 which provided a platform for the increased recycling of PVC building products and then its successor project, VinylPlus, which has an ambitious target to recycle 800,000 tonnes of PVC per annum by 2020.

BPF's Public and Industrial Affairs Director, Philip Law, said: “In stating their intent to review the guide, the initial response from Leicester City Council is extremely positive, and we hope to sit down with them to discuss their revision.”

ENDS

For all media enquiries, BPF logos and images, please contact Philip Law, Public & Industrial Affairs Director on 0207 457 5000 or email [email protected]  
 
Notes for editors:
 
British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the UK trade association for the plastics industry – representing the whole supply chain including polymer producers, distributors, additives suppliers, machinery manufacturers, processors and recyclers.