Hemingway tells PVC Industry to ‘Be Brave’!

At the BPF’s PVC seminar on 2nd October, Wayne Hemingway MBE, a fervent supporter of Greenpeace, encouraged the PVC industry to be confident of its achievements and to be more open and less defensive.

The audience of over 70 industry professionals were entertained by stories from Hemingway’s past including his use of PVC for a number of his former designs under the Red or Dead label, founded with his wife Geraldine in 1982.

Whilst more famously known for his achievements in the world of fashion, Hemingway now focuses his attention on affordable and social design through Hemingway Design, which he established alongside his wife in 1999 following their decision to sell Red or Dead.

One high profile project which featured in the presentation he gave at the BPF’s event was the Staiths South Bank, an 800 property mass market housing project on Tyneside for Taylor Wimpey Homes. Despite Geraldine Hemingway’s initial reluctance, PVC-U windows were installed as the best value option and won the days in terms of aesthetics, performance, affordability and sustainability.

Although the highest profile, Hemingway was not the only draw on the programme which included expert speakers from across the PVC supply chain.

From dramatic examples of the use of PVC fabric for Olympic architecture to the PVC Industry’s achievements to date as part of the Vinyl2010 and VinylPlus initiatives, delegates were enthused by the positive sustainability stories that the industry is now able to celebrate. With rigorous targets now set under VinylPlus, including an objective to achieve over 800,000 tonnes per annum of PVC being recycled across Europe by 2020, the PVC industry can rightly be proud of its achievements so far and can look forward to the future with optimism.

The seminar also provided a platform for the BPF’s Vinyls Group to launch its latest communication campaign looking at the savings achievable by choosing PVC products instead of alternatives. For further information visit: http://bit.ly/makingsavingsPVC

For further information on forthcoming BPF events and seminars, please see www.bpfevents.co.uk  

ENDS

For all media enquiries, BPF logos and images, please contact Philip Law, BPF Public & Industrial Affairs Director, on 0207 457 5000 or [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.