Record number achieve compliance with PVC stewardship criteria
A record 17 companies in Australia’s PVC supply chain have achieved PVC Stewardship Excellence this year for meeting full compliance with key environmental objectives relevant to their business related to the production and supply of vinyl products.
Overseen by the Vinyl Council of Australia, the PVC Stewardship Program has driven continual improvement in the PVC, or vinyl, industry for the past 15 years.
Winners of the 2017 Excellence in PVC Stewardship Awards include: Australian Plastic Profiles; Australian Vinyls Corporation; Baxter Healthcare; Chemiplas Australia; Chemson Pacific; Formosa Plastics Corporation, Taiwan; Iplex Pipelines Australia; Pipemakers; Primaplas Australia; PT Asahimas Chemical, Indonesia; RBM Plastics Extrusions (new signatory in 2017); Serge Ferrari (new signatory in 2017); Sun Ace Australia; Speciality Polymers and Chemicals; Tarkett Australia; Techplas Extrusions; Vinidex.
All these companies achieved perfect scores in compliance with a set of stringent criteria related to the production and supply of their vinyl-related products in 2017. This includes safe and sustainable use of additives, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, resource efficiency and best practice manufacturing.
Signatories from across the value chain include overseas resin producers, raw material manufacturers and suppliers, trading companies, product manufacturers and distributors and recyclers.
Congratulating the award winners, the Vinyl Council’s PVC Stewardship Manager Laveen Dhillon said: “All have excelled, but ten of this year’s Excellence Award recipients are receiving this award for the first time, including two Signatories who only joined the program in 2017.
“These Signatories worked with the Vinyl Council to map out their entire supply chain so as to address relevant program commitments. All the Award recipients should be recognised as industry leaders who have worked in collaboration with their supply chains to meet and exceed program goals,” continued Laveen.
Launched in 2002, the Australian PVC Stewardship Program binds Signatories to continuous improvement in the environmental footprint of their products, whether they manufacture locally or source product from overseas. The PVC supply chain for all companies in Australia is global as local manufacturers must import the resin raw material.
Obtaining information from overseas suppliers related to the production of the raw materials they source or supply presents particular challenges for Signatories. They are required to review their product supply chain and verify that they or their upstream suppliers meet the Program’s environmental, health and safety standards for raw material sourcing, use of recyclate, as well as satisfying local manufacturing requirements.
Laveen added: “Transparency through the supply chain is essential to improve efficiency, reduce impact and track the practices of suppliers. One Signatory reported on-going improvements in communication and credibility among its suppliers in requesting and receiving stewardship information. We hope transparency and engagement continues to improve in this way.”
Award recipients will receive the 2017-2018 PVC Stewardship Excellence licence mark at a celebratory industry Awards event.
ENDS
Note to editors:
The PVC Stewardship Program, now in its 16th year, is well-supported by the Australian vinyl industry. In 2017, a record number of 44 companies from the vinyl value chain committed to meet measurable targets and obligations that reduce the environmental footprint of PVC products in Australia, whether manufactured here or overseas.
The program was recently recognised by an independent product stewardship consultant as being one of the longest-standing product stewardship programs in Australia and one of the few with a full life-cycle approach. It was found to be leading in areas such as life-cycle approach, specific and measurable commitments, transparency and focus on continuous improvement.
