PLASTICS IN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION
Nonstop growth: Demand at 8m t in Europe by 2010 / No. 2 after packaging / Germany the biggest market / PVC predominates / High innovation potential / Little recycling
Plastics began to establish themselves as a structural material for the construction industry at the start of the seventies, and so far there is no end to their triumphant advance in sight. According to the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe (APME, Ave. E. Van Nieuwenhuyse 4, B-1160 Brussels) demand is thus set to rise to 8m t by the year 2010. Although plastics only account for 0.7% of all the materials employed in the construction industry in weight terms, this sector constitutes the second-biggest market after packaging. According to the APME, 4.89m t of plastics were processed in the construction industry in 1995 – representing 20% of the 24.9m t of plastics consumed overall.
The biggest individual market has been and continues to be Germany, which takes 1.3m t and holds a 27% share of the overall market, followed by France with 891,000 t (18%), Italy with 552,000 t (11%) and Great Britain with 710,000 t (15%). In the Netherlands, 267,000 t of plastics were used in the construction industry, representing a quarter of all the plastics consumed in this country and putting the country in first place in Western Europe.
PVC is the most-used material by a wide margin and is employed primarily for pipes, profiles, frames and floors. 2.7m t of this material was processed, representing a share of 55.3%. Next in line are the insulating materials of PU at 464,000 t (9.5%) and EPS at 440,000 t (9%). HDPE and LDPE together account for 585,000 t, or a 12% share.
A number of plastics applications in the construction industry have achieved impressive growth rates in the past. The use of PVC for window frames has thus increased many times over from a modest 12,000 t in 1970 to 600,000 t in 1995. Together with PE, PP and, to a lesser extent, ABS, PVC is also the material of choice for water, gas and drain/sewer pipes. Plastics consumption in this segment rose from 653,000 t in 1970 to 1.92m t in 1995. Demand for the three insulation materials of EPS, XPS and PU increased from 77,000 t in 1970 to 1.04m t in 1995.
The innovative potential that plastics hold for construction applications is still far from being exhausted. Composite materials can be used to construct lightweight bridges, for example. The first road bridge of this type was constructed at Bond´s Mill, Gloucestershire/Great Britain in 1994. The bridge is 8.2 metres long and 4.3 metres wide and can carry vehicles weighing up to 40 t. A pedestrian bridge made of pultruded GRP profiles with a free span of 40 metres received an innovation prize from the AVK reinforced plastics association (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V., Am Hauptbahnhof 10, D-60329 Frankfurt).
Another interesting problem solution involves thermotropic layers that form a self-switching shading and control system to prevent buildings from heating up too much in direct sunlight. These are polymer materials that are transparent at normal temperatures but change when the sun shines directly on them, scattering part of the sunlight. Their transparency and hence their light transmission is influenced by the temperature.
The plastics industry has so far only come up with a few ideas regarding the recycling of plastics construction waste, and hence even the APME views the further development of sorting techniques and collection systems etc. as a necessity. In 1995, a total of 841,000 t of waste plastic was produced by the construction sector, and less than 5% (only 31,000 t) of this was mechanically recycled (primarily windows, profiles and pipes). Most of the waste was dumped on landfills. The association is expecting a clear increase in the amount of waste in the near future, up to 1.18m t by the year 2000 and up to 1.98m t by 2010. Apart from chemical recycling, the APME also sees incineration with energy recovery as playing a key role.
READER SERVICE: APME study “Plastics – a material of choice in building and construction”, with comprehensive statistics data: PIE-No. 42908.
The biggest individual market has been and continues to be Germany, which takes 1.3m t and holds a 27% share of the overall market, followed by France with 891,000 t (18%), Italy with 552,000 t (11%) and Great Britain with 710,000 t (15%). In the Netherlands, 267,000 t of plastics were used in the construction industry, representing a quarter of all the plastics consumed in this country and putting the country in first place in Western Europe.
PVC is the most-used material by a wide margin and is employed primarily for pipes, profiles, frames and floors. 2.7m t of this material was processed, representing a share of 55.3%. Next in line are the insulating materials of PU at 464,000 t (9.5%) and EPS at 440,000 t (9%). HDPE and LDPE together account for 585,000 t, or a 12% share.
A number of plastics applications in the construction industry have achieved impressive growth rates in the past. The use of PVC for window frames has thus increased many times over from a modest 12,000 t in 1970 to 600,000 t in 1995. Together with PE, PP and, to a lesser extent, ABS, PVC is also the material of choice for water, gas and drain/sewer pipes. Plastics consumption in this segment rose from 653,000 t in 1970 to 1.92m t in 1995. Demand for the three insulation materials of EPS, XPS and PU increased from 77,000 t in 1970 to 1.04m t in 1995.
The innovative potential that plastics hold for construction applications is still far from being exhausted. Composite materials can be used to construct lightweight bridges, for example. The first road bridge of this type was constructed at Bond´s Mill, Gloucestershire/Great Britain in 1994. The bridge is 8.2 metres long and 4.3 metres wide and can carry vehicles weighing up to 40 t. A pedestrian bridge made of pultruded GRP profiles with a free span of 40 metres received an innovation prize from the AVK reinforced plastics association (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V., Am Hauptbahnhof 10, D-60329 Frankfurt).
Another interesting problem solution involves thermotropic layers that form a self-switching shading and control system to prevent buildings from heating up too much in direct sunlight. These are polymer materials that are transparent at normal temperatures but change when the sun shines directly on them, scattering part of the sunlight. Their transparency and hence their light transmission is influenced by the temperature.
The plastics industry has so far only come up with a few ideas regarding the recycling of plastics construction waste, and hence even the APME views the further development of sorting techniques and collection systems etc. as a necessity. In 1995, a total of 841,000 t of waste plastic was produced by the construction sector, and less than 5% (only 31,000 t) of this was mechanically recycled (primarily windows, profiles and pipes). Most of the waste was dumped on landfills. The association is expecting a clear increase in the amount of waste in the near future, up to 1.18m t by the year 2000 and up to 1.98m t by 2010. Apart from chemical recycling, the APME also sees incineration with energy recovery as playing a key role.
READER SERVICE: APME study “Plastics – a material of choice in building and construction”, with comprehensive statistics data: PIE-No. 42908.
31.12.1998 Plasteurope.com [18281]
Published on 31.12.1998