The availability of raw materials for rigid and flexible PVC in Europe is good, the energy requirement to produce the PVC matrix is comparatively low and the results of recent occupational safety tests have been positive according to a recent study commissioned by the Association of the Austrian Chemical Industry (FCIO; www.fcio.at) in conjunction with the Austrian PVC producers organisation API (www.pvc.at) and carried out by the Austrian Institute for Industrial Ecology (www.indoek.noe-lak.at). PVC products also have many advantages in terms of price, technical properties and suitability of use, the report says. Because of their different properties, rigid and flexible PVC were examined separately.

The authors of the study confirm that there have been positive developments in workplace conditions in chlorine production, processing of the compound, the avoidance of cadmium as a stabiliser, and the orderly disposal of waste. They nevertheless qualify this by saying that the improvements that have been made are "possibly" limited to central and western Europe and it is important to document the entire raw material supply chain. This could be done with the introduction of a declaration of origin, they added.

Because of the chlorine content and the reduced possibility of thermal utilisation, says the Institute, priority should be given to material recycling in which both the fossil content and the mineral content are utilised. However, the collection and recycling systems for materials are currently inadequate. With both flexible and rigid PVC, the technology already exists for material recycling, but collection systems are currently only in place for individual product sectors (for example cables, floor coverings).

The authors also deal in detail with the subject of phthalates. The plasticiser DEHP, which was the most established but is now suspected of reprotoxicity, is being increasingly substituted by alternative phthalates (DINP, DIDP) or, in sensitive areas, by phthalate-free substitutes ("Hexamoll" DINCH, citrates). In the experts' view, further action should be taken on the use of DEHP in medical applications, because absorption into the body is possible. In connection with this, they call for a general declaration of additives used.