Water pipes, conveyor belts from renewable plastics and flax fabrics from nanotechnology were honoured with the prestigious SolVin awards, which recognises innovative solutions in the PVC sector and announced during the recent "K" trade fair in Düsseldorf / Germany.

Leading the way in the the six awards presented was Spanish pipe manufacturer Molecor (Madrid; www.molecor.com), which took top honours for its PVC-O pipe measuring up to 630 mm in diameter. The innovation opens the market for corrosion-free PVC pipes at sizes 50% larger than previously available.

Describing the significance of the awards, Filipe Constant, SolVin managing director, put it this way: “The competitors and the winners show that the PVC industry is responding with innovative solutions to global megatrends, including the growing demand for water, energy and resource efficiency amid difficult economic times. They also demonstrate how our industry is meeting those needs in a safe and sustainable way.”

German conveyor and flat belt producer Forbo Siegling (Hannover; www.forbo-siegling.com) took home a second-place award for its “AmpMiser” and “BioBelts” using renewable materials, while French Depestele Group (Bourguebus; www.groupedepestele.com) came in third for its “NanoVin” flax reinforcements using nanotechnology. Spain’s Plasticos Escanero (Huesca; www.pesl.es/en) won the recycling award for processing PVC industrial waste and Italy’s FIP (Casella; www.fipnet.it/en) won the industrial design award for its “Easyfit” PVC-U ball valves for water distribution.

A special prize went to a team effort by BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com), Renolit (Worms / Germany; www.renolit.com) and Dutch blood supply specialist Sanquin (Amsterdam; www.sanquin.nl/en), which developed plastic materials for medical applications, including a blood bag for paediatric use.

Overall, 78 projects submitted entries for the competition, coming from sectors such as construction, electronics, gardening, road safety, health care and automotive. The ceremony also included a panel discussion – a first for the event – on innovation and sustainability. Panellists included Axel Bruder, executive director of R&D at Renolit; Brigitte Dero, general manager of the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM, Brussels / Belgium; www.pvc.org) and deputy general manager of VinylPlus (Brussels / Belgium www.vinylplus.eu); Bernard Cora, European laboratories manager for Rohm&Haas, part of Dow Chemical (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com); and Ignacio Muñoz, CEO of Molecor. Euronews talk show host Chris Burns moderated.