Industry association Vinyl Films and Sheets Europe (VFSE, Brussels / Belgium; www.vfse.org), together with project partner CIFRA (Château-Thierry / France; www.cifra.fr), said it has completed its “EATS” (European Automotive Trim Suppliers) recycling project to develop heel mats for the automotive industry made of recycled PVC from the industry.

According to VFSE, numerous car manufacturers have pledged to increase their use of recycled polymers in keeping with the recycling project. It was set up in 2019 by VFSE’s EATS subgroup, which comprises three companies from the automotive trim market – Cotting Group, TMG Automotive and Vulcaflex. The project was co-funded by the European PVC industry’s sustainability initiative VinylPlus (Brussels; www.vinylplus.eu).

Michel Py, VFSE vice-president and CEO of CIFRA, said, “We are proud to have participated in this project and to have been able to create a heel mat made from recycled PVC from the automotive industry. The technical development was challenging, but together with our value chain partners we created a product that meets the highest technical and esthetical expectations while increasing its sustainability and circularity.”