Every reason NOT to choose PVC Banners

Over the past few decades, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastic, commonly known as “vinyl,” has become one of the most widely-used types of plastics. We find it all around us: in packaging, home furnishings, children’s toys, automobile parts, building materials, hospital supplies and hundreds of other products. Its advantages are that it is highly versatile and relatively inexpensive. But the price we pay for a low-cost and seemingly harmless PVC Banner is far steeper than it may at first appear.

THE RECYCLING DATA

In 2018 alone, the EU printed 340million sq/m of PVC Banner Material, that’s enough to cover Wembley Stadium 4,200 times in a year. According to Statista, of the 29.1 million tonnes of plastic waste produced in the EU, ONLY 4.72 million tonnes is recycled in the EU. Why? PVC is categorised as a Type 3 plastic, which means it is only somewhat recyclable at specialist facilities. Without substantial government or private sector subsidies, the recycling process is currently not financially viable or accessible.

PROBLEMS IN DISPOSING OF PVC

So what happens to the rest? Well, the majority ends up in landfill, where it remains for 100’s of years, or is incinerated (process of burning) in a waste-to-energy scheme, both of which pose a whole new level of threat to our eco-system.

PVC in Landfill doesn’t readily degrade. When it does, it gives off a number of toxic substrates including dioxins and furans which then make up leachate, contaminating groundwater, rivers, the foodchain and water sources.

When PVC plastic waste is incinerated in a waste-to-energy plant, it emits some of the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can cause cancer and/or damage the immune and reproductive systems. This includes Hydrogen Chloride (HCT), an obnoxious, dangerous and colourless gas, which along with other toxic dioxins, damage the air, water and land ecosystems, posing a significant threat to human health. While all plastics pose serious threats to human health and the environment, few consumers realize that PVC is the single most environmentally damaging of all plastics.

With very limited options for the disposal of PVC and PVC Banners in a safe, environmentally friendly way, the avoidance of using PVC coatings in the first place is probably the better option. Since safer alternatives are available for virtually all uses of PVC, it is possible to protect human health and the environment by replacing and eventually phasing out this poison plastic.