VSC Awards Vinyl Value Chain Members for Sustainability Leadership

Last week at the VSC Sustainability Summit, vinyl value chain members were recognized for their sustainability thought-leadership.  Jay Thomas, VSC executive director, presented the annual Recycling Award, Social Impact Award and the newly establish Design for Reuse Award to companies leading the way through product innovation and community engagement.

2021 Recycling Award Recipients – Lakeland Polymers and Ronald Mark Associates

The VSC Recycling Award recognizes the efforts of recyclers and product manufacturers with operations in North America that find new solutions and or markets for PVC end-of-life or scrap materials, increase use of recycled vinyl content in their products, and/or engage in partnerships with companies in take-back programs. This year, the VSC recognized two companies: Lakeland Polymers for their Flex-Tech Gas Hose Recycling Program, and Ronald Mark Associates (RMA) for their SoundSafe Acoustic Barrier™, which was developed in partnership with Norwich Plastics.

Lakeland Polymers, a plastic recycling company, takes pride in addressing and solving challenges for its customers. In February 2021, Lakeland Polymers partnered with Flex-Tech Hose of San Marcos, TX to find a solution for a PVC and copolyester waste issue. Lakeland was able to develop a custom recycling process that allowed the incompatible materials in the scrap to be processed into a reusable form. Lakeland processes over 45,000 pounds a month of PVC scrap material from Flex-Tech in this program. So far, the partnership has diverted over 325,000 pounds of PVC from landfills extending the life and sustainable use of vinyl.

Ronald Mark Associates (RMA) partnered with Norwich Plastics to develop a mass-loaded vinyl reprocessed compound. The product incorporates laminated scrap PVC materials generated in the RMA operations plus post-consumer materials from other industries.  Working with Norwich Plastics, RMA was able to develop this new compound that is comprised of 50%-60% pre-consumer recycled content by weight. Since the inception of this compound, RMA and Norwich Plastics have successfully processed close to a million pounds.

2021 Social Impact Award Recipient – Occidental Chemical Corporation

The VSC’s Social Impact Award recognizes the efforts of a VSC member that has demonstrated a strong commitment to community well-being and longevity. This annual award acknowledges an outstanding project or program that addresses a social concern using a company’s resources to have a positive impact. The 2021 Social Impact Award was presented to Occidental Chemical Corporation, a global leader in manufacturing chemicals to produce plastics, pharmaceuticals, and water treatment chemicals understanding that water quality and cleanliness are the root of their business. The company’s vision for clean water focuses on reducing negative impacts on watersheds and raising the water quality standard in various communities. Through their support of the Global Water Center and its partners, Occidental is focused on helping solve the global water crisis and reduce the number of people who lack access to clean water from 2 billion to zero.

 

2021 Design for Reuse Award Recipient – The AZEK Company

The VSC’s Design for Reuse Award recognizes vinyl products purposely designed for disassembly, recycling, or reuse at the product’s end of life. The inaugural recipient of was The AZEK Company’s TimberTech AZEK® Landmark Collection.^TM The AZEK Company is the industry-leading designer and manufacturer of beautiful, low maintenance, and environmentally sustainable outdoor living products, including the TimberTech AZEK Landmark Collection decking. With a reclaimed wood aesthetic, the Landmark Collection launched in February 2021 and is made entirely from synthetic material, approximately 50% of which is recycled PVC. Through research and development and controlled product chemistry, the product was formulated specifically to ensure post-use recyclability.