Orbia Vestolit’s Sustainable Push Has Already Begun – From “Fossil-Based PVC” to “Future-Fit PVC”

Orbia Polymer Solutions (Vestolit) exemplifies the belief that PVC can (and should) play a role in the transition to a more sustainable future. Orbia Vestolit is committed to sustainable development, offering products produced with non-fossil-based resources, and active participation in initiatives and products that promote a circular economy.

For example, Orbia Vestolit’s Marl plant already offers high quality general and specialty resins derived from bio-based feedstocks from non-food production sources.  This bio-attributed PVC is available using non-food production vegetable oils (more than 60% lower carbon emissions vs. fossil feedstocks), along with 100% renewable electricity during processing.

Creating a circular plastics economy with chemical recycling is a growing technological option now available at Vestolit’s Marl plant.  Feedstock is pyrolysis oil obtained through chemical recycling of waste plastics using 100% renewable electricity. Chemical recycling is not intended to compete with mechanical recycling.   It is used to recycle plastic waste that cannot or only with difficulty be recycled in the carbon cycle, saving material from ending up in landfills or incineration.

Both the “FUTURE-FIT® Bio” and “FUTURE-FIT® Circular” approach to PVC is a market reality for Orbia Polymer Solutions (Vestolit) today. Using a mass balance approach which is ISCC+ certified, no change is needed for operation or production of these resins.

But This is Just the Beginning

Orbia Vestolit’s long-term vision is whole-system sustainability – producing product with a full suite of non-fossil feedstocks (from bio-attributed resins to recycled post-consumer waste to captured carbon at its plants) and still ending up with premium PVC. To go along with Orbia Vestolit’s already available bio-attributed PVC and circular PVC, the company has plans to roll out one more sustainable option – “FUTURE-FIT® CCU”.

The Future of Future-Fit

FUTURE-FIT® Bio with a minimum of 60% lower emissions compared to fossil feedstocks.   FUTURE-FIT® Circular is a growing technological option and obtained through chemical recycling of waste plastics, pushing PVC towards the circular economy.  Both are offered by Vestolit today.

FUTURE-FIT® CCU is a future prospect that uses atmospheric carbon, captured and converted to ethanol, with technology currently in its infancy, that uniquely avoids the need for a steam cracker to generate ethanol. The end goal is widespread implementation of this technology, which would create a pathway to carbon neutral production – making PVC an integral part of the solution to fight carbon emissions by using it as a carbon sink.

About Orbia Polymer Solutions (Vestolit)

Orbia’s Polymer Solutions business Vestolit is one of the world’s leading raw material suppliers for polyvinylchloride (PVC) specialties, operating the largest integrated PVC production plant in Europe out of Marl, Germany.

With over 75 years of experience and a longstanding commitment to efficient production using fewer material assets, Orbia Vestolit’s durable and high-performing products are trusted by major industry players and used in everyday applications that span automotive, building and infrastructure, household materials and medical supplies.

In addition, Orbia Vestolit is renowned for being one of the top raw material suppliers for window frame manufacturers and provides paste-making PVC for flooring, wall coverings, tarpaulin fabrics and under-body coatings.

Orbia Vestolit is committed to sustainable development, offering products produced with non-fossil-based resources and actively participates in initiatives that promote a circular economy.

Orbia Vestolit has 2,600 employees across 20 production plants and three research and development facilities in North, Central, and South America, and as well as in Europe, serving more than 80 countries through a global sales and distribution network.

For more information, visit https://www.vestolit.com/about-us-2/about-us/