PVC is safe in disposal. It can be handled safely by all parts of a well managed waste management programme. PVC can be mechanically and feedstock recycled or handled in waste-to-energy schemes.
February 2004, Good practices guide on waste plastics recycling, a guide by and for local and regional authorities, report by ACRR
This guide seeks to bring together information from many sources to help L/RAs identify the practical issues associated with collecting and processing waste plastics, while identifying the approaches needed to manage and exploit these wastes in ways which best suit their individual characteristics.
- April 2003, Europe: PVC Recovery Options, Concept for Environmental and Economic System Analysis, commissioned by VINYL 2010
Authors: Johannes Kreißig, Dr. Martin Baitz, Jochen Schmid, Prof. Peter Kleine-Möllhoff (Reutlingen University) and Dr. Ivo Mersiowsky (Tu Tech Hamburg).
Click here for the Executive Summary (PDF, 330Kb).
The study gives various data on municipal incineration (MSW) and describes the methodology to calculate the total incineration costs and allocate costs to specific products. In particular, the study shows that in the average European situation, the PVC total incineration cost is similar to other high calorific waste products and represents around 2.3% of the total MSW cost.