Kaiser Permanente replaces PVC packaging with PET |
|
|
|
|
(plasticstoday) -- Kaiser Permanente, a huge West Coast
health provider, is banning use of PVC in tubing and bags and P&G is
replacing PVC packaging in toothbrush containers with PET, which is more easily
recyclable.
The irony is that just as widespread conversions out of PVC might really
take hold in a few years, PVC could becoming one of the greener materials on the
planet. For starters, consider that PVC is the only major volume thermoplastic
that is substantially derived (57%) from a non-fossil fuel feedstock. Vinyl
chloride monomer is derived from brine, which is industrial-grade salt.
|
 |
The other feedstock for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is ethylene, which can
now be made from sugar-derived ethanol in very large quantities in Brazil.
Braskem has a huge plant while a Dow Mitsui joint venture is building another
world-scale plant.
Solvay Indupa, the Brazilian arm of Belgium-based chemical giant Solvay,
has announced plans to use Brazilian sugarcane ethanol as a PVC feedstock to
replace naphtha, which has been bought from Middle-Eastern sources.
According to Solvay's Erik De Leye, the project remains in the project stage for
now, but a plant of 120,000 tonnes a year is envisioned. That would make PVC a
100% natural material from a polymer point of view.
|
The typical PVC compound, however, is heavily loaded with
chemical additives, most famously plasticizers that impart
flexibility. According to Kaiser Permanente, research suggests that
long-term exposure to a commonly used plasticizer called DEHP can affect the
body's endocrine system, resulting in a variety of hormonal abnormalities,
particularly in infants. The European Union has banned some uses of DEHP, such
as children's toys.
mrcplast.com
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
