Rather than tackling the subject "What is Green", for this article I won't to simply analyze PETs and PVC and their green-ness or lack thereof.
PVCs VS PET LAMINATES:
As most of this blog's readers know, I have been very active in 3D Forming Laminates since the mid 90s, I guest speak at tradeshows and symposiums and I am constantly looking to further the entire industry as a whole. Whenever I see a competitor do a good job I am quick to praise them to mutual customers. In fact, whenever a competitor or a PET gets a new project it is not only good for our mutual customer to get that business but its good for our industry as a whole.
One word.... Plastics.
First lets discuss the origin of plastics. Have you seen or do you remember the phrase in the 1967 movie, "The Graduate" where Mr. Maguire gives advice to the young man Ben played by Dustin Hoffman? Mr. Maguire gives the fatherly advice to Ben "I have one word to say to you.."Plastics". Since that time so many products have been produced in plastic or plastic based products. Certainly as we are all aware, the PVC pipe that pumps water for your shower or your drinking water is all "plastic". The wires that run throughout your home are all plastic. But where did the non-PVC movement start?
See the clip "One word. Plastics"
See the clip "One word. Plastics"
The backlash of Plastics.
In the 1990s I remember Europe going through a phase where they tried to reduce the consumption of PVC. This was caused primarily by countries who had limited space and they were forced to burn their trash. During that time all the students in the US where hearing how bad PVCs were. I am sure that many vowed to not specify PVCs when they would become architects or designers. Flash forward ten to fifteen years and now these former University students are now decision makers in the design community. But in Europe they have now gone back to PVC... Why? The reality is that PVC is easier to produce and also it consumes less energy than PET for example.
Can you burn PVC?
The fact is that PVC is not safe to burn without an extremely sophisticated filtering process. Here in the US we bury our trash and both PVC and PET take a lot of years to biodegrade. PVC or polyvinyl chloride is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by a chloride. The real danger comes when your house is on fire however it should be added that your carpet, furniture, drapes and other items in your room can also be harmful to inhale if they are on fire. In fact, a forest fire or natural products like tobacco are dangerous to inhale. See the perspective....So in general if your house is on fire you should leave immediately.
Do PVCs release harmful VOCs?
Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs are a large group of carbon based chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature. While most people can smell high levels of some VOCs, other VOCs have no odor. Odor alone does not indicate the level of risk from inhalation of a harmful VOCs. There are however, thousands of different VOCs in our daily lives. Some examples include:
· Acetone
· Benzene
· Ethylene glycol
· Formaldehyde
·
Methylene chloride
· Perchloroethylene
· Toluene
· Xylene
PVC laminates are tested to ensure that they do not have harmful levels of any of these products. Also as I mentioned above, all the water that you shower with and that you drink is pumped to you by PVC pipe. Wouldn't reality tell you that if PVC were harmful it would most likely reach you by showering and drinking a liquid that comes in direct contact rather than through a house-fire or through fumes coming off the wiring in your home? I don't see anyone calling for a boycott of showers.
PVCs are everywhere.
In a typical home PVCs can be found in children toys, tools, fabrics, in a wrist watch, in the pipes that pump water for you to shower or drink with and even in the wires powering the computer you are reading this article with..... . Quick .... Grab a hammer and smash your computer now !!
Are PET Laminates more green?
It depends upon your definition of green. In fact, PETs require much more energy to produce and to process in the lamination process. By consuming more energy, more CO2 is released into the atmosphere. In addition, PETs cost an average of 20% more. The reality is that most industries choose the easiest way to process product. PVC is in fact easier to process for both the laminate manufacturer and the furniture manufacture so it can be said that PVC has a comparative advantage over PET in terms of most consumer products. If PET were easier to process, consumed less energy and worked as efficiently then certainly they would be promoted more.
Can PVCs be recycled?
PVCs can be recycled contrary to all of the sites published by certain organizations to state the contrary. The reason that its falsely believed that PVCs cannot be recycled is that most consumer centered facilities are geared around recycling PETs and PPs for example. PVC cannot be mixed with these plastics and this is one issue. Some examples of companies who recycle or use recycled PVCs are:
How more cost is less green:
Another point to consider is that the more an item costs the more energy it cost to make. Above I mentioned that PET takes more energy to produce but that is due to its hardness and heat levels required to produce and form it. What I am saying here is quite different. Money is representational of time and energy. Higher costs translate into higher carbon footprints. You won't read this anywhere because most people don't equate money with being representational of time or energy.
If something costs more then somewhere in the cycle of that product someone is paying more. That means that someone needs to work longer hours in their office burning electricity or drive their car to yet ten more potential customer in order to pay more for the green product. The point being is that if a product costs more then someone will have to utilize more time, money and energy in order to pay for that product. As a society we have yet to measure the increased carbon foot print of paying more.
Should you sell or promote PET Laminates?
The answer is yes. Surprised I am saying so? The reality is that if there is a demand then it is in the best interest of any given company to give the customer what they want. If I am to use logic to protect PVC, I would also use logic to protect the bottom line of my customer. Listening to customers and their wishes are at the top of all of our lists. Who knows, I may some day be selling a laminate that uses recycled plastics, costs less and will form 3D. I'm being asked for it every day. So even though I defend PVC we all have to use logic.
If you have any questions about this article please feel free to contact me or visit http://www.vinylinfo.org/ for more information.
