Has vinyl’s environmental performance been endorsed by any international environmental, scientific or government organizations?

When vinyl is evaluated according to unbiased scientific principles, it is often endorsed as an environmentally safe and beneficial material. A few recent examples:

• CSIRO, Australia’s premier scientific organization, completed a multi-year study in 1998 which determined that vinyl performs as well as or better than alternative building materials environmentally.19

• The German Council of Environmental Advisors, which advises the German government on environmental issues,issued an endorsement of vinyl, revoking its earlier recommendation that substitutes be found. In the early 1990s,the German cities of Berlin, Bielefeld, Chemnitz, Kassel and Osnabruch, the regions of Herzogturn Lauenburg and Westerwald as well as the states of Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringen withdrew their anti-PVC resolutions either fully or in part.

• Naturvardsverket, Sweden’s environmental protectionagency, and Kemikalieinspektionen, its chemicals inspectorate, have reviewed vinyl’s environmental performance in the areas of waste management and additives.In 1998, the Swedish government gave approval for continuing the sustainable development of vinyl, focusing specifically on substitution for some additives and increased recycling.20

• In our own country, the U.S. EPA has recognized many vinyl roofing and windows manufacturers as eligible for their ENERGY STAR® designation for those products that meet agreed-upon energy-efficient criteria.

19 "Environmental Aspects of the Use of PVC in Building Products, Second Edition," a study carried out for the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association, Inc., CSIRO Molecular Science, June 1998.

20 "Disposal of PVC Waste – Report on a Government Assignment," Report 4594, Naturvardsverket, and "Additives in PVC; Marking of PVC – Report on Completion of a Government Task," Kemikalieinspektionen, June 1996.