Eagley is proud to supply a wide range of durable and recyclable PVC compounds. PVC is an essential material in modern life, valued for its strength, versatility, and long lifespan. Unlike plastics often associated with single-use packaging or disposable items, PVC is predominantly used in critical infrastructure and applications that improve quality of life worldwide.
From delivering clean water and managing wastewater through durable piping and rainwater systems, to supporting healthcare with lifesaving medical products, enabling energy-efficient construction with advanced window profiles, and powering homes, schools, hospitals, and transport through reliable cables, PVC plays a vital role in building a more sustainable future and improving lives worldwide.
One of our key targets is to ensure that no PVC waste is sent to landfill. In fact, we go a step further by recycling over 300 tonnes of PVC waste from other suppliers each year, supporting the wider industry’s transition to a more circular economy. We have granulation and pulverising capacity to process 4,000tpa of waste material.
While many plastics are fully derived from oil, PVC is only 43% oil-based, with the remaining 57% sourced from salt – specifically as a by-product of caustic soda production. Caustic soda itself is an essential ingredient in products ranging from soaps and disinfectants to textiles, water treatment, and pharmaceuticals.
PVC’s strength, long service life, and recyclability further enhance its environmental credentials. Products such as pipes and window profiles can last for decades and, once they reach the end of their service life, they can be collected and recycled into new applications multiple times.
Eagley are proud to offer a wide range of durable and recyclable PVC compounds. PVC is an essential plastic in our daily lives. It is seldom used in single-use disposable applications such as packaging or straws, and is instead typically used in critical infrastructure which supports and improves lives around the world.
PVC pipes bring clean water to our homes and remove waste water. PVC rainwater and stormwater management systems, energy-efficient PVC window profile systems, and PVC power and data cables for homes, schools, hospitals and transport are just some examples. PVC blood bags and oxygen tubing are also widely used in healthcare.
PVC can rank itself as one of the most sustainable polymers available. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, unlike many polyolefins which are 100% derived from oil, PVC is only 43% derived from oil. The remaining 57% is derived from salt. More specifically, it is derived from a by-product of caustic soda production. Caustic soda is an essential product used in soaps, disinfecting products, cleaning products, paper and textile production, water treatment and pharmaceuticals.
Another reason PVC ranks highly as a sustainable polymer choice is its durability and its ability to be recycled. PVC is most commonly used in building and construction applications. In these uses, products such as pipes and window profiles can last for decades in service. More importantly, when they reach the end of their serviceable lifespan, they can be collected and recycled back into pipe, profile and other end uses.
The VinylPlus organisation tracks the progress of this recycling across the various applications of PVC. Because of PVC’s unique properties, this recycling process can happen multiple times, extending the life cycle of PVC products for many decades.
There are some interesting case studies where PVC has been selected as a material of choice because of its environmental credentials. The London 2012 Olympics is one such example. PVC was used in many areas such as the shooting arena and the basketball stadium. The basketball stadium was an excellent showcase of modular and robust design, which allowed it to be relocated and used elsewhere after the Olympics.
The PVC industry is proud to push ahead with sustainability initiatives, with governing bodies working together to support this. The BPF, VinylPlus, ESPA and TEFPA are just a few examples of organisations that help us take a stakeholder view of our industry and work towards the common goal of creating a more sustainable world.