Burning PVC creates the

Burning PVC creates the incredibly dangerous by-product dioxin. This characteristic makes it by far the most "troubled" of the two materials.

Hey Guys, I don't know if

Nefabulous

Global Business Development, Nefab Inc.

Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Role: Packaging Materials Supplier

Hey Guys,

I don't know if this will help but the below article I found last week while searching for info about PVC... I don't endorse the message though since I have yet to look into the validity of it.

'drop-in' PVC replacement solution, produced with the industry's highest quality recycled PETG materials
From - http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=17624

Spartech Corporation, a leader in the development and design of green packaging materials, has answered the demand for an eco-progressive, sustainable replacement for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with new UltrosRenu.

"UltrosRenu products are a "drop-in" PVC replacement solution, produced with the industry's highest quality recycled PETG materials," said Jonathan Cage, director of Packaging Development. "This product performs with excellent trimming qualities and impact properties. And, with no additional tooling or equipment costs, it also delivers a material yield advantage over PVC."

The new UltrosRenu product line is designed for blister packaging, clamshells, display boxes and containers in the non-food, consumer, electronics, warehouse club packaging, and industrial products markets. It contains pre-consumer content, is radio frequency (RF), bar, tear, and heat sealable.

"As the packaging industry is increasingly challenged to produce environmentally responsible products, Spartech is at the forefront with a wide array of PVC alternatives to meet a broad spectrum of packaging needs," continues Cage. "Together, UltrosRenu and our EnviroSeal line provide a competitively priced polyester material for every sealing process on the market today."

The new UltrosRenu line contains three custom designed products: UltrosRenu 90 Clear, UltrosRenu 90 Blend, and UltrosRenu Blue Tint. Spartech also offers the EnviroSeal family of products for PVC replacement.

PET vs PVC

Thomas Oris

Director of Purchasing, Baptista's Bakery

Industry: Food

Location: Franklin, WI, United States

Role: Packager

Obviously several factors can come into play, however, first allow me to narrow the focus a bit.

PET vs PVC bottles:

Assuming both are clear, this is little or no question that PET is a more sustainable package. PET bottles can be recycled (we must note that in the US we are recycling less than 25% of these bottles). PVC bottles will end up in the landfill (or other means of disposal).

In other applications, for the most part (such as clamshells) both PET and PVC end up in the same place, landfills or other disposable methods. Neither are recycled. PET clamshells technically could be recycled, but the MRF's are not set up to do so efficiently.

Side notes: In many cases, PET will allow you to reduce package weight. Another environmental concern of PVC is the damage that can be done in the processing and molding of PVC.

Overall, PVC is not received well by some major retailers, and in consumer packaging PVC has been losing share for some time to PET.

PVC vs. PET

Jill H.

Marketing - Business Development, Curwood, Inc.

Location: Oshkosh, wi, usa

Role: Packaging Materials Supplier

PET is definitely a more sustainable choice of material than PVC. The "Chloride" in PVC is what is not considered "environmentally friendly". PVC does release carcinogens when incinerated and can to some degree when processed.

Also, more CPG's choose to send their in-plant packaging trim waste to be incinerated in Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plants as a means of being more sustainable and not sending this material to landfills. WTE plants can only accept a small amount of PVC through their system. When PVC burns it creates HCL which can increase corrosion in the burning units. Also, they need to monitor the amount of PVC running through the system to be certain their air emissions systems can filter out any carcinogens.

Even though PET semi-rigid packaging formats, such as clamshells, are not currently recycled, these materials can at least contain Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) PET. Here at Curwood, we have been working with PCR PET in our films. It is FDA approved for food contact and is repolymerized down to the base polymer, so it processes the same as virgin PET for us. It is also a drop in on packaging equipment currently running PET materials.

PVC vs. PET

Be careful not to jump to a quick conclusion on this one. Unless someone has performed a complete life cycle analysis of PET vs. PVC from cradle to grave, the devil is in the details of these two materials. Absolutely when you are talking recyclability of bottles, PET wins hands-down today. Outside of that area, there are a lot of facts and distorted facts that have been spun to argue for or against PVC over the years. Clearly PVC carries consumer perception negatives that are difficult to overcome for some companies but solid scientific proof that one is better than the other has never been shown to me.

If someone is aware of a full life cycle analysis of PVC vs. PET that has been conducted, I would love to see it posted.

PET vs PVC

PET is one of the most eco-friendly plastic materials. It gives only CO2 and H2O when PET is burnt and there are no harmful gases released. It is easy to recycle and there are a number of value-added products made from rPET (recycled PET). This includes polyester fabrics, injection molded items and strapping, just to name a few.

Costs to convert

Can anyone provide a cost breakdown between PVC and PET in terms of raw materials and also converting? I assume converting PVC is more cost intensive but would like to see some numbers to back that up.

Thanks!

PET vs PVC

As a member of the Packaging Industry since 1985, I am frankly sad to see some of the comments above. I appreciate some (Do not jump to a conclusion too fast). He is 100% correct.

Who cares if something is "recyclable" if there is no infrastructure TO recycle it? Who are we kidding? Are we packaging people or Marketing? Sure, slap a "recycle" code on your packaging and "green-wash" the consumers.

I can't tell you how many times I talk to "packaging professionals" and the only word out of their mouth is "recycle". Really? Are you so narrow in your scope that "recycle" defines "better/greener/sustainable" packaging?

In short, each company needs to define what "better/greener/sustainable" is to them, and then do the research to find it. Is PVC better than PET? No one can answer, until we hear YOUR definition of what your company is seeking.

PVC has a place in packaging. It is cheap. It can be made w/o phthalates. Today's PVC has extremely small levels of "heavy metals", it passes all current legislation in the USA. It uses a small amount of energy to create (sorry, I don't have the data to back that claim - try the Vinyl Institute). Some packaging can be reused (see Playtex Bra packaging for example).

Good Luck!

PVC/PETG TOOLING

Can tooling and extrusion blow moulds built for PVC be used for PETG or would there be a need for adjustments.