Recycling
Recycling
PVC 101
They’re all made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
PVC needs a range of additives to become a processable polymer and turn into the end products we all recognise.
The ability to adjust these additives to account for different manufacturing methods and achieve different product properties is one reason PVC is so widely used, and why it can look so different between its different uses.
Heat Stability
How much heat and pressure does the polymer need to withstand during the manufacturing process?
Internal Lubrication
How much friction does the polymer need to withstand during processing?
External Lubrication
How much lubrication is needed to enable the polymer to slip over the die face of the machine and into the mould during production?
Impact Modification
How resistant to impact does PVC need to be?
Stability & Rigidity
What fillers need to be added to create the desired dimensional stability and rigidity properties?
Flexibility
What plasticisers need to be added to create the desired amount of flexibility?
Heat stability is particularly important – too much will result in a polymer that will not homogenise, and too little will see the polymer start to degrade during production and gradually lose its properties.
Because heat stabilisation properties are changed by the manufacturing process, reprocessing PVC without accounting for these changes creates a polymer that starts to degrade almost instantly. This has led to a very small appetite for incorporating recycled PVC into Australian manufacturing.
PVC Recycling Challenges
The glass beer bottle they put in their recycling bin finds it way to a facility that turns it into a new glass beer bottle. But what happens when you’re faced with recycling something that can be formulated in thousands of different ways to obtain an almost limitless combination of properties.
Until recently, due to the variations in formulations of both virgin PVC manufacture and as a result the PVC feedstock to be recycled, to most, PVC recycling seemed about as easy as un-baking a cake.
Think Polymer Technologies thinks differently though, In 2022 we created a research partnership with CSIRO, part funded by Sustainability Victoria to further enhance the work we have done around analysis of PVC ultimately leading to what we have created today.
The Solution… Meet The Analyser
By understanding the properties of a recyclate, we are able to combine recyclate produced from a range of different recycled products and adjust additives to produce an almost infinite number of formulations for use in different applications.
In addition to allowing us to recycle a wide range of different PVC formulations, it introduces a level of resilience to our manufacturing arm that manufacturers using virgin polymer could only dream of.
We weren’t satisfied with just developing a solution, we wanted to show that it works at scale, improving sustainability and progressing circularity. In 2022 we established a pilot extrusion line utilising this technology which provided evidence that it works at scale.
In 2024, Think Manufacturing, used 90% recycled PVC across its entire range of proprietary products.
Current Partners
As one of Australia’s most successful and trusted retailers, Bunnings strives to meet the high expectations of its customers, team members and shareholders.
Medicinal blister packs are made from a combination of plastic and aluminium which cannot be recycled through household kerbside recycling. But Pharmacycle are on a mission to change this, aiming to one day recycle every blister pack in Australia.
Resilient flooring (PVC-based) contributes an estimated 60,000 tonnes of waste to Australian landfills annually—9,000 tonnes of which has never even been walked on.
Placard is the only secure card manufacturer in Australia, managing the production, personalisation, and distribution of over 100 million plastic card products each year.
Complex Problems Made Simple!
Contact us today to discuss your specific requirements and explore customised strategies for efficient, sustainable PVC recovery.