Soyang Europe has established a PVC print waste recycling partnership with waste management specialists Blue Castle Group.
The agreement aims to provide a solution to the industry’s PVC waste problem by pioneering the use of recycled PVC banner material for a variety of other applications.
The PVC Recycling Membership Scheme has been a long time in the making, as Soyang Europe’s managing director Mark Mashiter explained: ‘The PVC Recycling Scheme is the first step towards a very real recycling solution to the use of PVC banner material, which is widely used within the printing industry, but not currently recyclable.
‘The demand for print providers and their customers to consider the environmental impact of the print they produce is a hot topic and we’ve been in discussions with our customers about the need for this for some years, which until now has seemed unattainable. Now we’re delighted to be able to reveal that, thanks to the dedication and specialist knowledge brought to the table by Blue Castle Group, we can now offer PVC waste recycling to our customers through a one-of-a-kind scheme.’
At Blue Castle’s recycling plant near the company’s head office in Lincolnshire, PVC waste goes through an industrial shredding process to reduce it to a re-processable size. ‘We have extensively tested the PVC banner material, establishing critical elements such as its flash point and chemical properties,’ explained CEO Marie Harley. ‘We’ve explored many options for using the shredded PVC and thanks to strong partner relationships in other sectors, we have developed lines of supply to ensure the processed banner material has viable future uses in a range of industries.’
Print providers and sign makers currently using PVC based substrates are invited to consider the recycling scheme. ‘We would encourage anyone currently offering a PVC banner printing provision to get in touch with Soyang Europe to discuss how the PVC Recycling Membership Scheme can benefit their printing business,’ said Mr Mashiter.
