24. What effect does vinyl have on the environment?

PVC is the world's most versatile plastic. PVC's performance has been very well known for decades. More than 50% of all PVC is used in construction materials.  Southern's products are very durable, easy to install and very safe.

Southern's vinyl products do not support combustion and are not toxic. They will not break down and have adverse effects on the environment. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride for more resources on the effect uPVC/rigid vinyl products have on the environment.  The molecular structure is made up of hydrogen, oxygen and chlorine atoms. Southern's product is constructed from a rigid PVC, also known as a uPVC or unplasticized PVC.  No softening phthalate plasticizers are included in the extruded lineals we purchase. Our products must be rigid in order to perform as a fence or rail system.

Less than 50% of the final uPVC product is derived from fossil fuels, requiring approximately .5 kg of natural gas to produce 1 kg of uPVC.  Competing materials require up to 1.75 kg of oil to produce 1 kg of product, and are approximately 98% derived from fossil fuels. Not uPVC. uPVC is roughly 50% natural gas and 50% salt (the source of the chlorine that results in poly vinyl chloride).

Vinyl products are recyclable.  Southern recycles nearly 100% of the offware product generated from our fabrication processes. (See The Southern Blog for a related article about how the Southern team made this happen: http://www.svmllc.com/blog/green-means-gold). These offware materials are sent to recyclers, who produce regrind. 

The regrind is sent to lineal extruders, who use these recycled materials in their manufacturing processes.   Finally, Southern purchases raw material lineals made partially with regrind, completing the cycle. Southern's Essential line of products contain a high percentage of regrind, as much as 87% post industrial recycled material in the substrate, which saves our customers money and has the added bonus of being very good for the environment.

Most uPVC fence and rail products are still in use. Some installations have been around for decades. uPVC products are just as recyclable as any other plastic product, post-consumer. However, not a lot of consumer uPVC has been recycled.  Why?  Much of the product is still in use and does not need to be replaced.  Because it is so durable, the products have not needed to be recycled post consumer.  However, given the robust model for recycling pre-consumer uPVC within our industry, we suggest that when uPVC does reach the end of its useful life, there will be a mechanism to recycle these materials, post-consumer.