Italian Vinyl Recycling Process Starts

Published February 25, 2002

Solvay SA announced that its first industrial unit to use the Vinyloop process began earlier this month (Feb.) at its Ferrara site in Italy. The facility will be able to take in 10,000 metric tons of recovered plastic to regenerate PVC.

The unit is operated by Vinyloop Ferrara SpA, a joint venture of four companies: SolVin Italia, Adriaplast, Tecnometal and Vulcaflex.

A majority of the recyclable material processed will be PVC insulation material. Of the collected amount a minimum of 80 percent will derive from post-consumer sources.

The first batches of recycled PVC were produced early this month.

Waste insulating material from cables is often a mixture of PVC, rubber and polyethylene. To produce optimal yields from the recycling, there are plans for a line to pre-treat the waste, starting this April.

The second Vinyloop industrial unit will be geared to recycle PVC-coated tarpaulins and fabrics produced by Ferrari Textiles, a French-based company. This unit should start operating in 2004.

While the facility began earlier this month, the company originally was to have the recycling facility operation the middle of last year. According to press reports, the delay was caused by a delay in the administration of the authorization procedure by Italian authorities, as well as inclement weather toward the end of last year.

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