Revinylize Recycling Collaborative launches in select markets

The Alexandria, Virginia-based Vinyl Siding Institute (VSI) has partnered with manufacturers, installers, recyclers, distributors and other collection sites to launch the Revinylize Recycling Collaborative, an organization that hopes to simplify the recycling of postconsumer rigid vinyl material and recycle 5 million pounds of the material in 2025.

Revinylize is verified by Royersford, Pennsylvania-based third-party certification company GreenCircle Certified LLC.

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“I would love to see a transition where construction demolition landfills become recycling centers,” VSI Vice President Matt Dobson says. “We saw huge success with landfill diversion in our pilot program, and we’re thrilled to see Revinylize take this success to a higher level.”

Revinylize is modeled in part by a VSI pilot vinyl siding recycling coalition developed in Northeast Ohio that successfully recycled 41,000 pounds of aftermarket residential vinyl siding in 2021, followed by 84,000 pounds in 2022. VSI says the program currently is on track to recycle more than 500,000 pounds by the end of this year.

Utilizing best practices developed from this coalition and its yearly growth, VSI says Revinylize is a highly evolved, next-generation version that can be adapted as a nationwide recycling solution. It features a platform with an outwardly facing map of where recycling takes place in North America. Key target markets for the initial Revinylize launch include Northeast Ohio, Michigan, the Toronto metropolitan area, New England, Washington D.C. and North Carolina.

“We’re thrilled to be part of the Revinylize movement,” says Nick Puckett, director of operations for Lisbon, Ohio-based plastics recycler JP Industrial, which has five locations around the U.S. “We have been part of the Northeast Ohio coalition since the beginning, and as a nationwide operator, we’re well-positioned to help facilitate the Revinylize mission to expand throughout the U.S.”

In an effort to ensure the integrity of the collaborative, VSI says all supply chain participants will be verified by GreenCircle, which also will validate the amount of recycled material collected through Revinylize. Sponsorship opportunities will be available to companies, trade associations and other organizations enthusiastic about diverting postconsumer rigid vinyl from the landfills and back into the product stream.

“We commend VSI’s dedication to a circular economy and product sustainability through the Revinylize program and are excited to be a part of this initiative,” says Michelle Bonanno, vice president of operations and certification officer at GreenCircle. “The stakeholders that are actively working to improve sustainability through participation in the Revinylize Recycling Collaborative are eligible to be verified through GreenCircle Certified. The process of GreenCircle’s review drives greater credibility through independent, third-party verification.”

According to Laurel Foell, business development specialist at Ashland, Ohio-based polyvinyl chloride (PVC) recycler Return Polymers, “Revinylize will give companies and consumers a chance to recycle all of their old vinyl siding, vinyl fencing, PVC decking, trim board and even vinyl records and save money in landfill fees. It also gives us the opportunity to collect beautiful materials that we can use and recycle for another 50 years or more.”

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Revinylize is partly funded by a grant from the Washington-based Vinyl Institute’s Viability recycling grant program and says it’s looking to recruit more dedicated recyclers, distributors, collection sites and other advocates.

“The more people and groups we can get to participate in Revinylize, the greater the frequency of collections will be,” says Eric Cotterman, senior product and installation trainer for Cary, North Carolina-based Cornerstone Building Brands, who also was one of the framers of the Northeast Ohio coalition. “Revinylize will create a clear path for a circular economy. It is a collaborative mechanism for the vinyl industry to collect and recycle postconsumer materials and produce new products that allow for innovative manufacturing processes.”