Vinyl Institute announces fourth round of grant funding

The Vinyl Institute (VI), a Washington-based trade association, has announced its fourth round of funding through its Viability recycling grant program in which three organizations will receive around $332,000 in total.

The VI has awarded more than $2 million through the Viability program thanks to contributions from its partners in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin production, Formosa Plastics, Oxy, Shintech Inc. and Westlake Plastics. The fourth round of Viability grant recipients includes the Cleveland-based Chemical Fabrics and Films Association (CFFA), Houston-based Every Shelter and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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Viability grants support the purchase of equipment, advanced recycling, research and development, educational programs and program management for the long-lasting and sustainable recycling of PVC products. The vinyl industry’s goal is to accelerate postconsumer vinyl recycling to 160 million pounds by 2025.

“The Viability recycling grant program was introduced to accelerate the development of new technologies and capacity to recycle postconsumer PVC,” VI President and CEO Ned Monroe says. “The three newest recipients of funding are representative of a broad spectrum of opportunities to keep this valuable material out of the landfill and in productive use in society. We are proud that the program is helping us to achieve our recycling goals.”

The three Viability grant recipients include:

• CFFA: A global trade association representing manufacturers of fabrics and film made from polymers that will use the grant to fund the cost of recycling coordinators to continue to build out its roof recycling infrastructure. It also will raise awareness with building owners for future recycling opportunities.
• Every Shelter: The nonprofit repurposes vinyl billboards to provide shelter for refugees in displacement camps in the Middle East and East Africa. Every Shelter received a first round of Viability funding to develop a proof of concept for a business model to repurpose used vinyl billboards for disaster relief victims in the U.S. Every Shelter will use this round of funding to move from proof-of-concept to self-sustainability while diverting 450,000 pounds of PVC from landfills and assisting 12,500 disaster victims.
• University of Michigan: The school’s department of chemistry will use funds to continue its research in advanced recycling of PVC through electrochemical conversion of PVC. The electrochemical solvent-based technology has potential both as a dichlorination step for mixed plastic scenarios and for difficult-to-recycle multilayer products such as wire and cable and LVT flooring.

Applications for the VI's fifth round of Viability funding are due Sept. 6. For more information on Viability, click here.