PVC4Pipes An Introduction | Vincent Stone, PVC4Pipes

PVC4Pipes has been created in 2003 with the mission to develop and promote opportunities for sustainable PVC piping systems through technical projects, as well as appropriate standardization, regulatory and communication activities. Since 2017, PVC4Pipes has become a value chain platform of the European Council of Vinyl Manufaturers (ECVM) gathering partners coming from the whole supply chain. This presentation will review the main ongoing activites of PVC4Pipes and will introduce the VinylPlus Product Label, a new sustainability mark for the PVC pipe manufacturers.

Plastic Pipe Market Evolution in Europe and Italy | Astrid Aupetit, Senior Research Analyst, AMI

This presentation will give an overview of fundamental drivers of demand for plastics pipes, assessing the current state and outlook of Europe and Italy’s economy and construction sector. The sector-specific drivers of demand for pressure (water supply and distribution; low pressure transmission and distribution of natural gas) and gravity pipes will be reviewed. A qualitative overview of polymeric material trends within the European and Italian plastic pipes market will be discussed. Key European and Italian data extracted from up to date market reports will be shown (pressure pipe demand by application, plastic usage in pressure pipes and gravity pipes, demand evolution for pressure pipes and gravity pipes, demand evolution for plastics used in plastic pipes).

PVC Pipes Cost-Competitiveness | Alessandro Marangoni, Althesys

This presentation will disclose the results of the study update done by Althesys (Milan, Italy) on behalf of the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturer to analyze the cost competitiveness of PVC-U pipes in Germany and Italy. The study objective is to assess the cost savings that the water and sewer utilities can realize by choosing PVC-U pipes instead of the main traditional alternatives, along the entire lifetime of their infrastructures. The methodology (Total Cost Ownership, TCO) is aimed to estimate the overall cost to be paid by the local water utilities: the total expenditure to purchase, install, maintain, dismount and dispose of the pipes at the end of life. The research compares PVC-U with the most adopted alternative materials for each application. This study update confirms that PVC-U is the best TCO performer among the other materials.

Quality assessment of the PVC gas grid in the Netherlands | René Hermkens, KIWA Technology

Most of the PVC-U pipes used for the distribution of natural gas in the Netherlands reached or will reach their initially specified lifespan of 50 years in the near future. To prevent an enormous surge in the replacement costs of the Dutch PVC gas distribution grid a so-called Exit Assessment programme was started in 2004. This programme determines the actual quality of old excavated PVC-U and PVC-Hi pipes. Field failure studies have shown that the lack of ductile behaviour during excavation damage is the most important reason for incidents involving PVC gas pipes in the Netherlands. To measure the vulnerability of PVC pipes to brittle failure a special test method based on a tensile-impact test was developed. This method determines the brittle-ductile-transition-temperature. Using this method, pipe replacement prioritizing becomes possible.

How New Studies are Reshaping the U.S. Municipal Pipe Market | Bruce Hollands, PVC Pipe Association

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), which represents all cities in the United States with a population of 30,000 or more, recently published a report calling for reform in water pipe procurement. The USCM says that competitive bidding for water and sewer pipes helps local officials maximize resources, practice good governance and enhance public safety. To accomplish these objectives, municipalities can now rely on new standardized comparisons for alternative pipe material cost, and recent survey reporting on pipe performance characteristics. It will be reviewed how recent studies sponsored by the PVC Pipe Association are being used by the USCM to provide the metrics needed by municipalities to help evaluate the cost and sustainability of underground piping as well as assist with pipe replacement prioritization.

Towards a European Harmonization of Products in Contact with Drinking Water | Volker Meyer, Figawa

The revision of the Drinking Water Directive offers a unique opportunity to establish harmonized hygiene requirements for all materials in contact with drinking water in Europe. The EU Commission proposal, leaving the responsibility of choosing a “product fit for purpose” solely on the shoulders of the water operators and favouring standards set under the Construction Products Regulation, will not work. The Parliament vote on the Drinking Water Directive clearly asked for minimum hygiene requirements for materials in contact with water intended for human consumption, including specific provisions for material and special conditions of use. In the Council, 10 member states tabled a sound proposal that attempts to solve a very important issue for the protection of public health. An ambitious harmonisation under the Drinking Water Directive is needed and the European Commission should be able to match the ambition of member states, of the European Parliament and of the stakeholders to further the European integration project on this crucial policy area.

Migration Modelling for PVC Water Pipes | Peter Mercea, Senior Research Scientist

In the framework of the KTW-guideline the compliance of plastic articles in contact with drinking water is verified by comparing migration levels, CW’s, of substances contained by the plastics with specific limits. In practice the analytical determination of CW’s is often a challenging, time and costs intensive task. For such situations an UBA guideline recommends the use of migration modelling for the estimations of CW’s. To perform such calculations a series of input parameters are needed, among them the diffusion and partition coefficients of the migrating substances are the most challenging ones. The methods used at FABES to determine such coefficients for a series of substances migrating from PVC-u samples in drinking water are presented. Then this information is used in conjunction with the software MIGRAPipe-2019 to estimate, according to those stipulated in the KTW-guideline, migration from PVC-u pipes in drinking water.

PVC Pipes - Frontrunners in Circularity | Roger Loop, Bureau Leiding

For more than 25 years PVC pipes are proving the concept of circularity, long before it became as popular as it is today. Circularity of course means more than just recycling: both product and manufacturing process had to be adapted to allow for the use of recyclate, and also marketing needed a different approach. In recent years however this contribution to a sustainable society is endangered by conflicting legislation: REACH vs. waste legislation. As the first – and so far only – EU Member State, the Netherlands have issued in January 2018 a legal opinion in which the criteria for the “end-of-waste” status for rigid PVC pipe waste are explained, thus solving the problem of conflicting legislation, and allowing for a further continuation of PVC pipes demonstrating their circularity.

Solutions for Superior Root Intrusion Resistance | Gianpaolo Contarini, IPM

Being lightweight, easy to install and to maintain, PVC pipes are popular choice for sewer systems. One of the main problems that can be found in sewer systems after a short period, is the clogging of the pipes, due to the intrusion of roots from plants and trees. Plants, and in particular their roots, are attracted by the water, that flows inside the pipes. These roots go to strain the connections, in particular the sockets and the gaskets, between the pipes, compromising the seal and going to hinder the passage of the water, blocking in fact, its flow. A new pipe joining technology has been developed, exploiting an innovative-patented system to "by-pass" this problem, especially in cultivation areas or high vegetation areas.

60 years of innovation in PVC cores | Alessio Pariani, Laborplast

Cores entirely extruded from PVC compounds produced internally from production waste (post-industrial and pre-consumer) and from post-consumer materials have been developed. Over 95% of the product is regenerated, only calcium carbonate and other added additives being considered "virgin". Thanks to their excellent performances, comparable to that of virgin PVC extruded cores, and to excellent weathering resistance, the PVC cores can potentially be re-used many times. At the end of their service life, the cores are furthermore entirely recyclable through normal industrial practice (grinding and extrusion). For these reasons (composition, use and end-of-life treatment), these cores can be considered as eco-sustainable.