Disposal And Recycling

Landfilling
Up till now, no decomposition of rigid PVC in landfills could be detected. Since stabilizers do not migrate from the bulk plastic, organotin compounds from PVC elute to a negligible extent into landfill leachates. In order to validate these results, the PVC-industry has initiated a study with academic institutions about the long-term effect of PVC and its additives in landfills. ORTEPA is taking part in this study.
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Incineration
Domestic waste (e.g., in Germany) contains 7 to 8 percent of plastics, with a mere 0.7 percent of PVC [40]. Only in a small part of this PVC organotin stabilizers are used. During incineration all tin compounds are transformed to tin dioxide, which is found in the ashes and in the dusts collected at the flue gas purification equipment. A significant amount of this tin, however, originates from products other than PVC.
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Recycling
Being a thermoplastic, PVC can be remelted and reprocessed several times. PVC stabilized with organotin compounds can be reprocessed together with other recyclates. Organotin mercaptides together with lead may cause some discoloration, which, however, is irrelevant for most applications or can be avoided by using sulfur free tin stabilizers. After longer periods of weathering, restabilization before reprocessing may be necessary.

Scrap from production and used PVC articles are being returned increasingly into the production stream. Used food packaging (films, bottles, and beakers�.) will not be used again for food contact articles, mainly due to regulatory reasons. However, it is used for other applications. PVC can be reprocessed into shoe soles, waste water pipes, floor tiles, etc. Mixtures of PVC and other plastics are used to manufacture e.g., walls for noise protection, garden furniture, fences, gutters, and other technical applications.
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