London Olympics: Green light for PVC

London - PVC materials will be used at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Ian Pearson, economic and business minister at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has confirmed.

Environmental pressure groups such as Greenpeace have been lobbying against PVC materials as part of a long-running campaign to have all organochlorines phased out. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Australian organisers officially agreed to avoid the use of PVC where possible, though this stance was not subsequently adopted by authorities at the Games in Athens and Bejing.

The Greenpeaces campaign has typically targeted high profile business organisations and international sports and entertainment events. However, it has generally failed due to a lack of scientific evidence about the environmental impact of PVC and because of the importance of the polymer in products such as electrical wiring, construction pipes and medical devices.

In a letter to Peter Davis, director general of the British Plastics Federation (BPF), Pearson said: "I am pleased that plastics, including PVC, will be used on the Olympics Park - not least because it is a light weight material that can be easily reused and recycled."

The business minister went on to recognise the progress that industry has achieved in recycling PVC in the UK, especially through its voluntary Recovinyl scheme. "Therefore I am confident that the plastics, and especially the PVC industry will meet the challenge set by the 2012 Games organizers for greater rates of recycling and reuse."

The announcement was welcomed by Paul Jukes, managing director of Arkema Ltd, who is the newly elected president of the BPF - the UK trade association representing polymer producers, distributors, additives suppliers, machinery manufacturers, processors and recyclers.

Calling for "a level playing field" for the specification of plastic products for the London Olympics 2012, Jukes said: "The media’s focus on visible but minor issues such as plastic bags and litter colours the public’s impression of all plastics and the huge environmental benefits they bring in, for example lightweighting cars, aircraft and packaging;· insulating homes to prevent energy loss; and replacing 1,000 miles of cracked Victorian water mains here in London to stop 30% leakage."