Italy – recycling PVC materials for light cement

In Italy, plastics are used intensively for a diverse range of applications, including, for example, doors and windows. European Environmental Press reports that this industry currently uses about 20 million tonnes of PVC every year. Off-cuts from manufacture and installation represent 6% of the total, equivalent to about 1,200 tonnes of windows, doors, and shutters, to which must be added another 1,200 tonnes of waste from the production of blinds and frames.



Taking into account the collection of old windows (10 tonnes), the total amount of plastic potentially available for recycling is 2,410 tonnes. It is this large volume which prompted the creation of the Re-Win project for collecting and recycling PVC construction waste. The project includes four phases: identification of sources of recyclable plastic; collection and transport to recycling centres; pre-treatment of the plastic by cleaning it and breaking it up; recycling of PVC and its transformation into commercial products for later reuse.



Another project involves a feasibility study for the re-use of PVC waste from construction and demolition to make lightweight concrete. This PVC concrete is used in products such as ceilings, walls and lightweight floors with high thermal and acoustic absorption, as well as in concrete mixes used to fill holes in roads.



Research has shown that good results can be achieved with mixtures containing from 33% to 42% by weight of PVC, and that it is possible to use flexible or rigid PVC, or a mixture of the two types. The weight to volume ratio it is possible to achieve varies from 1,100 to 1,500 kg/m2. Currently it is envisaged that collection will concentrate on PVC building waste in Rome, using five Corise centres. In this way, about 2,000 tonnes of used plastic could be collected for recycling this year. Once the system is running at capacity, of course, the cost of collection and recycling of the waste could be less than the cost of dumping it