What is sustainability? Is vinyl a sustainable material?
Although sustainability can be defined in many different ways, perhaps the best definition comes from the President’s Council on Sustainable Development: “meeting the needs of the present while ensuring that future generations have the same opportunities.” In practice, sustainability may take any number of forms – diligent reuse and recycling, optimized manufacturing practices and using renewable resources, just to name a few. The vinyl industry strongly supports the concept of a “sustainable” future and is committed to doing its part to ensure that the needs of future generations are met. The industry believes that vinyl is a sustainable product because it is recyclable, energy- and resource-efficient to manufacture and a low consumer of non-renewable resources. Perhaps most importantly, vinyl meets the critical needs of an exploding world population by helping to provide durable and affordable housing, safe water transportation, quality healthcare, and much more.
