Why could PVC be good for sustainable development (environment, economy, society)?
Since the acceptance of the concept of Sustainable Development (SD) (world conferences of Rio de Janeiro 1992 and others) it became accepted that SD is based on three pillars, namely ecology, economy and society. The environmental impact of PVC products has been investigated in numerous studies, quantified in many life cycle analyses and compared many times to products made from alternative materials. The latest and most comprehensive study was a Review commissioned by the EU. It showed PVC products to be comparable to alternatives in their environmental impact. The strongest aspects of PVC products are performance and cost; PVC products are amongst the lowest cost products for a given performance (see also Q 2). Low cost products can positively contribute to all areas of SD: · Low cost products save scarce money, so they are favourable to a sustainable economic development. · Low cost products are more affordable to socially disadvantaged people, not only in industrialised but more so
