PVC is all around us. It’s in that bottle lying on your desk, the computer mouse on your desk and the lining of the fridge door as you open it. PVC compound is essentially the raw material that is used to make end products such as those mentioned above. It’s a fair assumption to say that part of our modern world has been built on the back of PVC compounds. Polyvinyl Chloride is the full name for this remarkable product, but you may know it as simply Vinyl. Remember those music records of the seventies, plastic-covered chairs from the eighties or sleek black patent leather pants of the nineties? They all contained different types of PVC compounds.
What’s It Made Of?
The clue here is in the name. PVC is interestingly enough made mostly from salt, which is the chloride part of the name. Sodium Chloride is the stuff that you put on your dinner table to season your food, most likely in a PVC plastic container. Add the chloride to some hydrogen and some carbon, and you end up with a fascinating product that can do pretty much anything.
What’s It Used For?
PVC compounds are used for so many things that we simply don’t have time to list all its forms but we can try. Suffice to say it’s a thermoplastic plastic, which means that when heated it can change shape. This means that you can bend it into all sorts of exciting things. It can be rigid or flexible, depending on its thickness and makeup. Remember that cling wrap that you used to cover the bowl of leftover salad sitting in your fridge? That plastic cling film is made from a certain form of compound too!
When it comes to the manufacturing industry, dozens of businesses around the world use PVC to make products for the footwear, cling film, automotive and even medical fields. So when most businesses like yours search for raw materials, it’s usually because you’re either looking for PVC compounds or as some may call it, vinyl.
Can You Recycle It?
In today’s world we’re all about sustainability, lowering our carbon footprint, and basically trying to keep ourselves and our world as pollution-free as possible. A big part of that is recycling plastic. The good news is that plastic is everywhere, and it can be recycled. This means that businesses using it can rest assured that they’re working with a responsible material that isn’t negatively impacting the earth. PVC specifically has a lifespan of 140 years in which it can be recycled roughly 7 times, but this depends on the type of product and the grade of the material. It is important to understand that plastic is a part of our world and we need to learn how to manage and be responsible about using it. Essentially, it is up to us, as businesses and citizens, to focus on and commit to recycling these plastics for the better of our environment.
So If you’re a business working with PVC, you’ll need a reliable supplier. IPC can assist you here, so contact us today for assistance.
Related Tags:
Plastic Manufacturers
Plastic Raw Material Suppliers
