Top 4 PVC Myths That People Still Think Are True!

Myth #1: PVC Cannot Handle Hot or Cold Temperatures

This is a myth and I’m not sure where it originates from but there is a lot of speculation about the quality of PVC, the common myth is that under cold weather PVC will crack or break and doesn’t withstand. This isn’t true as Clearway standard PVC without any added benefits will withstand temperatures up until -15c and this will still have all the original flexibility. Clearway standard will not break up until -35c and past this temperature will cause some stress and tension breaking.

But

Clearway offer a Polar grade and even Super Polar grade, so if extremely cold weather is a problem and you need to use PVC there are plenty of options to choose as Polar Grade will withstand temperatures of -25c and Super Polar will withstand temperatures up to a staggering -60c and this will keep all the flexibility capabilities until that point.

Clearway PVC is a very durable piece of material and will be able to handle most instances of weather. Clearway standard PVC has a softening point at around 50c it also holds anti UV – resistant capabilities and can withstand snow, wind, hail, rain and anything else you’d like to through at it, this is due to the compounds within the material that allow this type of durability.

Myth #2: PVC Cannot Be Recycled

Another Common Myth and maybe the most common of them all is that PVC is not recyclable and is one of the global leaders damaging to the environment. This myth comes from the general agreement of that plastic being the be all and end all for the environment and with more and more pressure to recycle, people just believe that plastic isn’t recyclable and is just destroying the environment and that’s it. This isn’t true as PVC is a very recyclable product and can be recycled many times due to the technology of compound found within the PVC thus giving 1 product many life cycles, majority of the PVC products that we all use today have probably got some form of reprocessed PVC within the product.

So how can it be recycled?

There are 2 processes that Clearway use:

• Mechanical recycling. This involves a mechanically treatment of the wastes. The PVC is grinded in small particles and cleaned. The particles can be then remelted and remoulded with or without fresh material to redo same products or a new one.
• Chemical recycling.Several chemical processes such as pyrolysis or hydrolysis are used to convert the waste into reusable components.  The resulting products as sodium chloride, calcium chloride, hydrocarbon products can be used to produce new PVC or as feed for other manufacturing processes or fuel.

PVC is 100% recyclable. When recycled, it is drastically reducing the carbon footprint compared the production with fresh material. It allows to save energy and avoid extracting more carbon from the ground. Clearway recycles all its PVC waste. When it cannot be directly reused with us, the wastes are grinded and sold to recycling companies who use it to manufacture pipes or electric cables.

Clearway also offers its customers to recover their production scraps. We are inviting you to contact us to participate in this program

Myth #3: PVC plasticisers pose a health risk and are made up of toxic substances

Okay so this one has some truth to it but its down to the ethics of the manufacturer. Just to make this clear from the beginning Clearway do not use any toxic or harmful plasticisers within the production of our PVC.

The reason why I say there is some truth to this is the fact that some manufacturers still use toxic chemical within the manufacturing process, can you guess why? Yes, that’s correct its money whenever you hear about similar things to this it usually comes down to money. As you can imagine having a nontoxic PVC is something that you have to pay your way for but having the confidence that your product will be a healthy product for humans to work with is something which is beneficial in the long run.

So, the myth is that plasticisers pose a health risk, but it comes down to misinformation and lack of understanding because it isn’t ALL plasticisers pose heath risks it’s just the ones with specific chemicals in there that cause health risks.

Myth #4: PVC is Highly Flammable

This myth is less prevalent within the PVC community now but its still worth talking about and that is the myth of flammable PVC. PVC is actually very low fire isn’t due to the PVC having a low burn rate when lit, here at Clearway we actually have products that take this a step further these products are called ‘Fire Retardant’ and this lowers the burn rate even more this is done at the compound level and adding more of a fire retardant component allows us to sell PVC that has a lower burn rate even from naturally flame retardant PVC. Within our SCREENFLEX range which is our welding range of PVC has these components as you’re working with heat this is something that you would want.