PVC4Cables first conference brings 110 delegates to Lyon

PVC4Cables held its first conference ‘Sustainability, Innovation, Market: The new horizons of the PVC cables industry’ in Lyon, France, attracting more than 110 delegates from all over Europe.

The Focus of the Conference was significant progress made by the PVC cables industry in terms of sustainability and innovation, particularly thanks to the development of new formulations; and a factual debate on the impact of the European regulation on the market, notably in relation to CPR (Construction Products Regulation) and RoHS Directive.

Carlo Ciotti, chair of PVCforCables, said: “The wide participation of the European PVC cables value chain in this first PVC4Cables Conference is a very positive sign.”

“It demonstrates that the whole industry is committed to supporting this important sector, sharing knowledge and experiences.”

In the opening session, Cristina de Santos of AMI Consulting provided a comprehensive update on the PVC cables market and trends. Wires and cables represent today the largest application sector for flexible PVC in Europe, absorbing around seven per cent of the PVC resins manufactured and accounting for 46 per cent of the cables market in Europe.

Roland Dewitt, ACCIPIS, covered CPR, Euroclasses and additional criteria, test methods and CE marking, before discussing CPR throughout the European countries. An update on RoHS and BEMP (Best Environmental Management Practice) was provided by Arjen Sevenster, Senior Manager at ECVM.

In terms of sustainability, significant steps forward have been made over the past decades thanks to the European PVC Industry’s Voluntary Commitments, which contributed to the progressive reduction of energy and resources consumption thus decreasing GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions; to the development of a new generation of PVC formulations; and to the development of collection and recycling schemes.

Francesco Tarantino, General Manager of VinyLoop, concluded the morning sessions with the update on PVC cables recycling provided by concluded the Conference’s morning sessions.

Although considered mature, the PVC cables sector shows a vitality and dynamism capable of addressing major challenges and priorities in terms of sustainability, circular economy and performance.

Enrico Boccaleri, researcher at the Università del Piemonte Orientale (Italy), showed how the application of nanotechnologies to the PVC cables sector could bring improvements in thermal resistance, degradation and HCl emissions, while concrete examples of how research for new formulations can improve PVC cables’ fire behaviour were presented by Gianluca Sarti, of the PVC Forum Italia’s Compounds for Cables Group.

The afternoon sessions on ‘Innovation: solutions and possibilities’ were completed by an overview on the most recent developments in PVC additives, with presentations by Matthias Pfeiffer, European Plasticisers; Alain Cavallero, ESPA (European Stabiliser Producers Association), and Philippe Salémis, of the Phosphorous, Inorganic and Nitrogen Flame Retardants Association.