Today
Today, vinyl is the second largest-selling plastic in the world, and the industry employs more than 100,000 people in the United States alone. Vinyl’s low cost, versatility and performance make it the material of choice for dozens of industries such as health care, communications, aerospace, automotive, retailing, textiles and construction. Rigid as pipe or pliable as plastic wrap, vinyl is a leading material of the 21st century. LVT PVC Flooring is an emerging very sought out material today.
What is Vinyl?
Vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC), is the world’s most versatile plastic, used to make everything from food wrap to auto body parts. Vinyl is composed of two simple building blocks: chlorine, based on common salt, and ethylene, from crude oil.
The resulting compound, ethylene dichloride, is converted at very high temperatures to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) gas. Through the chemical reaction known as polymerization, VCM becomes a chemically stable powder, polyvinyl chloride resin.
Interesting Vinyl Statistics
• Vinyl is the second largest-selling plastic and the most versatile one.
• The vinyl resin industry has more than $4 billion in sales and employs more than 100,000 people.
• Vinyl is used in hundreds of consumer, industrial products.
• More than 14 billion pounds of vinyl are produced annually in North America.
Recycling
Even after a useful lifespan of decades, LVT PVC Flooring vinyl products can be recycled into new applications lasting decades more.
Manufacturing Scrap
A significant amount of vinyl scrap (coming from polymer manufacturers and plastic processors) is collected and recycled. Overall, more than 99 percent of all manufactured vinyl compound ends up in a finished product, due to widespread post-industrial recycling.
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