Plastic Pipes Conference Association # 2023 Lake Buena Vista
Richard Nichols, Jay Parvez
This paper aims to inform users about the improved environmental impacts of PVC pipe reported in the new 2023 Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). The PVC pipe industry published a life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental performance review of underground piping in North America conducted according to ISO 14040 series standards, which included the subsequent publication in 2015 of a PVC pipe EPD. The purpose of the LCA and EPD is to provide transparent information regarding the environmental impacts of products and allow end users to make informed decisions regarding what building materials they use. The EPD complied with ISO 14025 standards and was independently certified by the global health organization NSF International. The ISO methodology and requirements for LCA’s are the most rigorous and transparent in the world. The EPD was updated in 2021-22 and shows an overall reduction of embodied energy and most other environmental impacts for PVC water and sewer pipe compared to the 2015 study, owing to improvements in PVC pipe manufacturing and upstream production of PVC resin. Also, the environmental impacts of gasketed PVCO pipe has been evaluated for the first time.
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