Celebrating Earth Day with 170 Million Pounds of PVC & PE Recycled

This Earth Day, Return Polymers is celebrating a monumental milestone. Over the past 12 months, we’ve recycled 170 million pounds of PVC and PE, chugging steadily toward our goal to recycle 1 billion pounds by 2026.

To celebrate our achievements over the last 12 months, the Return Polymers team will be planting trees. After all, what’s the use of diverting plastic from landfills if we aren’t also striving to create a more beautiful and flourishing environment right in our own backyard?

PVC is one of the most widely used plastics in the world, but historically, it is one of the least recycled plastics. We’re working hard to change that trend alongside many other partners around the globe. The Vinyl Siding Institute recently launched Revinylize!, the Revinylize Recycling Collaborative designed to bring together recyclers of rigid vinyl across North America to expand our collective efforts to recycle PVC.

The Full-Circle Recycling Program with Return Polymers

Achieving this success over the last year wouldn’t be possible without our various partners across the country. 

The Full-Circle Recycling Program at Return Polymers involves a strategic network of recycling and material handling facilities, manufacturers, construction contractors, and Construction & Demolition (C&D) partners who take the time to collect scrap PVC in our collection bins suited specifically for their business. 

Then, our logistics teams go about collecting and transporting those materials back to our facilities to be processed by our dedicated teams on the ground. Finally, the reprocessed PVC material is ready to be used in new sustainable products, including decking, siding, cladding, and trim, by our parent company, AZEK, and others who see the value and importance of incorporating recycled PVC materials into their product offerings.

Why It’s Important to Recycle Vinyl

Rigid vinyl recycling offers significant environmental benefits, including:

• Reducing the demand for virgin materials
• Conserving energy
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Diverting waste from landfills or incineration

We’re thrilled to be a part of the effort to conserve our planet’s resources, reduce waste, and protect our environment.

Connect with Return Polymers to Help Us Reach Our Ambitious Goal

It’s appropriate to celebrate this exciting milestone on Earth Day, but we still have a ways to go to reach our even loftier goal of recycling 1 billion pounds of PVC by the end of 2026.

If you aren’t a Return Polymers partner yet, what’s keeping you from joining the recycling revolution? Learn more about our Full-Circle Recycling Program and what we’re able to collect.

Let’s keep the revolution going and work together to build the future we want for our families and communities.