Know Your Plastics Series: Polyvinyl Chloride.
PVC: Resins, products and recycle code Following polyethylene and polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the third most widely used worldwide. In construction, PVC is fast replacing traditional building materials such as rubber, clay, wood, concrete, glass and metal. The first preparation of PVC was in 1935 by a French chemist, Henri Victor Regnault but was patented in 1912 by a German chemist, Freidrich Heinrich August Klatte. The first commercial production was done in 1926 by Waldo Lunsbury Semon while working for the US Company, B. F. Goodrich. The product of his work is what is known as plasticized PVC today. Polyvinyl chloride is a thermoplastic that is generally white in colour, brittle, solid, odourless and quite popular. Available in pellets and powder form, its versatility cuts across numerous applications such as: Applications of PVC - water pipes (drinking, waste, irrigation, industrial) - garden hoses - roofing and flooring