Reporter Schuyler Mitchell, with The Intercept, a self-proclaimed “adversarial journalism” online publication, contacted the Vinyl Institute after 4 pm on February 16th with a host of questions demanding answers within a few short hours. The Vinyl Institute responded, but as expected, very little, if any, of our fact-based information made it into her 2,250-word story which was published just a day-and-a-half day later – a piece she obviously had been working on for many weeks.
We’re posting our response, in full, to ensure the public has access to all of the facts, so that they may draw their own conclusions – and avoid being duped by Mitchell’s deceptive portrayal of our industry.
Mitchell ignored an independent third-party study by McKinsey we provided that shows products made of PVC are less carbon-intensive compared to others made of competing materials. But that didn’t make it into her story.
Mitchell spent considerable time quoting information from the Vinyl Institute’s website – yet she avoided any mention of the vinyl industry’s safety and sustainability commitments, and the substantial progress the industry has achieved in recent decades. Points such as:
Safety is the number one priority for the vinyl industry – and the facts prove it. PVC has a long history of being manufactured responsibly, evidenced by our safety record.
U.S. vinyl producers’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable incidence rate is 67% lower than the entire chemical industry, and 80% lower than the recordable incidence rate of all manufacturing. The Vinyl Institute annually recognizes vinyl producer facilities for their safety performance. In 2022, 30 facilities were commended for their safety performance for the calendar year, and 13 of those facilities received special recognition for operating for five or more consecutive years without an OSHA recordable incident.
And, the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, Douglas Parker, sent VI members a letter just a few months ago commending the industry on our safety performance record.
Vinyl producers have significantly reduced ambient emissions. PVC resin manufacturers have reduced ambient emissions since 1987 by almost 90 percent according to U.S. EPA Toxic Release Inventory data – during the same time production volume has doubled.
Billions of pounds of PVC have been recycled. More than 1.1 billion pounds of PVC materials are recycled annually in the U.S. and Canada. This amount includes 958 million pounds of pre-consumer PVC materials and 142 million pounds of post-consumer PVC materials.
The vinyl industry’s commitment to sustainability is indisputable. The Vinyl Institute established the Vinyl Sustainability Council, a collaborative platform for companies, organizations, and other stakeholders to advance the U.S. vinyl industry’s contribution to sustainable development. So far, we’ve published 3 sustainability reports documenting our transparent progress.
Mitchell deceives readers about the Vinyl Institute’s lobbying efforts. She claims the VI is “… pressuring Congress to require ‘open competition’ in designing and bidding on water infrastructure, to ensure that PVC pipes are included in considerations.” Yet she hides from readers that municipalities (and their taxpayers) experience a 30% decrease in the cost of piping materials when open competition is adopted – regardless of what type of piping material is ultimately selected for the project. We provided her with an independent, third-party study that supports this, but that too failed to make it into her story.
We’re confused by Mitchell’s suggestion that saving taxpayers money in this regard is a bad thing.
The Vinyl Institute advocates on behalf of its members and the more than 2,900 companies throughout the vinyl value chain that employ more than 350,000 people. From healthcare, communications, and aerospace to automotive, retailing, textiles, and construction – PVC’s proven track record has made it a material of choice for industries everywhere.
Here’s the full text of the response we provided Mitchell (which we sent despite her untenable deadline). She ignored most of it:
The Vinyl Institute advocates on behalf of its members and the more than 2,900 companies throughout the vinyl value chain that employ more than 350,000 people. We educate lawmakers about PVC and its life-enhancing contributions to society.
Few materials used to produce durable goods and building products can claim the same environmental benefits of PVC when the entire life cycle is taken into account. A disinterested third-party comparative study by McKinsey shows pipes made with PVC are less carbon-intensive compared to similar pipes made from other materials, especially ductile iron.
The safety of PVC’s use in water infrastructure is well established. PVC pipe complies with NSF/ANIS/CAN 61 standard, which is the legally recognized standard in the U.S. and Canada. This standard ensures that all materials, including PVC pipe, do not contribute harmful levels of contaminants to the drinking water.
PVC’s performance and durability are also well established. PVC pipe has the lowest break-rate when compared with other piping materials. It has a service life of more than 100 years. And contrary to iron pipe, PVC pipe is not susceptible to corrosion, therefore, less energy is required to pump water through PVC piping system over the course of its service life.
We support an open bidding process because it allows for transparency and increased competition where all water pipe material options can bid. Studies show that when municipalities have an open bidding process, the cost of all piping materials decreases by 30% or more, no matter what material is selected. This saves taxpayers money and allows municipalities to modernize crumbling and leaking water infrastructure.
We do not support the proposed Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act because, if passed, plastic production will increase overseas in countries that have occupational safety and health regulations and environmental protection laws that are commonly less stringent than the regulations in the United States.