Often the work we do here at Vinyl Verified focuses on exposing flaws in news coverage about the vinyl industry and PVC material. So it came as a breath of fresh air to see two recent stories in Plastics News correctly noting the increasing popularity of vinyl siding and PVC pipe, evidenced by the recent boom in manufacturing and production.

The articles cite the growing demand for materials made with vinyl, specifically vinyl siding and PVC water and wastewater pipes. The facts are clear – whether in residential or commercial construction or to improve city infrastructure, vinyl’s proven performance and environmental sustainability have propelled it to become one of the most desired building and water system materials available today.

PVC Pipes for Water Infrastructure

Plastics News reports vinyl manufacturers were already “rushing to fill orders” but are now seeing even more demand because of the “$55 billion going to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure” as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The coverage highlights how PVC pipes play a significant role in rebuilding our nation’s water and wastewater lines:

“PVC pipes make up the largest share of new miles installed for both the water and wastewater markets, according to Boston-based Bluefield Research. The firm tracks pipes made from PVC, HDPE and molecularly oriented PVC (PVCO.) In 2022, Bluefield forecast PVC will have a 62.3 percent share of the miles of water pipe installed…”

Experts cited by Plastics News note technology improvements have led to better manufacturing processes and the development of more affordable products. Lauren Balsamo, an industry analyst with Bluefield Research, was quoted as saying:

"Price is a big part of it as well as materials becoming more advanced," Balsamo said. "With technological advances, the plastic pipes are becoming stronger and more durable. They're not just beneficial from a cost standpoint but from a longevity standpoint compared to when they first entered the market."

Plastics News also cited the environmental efforts undertaken by the industry to reduce vinyl’s carbon footprint and improve sustainability:

The North American PVC pipe sector has renewed its 2015 Environmental Product Declaration and will be publishing a revised EPD later in 2022 that complies with ISO 14025 standards and was independently certified by global health organization NSF International.

There has been an overall 6 percent reduction of embodied carbon and most other environmental impacts compared with the 2015 study thanks to improvements in PVC pipe manufacturing and upstream production of PVC resin, according to Uni-Bell.

"The 2015 EPD already established that PVC pipe was the piping material with the lowest carbon footprint and the 2022 study reconfirms this," Hollands said. [Bruce Hollands is the executive director of the Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association.]

Building New Homes with Vinyl

Another Plastics News story highlights recent U.S. Census data showing vinyl siding as the top choice for one in four homes – roughly 253,000 new single-family residences – built in 2021. That number was even higher in New England where 76% of new homes were constructed with vinyl siding.

Many homeowners who renovated during the pandemic discovered that investing in vinyl was profitable when it came time to sell, as Plastics News notes:

[Steve] Booz [marketing and product program management director for Westlake Royal Building Products] said many buyers are putting home equity into vinyl siding repair as a good return. He pointed to Zonda Media's annual Cost vs. Value Report, which shows exterior replacement projects on a multiyear streak of delivering the best return on investment for homeowners. Of the 22 remodeling projects in the report, 11 are exterior replacement projects, all of which rank within the top 12 projects.

Zonda says homeowners recoup 67.2 percent of their vinyl siding replacement costs, which are about $18,600.

"Vinyl siding brings people a lot of value in terms of resale and home appreciation," Booz said. "We've added colors, and that keeps the market interested as well. We always try to stay on trend and even help create the trends with our vinyl siding."

Plastics News also points out how education and information sharing helps manufacturers make better choices in sourcing materials and their production processes. Combined, these efforts are making a positive contribution to reducing vinyl’s environmental footprint:

Vinyl siding is a good choice when it comes to affordability and sustainability, according to Matt Dobson, vice president of the Vinyl Siding Institute Inc. trade group.

"We, just like everyone else in the residential market, are keenly aware of the current decline in new construction and increase in interest rates," Dobson said in an email. "But as housing affordability continues to be an issue, we remain excited that they will continue to look towards our industry's products for solutions on both affordability and other issues like sustainability."

The vinyl industry has been the leader in the cladding industry at pushing through more transparency regarding sustainability, Dobson said, pointing to the pending release of the third edition of Environmental Product Declarations for vinyl siding, polypropylene siding and insulated siding.

"As part of this exercise, we are focused strongly on embodied carbon and how building materials play a role relative to climate change," Dobson said. "We are partnering with Building Transparency to produce an online portal for cladding that helps to create a stronger understanding of how material selection can be a part of improving our impact on the environment."

Activists' arguments are not resonating

Activists continue to spread misinformation about vinyl materials, but their arguments don’t hold up to scientific scrutiny. None of their claims can stack up to PVC’s track record, which has been safely used in water pipes for half a century and as a building material for more than twenty years.

Perhaps the most important takeaway from the boom in vinyl production occurring today is that it sends a clear message: the public isn’t being influenced by the deceptive statements put forth by the entrenched anti-vinyl community.

For years vinyl opponents have perpetuated inaccurate and misleading statements about vinyl in a failed effort to persuade consumers, builders and city managers to deselect the material. But the financial numbers tell a different story. The PVC pipe and vinyl siding sectors are experiencing great success for good reason — their products are high quality, built to last, reasonably priced, environmentally responsible, and can withstand the most punishing weather conditions. The boom in production is proof that public, commercial and municipal buyers of vinyl products are ignoring the empty rhetoric of vinyl naysayers, opting instead for the one material they know can do the job better than any other material on the market today.

The trend of vinyl’s growing popularity as a leading building and infrastructure material is no surprise to us – consumers and city managers alike have been turning to vinyl for years because of the material’s rugged durability, versatility and reliability. But it’s a trend outlets rarely choose to acknowledge. We commend Plastics News for acknowledging the facts about our industry – and we challenge others to do the same.