The Vinyl Council of Australia is reviewing and updating the stringent criteria for its best environmental practice (BEP) PVC product verification scheme following discussions with the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

BEP PVC products, independently verified as fully compliant with the scheme, are recognised in Green Star building rating tools, as well as other public and private procurement policies in Australia.

Launched ten years ago, the BEP scheme criteria remains today the most stringent criteria for manufacturing PVC with participants required to meet conditions such as emissions targets below regulatory limits, voluntary restrictions on the use of certain additives and stewardship requirements for end of first use of PVC building products in Australia.

The update is providing an opportunity for the Vinyl Council to consider stakeholder feedback on existing criteria and emerging material aspects of the life cycle of PVC products. It also aims to align with the new Green Star rating tools, due to be released this year to ensure continued recognition of accredited PVC products, streamline this process and reflect current best practice in PVC manufacturing.

“It is not an easy label to achieve,” Vinyl Council of Australia chief executive Sophi MacMillan says.

“Proposed by the GBCA, our first major review of the scheme and its criteria in a decade has already generated some useful feedback during our first consultation up to early July. This suggests there is strong support to maintain full compliance with core supply chain criteria, plus requiring some optional ‘ahead of the pack’ criteria.”

Sophi points out that BEP accreditation can be achieved by manufacturers from around the world – it is not limited to Australia. However, this is conditional on accredited independent auditors having assessed the performance of the manufacturer’s supply chain, so it is a global mark of recognition of a manufacturer’s commitment to addressing environmental impacts in their supply chain.

“Manufacturers of PVC products from Europe, the US and the Asia Pacific region have now achieved the BEP PVC mark,” Sophi continues.

As part of the on-going review, the BEP scheme will be compared to the Vinyl Council’s PVC Stewardship Program. This Program is more extensive, driving change in supply chains and evolving continuously with regular stakeholder input under the governance of a steering group. Other comparable ecolabels were also considered to ensure that the update reflected global best practice standards.

Further consultation will take place to September 2020 requesting feedback on the detailed compliance criteria and verification requirements proposed for the updated scheme.

Sophi adds: “We are inviting input from companies who would like to participate in the next consultation round. Please get in touch or you can visit our website for further updates.”