The Vinyl Siding Institute (VSI) has partnered with manufacturers, installers, recyclers, distributors and other collection sites to launch a new recycling collaborative called Revinylize, which is verified by GreenCircle Certified. The vision for this groundbreaking initiative is to make recycling post-consumer rigid vinyl material as easy as possible and to recycle five million pounds of post-consumer rigid vinyl in 2025. “I would love to see a transition where construction demolition landfills become recycling centers,” said Matt Dobson, Vice President for VSI. “We saw huge success with landfill diversion in our pilot program, and we’re thrilled to see Revinylize take this success to a higher level.”
The Revinylize Recycling Collaborative is modeled in part by a VSI pilot vinyl siding recycling coalition developed in Northeast Ohio that successfully recycled 41,000 pounds of aftermarket residential vinyl siding in 2021, followed by 84,000 pounds in 2022. The program is currently on track to recycle 500,000+ pounds by the end of 2023.
Using best practices developed from this coalition and its significant growth, Revinylize is a highly evolved, next-generation version that can be adapted as a nationwide recycling solution. It features a sophisticated platform on www.revinylizenow.org with an outwardly facing map of where recycling takes place in North America. Key target markets for the initial Revinylize launch include Northeast Ohio, Michigan, the Toronto metropolitan area, New England, Washington D.C. and North Carolina.
“We’re thrilled to be part of the Revinylize movement,” said Nick Puckett, Director of Operations for JP Industrial, a leading plastics recycler in Lisbon, Ohio, with five locations around the U.S. “We have been part of the Northeast Ohio coalition since the beginning, and as a nationwide operator, we’re well-positioned to help facilitate the Revinylize mission to expand throughout the U.S.”
To ensure the integrity of the collaborative, all supply chain participants will be verified by GreenCircle Certified. This third-party certification group will also validate the amount of recycled material collected through Revinylize. Sponsorship opportunities will be available to companies, trade associations and other organizations enthusiastic about diverting post-consumer rigid vinyl from the landfills and back into the product stream.
“We commend VSI’s dedication to a circular economy and product sustainability through the Revinylize program and are excited to be a part of this initiative,” said Michelle Bonanno, Vice President of Operations and Certification Officer for GreenCircle Certified. “The stakeholders that are actively working to improve sustainability through participation in the Revinylize Recycling Collaborative are eligible to be verified through GreenCircle Certified. The process of GreenCircle’s review drives greater credibility through independent, third-party verification.”
Laurel Foell, Business Development Specialist at Return Polymers, a leading recycler of PVC material in Ashland, Ohio, said: “Revinylize will give companies and consumers a chance to recycle all of their old vinyl siding, vinyl fencing, PVC decking, trim board and even vinyl records and save money in landfill fees. It also gives us the opportunity to collect beautiful materials that we can use and recycle for another 50 years or more.”
Revinylize is funded, in part, by a generous grant from the Vinyl Institute’s VIABILITY™ Recycling Grant Program and looks to recruit more dedicated recyclers, distributors, collection sites and other advocates. “The more people and groups we can get to participate in Revinylize, the greater the frequency of collections will be,” said Eric Cotterman, Senior Product/Installation Trainer for Cornerstone Building Brands, who was also one of the framers of the Northeast Ohio coalition. “Revinylize will create a clear path for a circular economy. It is a collaborative mechanism for the vinyl industry to collect and recycle post-consumer materials and produce new products that allow for innovative manufacturing processes.”