Environmental Action with She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead
As a proud partner of the She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead 2019, a sports event which will bring together 2,500 girl students between 15 and 18 from 35 countries in Paris on 13 March 2019, VinylPlus signed an Environmental Action to ensure that PVC is used sustainably in the run-up to and during the event and re-used and recycled after the event.
VinylPlus General Manager Brigitte Dero co-signed the Environmental Action with Laurent Petrynka, President of the International School Sport Federation (ISF), organisers of She Runs at the event’s press launch in Paris on February 13, 2019. The event is the first and largest ISF event dedicated to girl students to celebrate the benefits of sport for health and promote female empowerment and leadership.
“Sustainable development is at the core of the VinylPlus programme and is increasingly becoming an important issue for the public, especially for younger generations,” Brigitte Dero said. “At the same time, sports are becoming more and more innovative, creating new, sustainable solutions for materials, equipment and facilities. She Runs - Active Girls' Lead represents a great opportunity for us to merge and build on these two trends.”
She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Sport Programme of the European Union, is an important opportunity to highlight the role of PVC in improving the sustainability performance of sporting events.
PVC has long been used in sport due to its unique functional properties. Because PVC products are durable, they require minimum maintenance. In sports stadiums, PVC is used from flooring to roofing and exterior screening. Spectators sit on PVC seats under PVC canopies, protected by PVC barriers. Many sports, including basketball, badminton, sailing and table tennis, rely extensively on PVC equipment and protection. Athletes also use clothes, shoes and bags made of PVC.
The PVC products VinylPlus will use during She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead all come from VinylPlus partners: Gerflor; Novafloor; Serge Ferrari; A. Kolckmann, Renolit and Dickinson.
The PVC sector is playing its part in the Circular Economy Action Plan published by the European Commission in 2018, an important framework for Europe’s sustainable development. Indeed, since 2000, the circular economy has been at the core of the VinylPlus programme.
The Environmental Action says that, “all PVC products will be procured on the principle of their reusability, and their actual reuse will be ensured wherever this is possible,” and, “where they cannot practically be subject to reuse, PVC products used will be recycled”.
VinylPlus will continue exploring new partnerships with the sports community to ensure the sustainable use, recycling and reuse of PVC – and She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead will serve as a reference for future collaborations on sporting events.
