Our contribution to sustainability

On 25 September 2015, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the resolution ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, a transformative plan of action to address urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. Based on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it seeks not only to eradicate extreme poverty, but also to integrate and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. Together, the SDGs form a comprehensive global vision to ensure sustainable social and economic progress worldwide.

The SDGs define global sustainable development priorities and aspirations for 2030 and seek to mobilise global efforts around a common set of goals and targets. They call for worldwide action by governments, business and civil society, and will shape future policies, action plans and initiatives at the international, national and regional levels. While the SDGs primarily target governments, they recognize the key role that business can and must play in achieving them.

VinylPlus aims to proactively contribute to addressing the global challenges and priorities through its sustainability programmes. Through VinylPlus, the European PVC industry is creating a long-term sustainability framework for the entire PVC value chain and improving PVC products sustainability and their contribution to a sustainable society.

The following chart summarises the direct contribution of the VinylPlus 2011-2020 Voluntary Commitment to the SDGs, assessed on the basis of the SDG Compass approach.

The next 10-year Commitment of the European PVC industry to Sustainable Development, subscribed by VinylPlus and partners in June 2021, identifies three ‘pathways’ and 12 ‘action areas’ embracing the PVC value chain’s circularity, its advancement towards carbon neutrality, minimisation of the environmental footprint of the PVC production and products, and its engagement with stakeholders and global coalitions. It includes contributing to sustainable development through and engaging stakeholders in the sustainable transformation of the PVC industry. Partnerships with external stakeholders – public authorities, brand owners, NGOs, and civil society – are key to enhance the PVC industry’s contribution to the SDGs.