Plastics Pipe Institute to promote recycled plastics to legislators

The Plastics Pipe Institute Inc. (PPI) plans to host a fly-in event Sept. 11-12 in Washington, D.C., to provide legislators with information on the benefits of using recycled plastics to produce pipes. PPI serves as a North American trade association representing all segments of the plastic pipe industry.

“While there is reuse of plastics in many industries, there is another facet of recycling that is not widely discussed, and that is how and where to use recycled plastic to gain the most benefit," says Tony Radoszewski, CAE, president of PPI, in the report.

Radoszewski notes that PPI members involved in the manufacture of pipe used in stormwater drainage systems tend to use post-consumer recycled plastics. 

According to the PPI report, studies have shown that corrugated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe manufactured with recycled materials performs the same as pipe made from all virgin HDPE resin. Additionally, North American standard specification bodies have recently expanded existing corrugated HDPE pipe standards to include recycled resins, permitting use of recycled HDPE drainage pipe within the public right-of-way.

"This shift toward using recycled content presents an opportunity for design engineers and public utility agencies that are seeking to reduce their overall environmental footprint associated with storm drainage projects,” Radoszewski says.

The PPI report notes that Radoszewski hopes to see HDPE recycled into many products, including pipe.

"Using discarded bottles to make new ones is certainly beneficial, but taking that same old bottle and using it to make pipe is a far better use of recycled resin," Radoszewski says in the report. "Our industry takes a product that has a 60-day shelf life and turns it into a product with a 100-year service life. That is an extremely important benefit of plastics that we want our legislators to know."

PPI offers more information on its website.