Marson A., Manzardo A., Piron M., Fedele A., Scipioni A., 2021, Life Cycle Assessment of Pvc-a Polymer Alloy Pipes for the Impacts Reduction in the Construction Sector, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 86, 721-726.
The plastics and construction sectors are at the heart of European policies for the circular economy. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the most used polymer in construction products and one of the major applications is piping systems for water distribution. The PVC-A polymer alloy is made blending PVC with chlorinated polyethylene and it is characterized by improved physical properties that allow a reduction in pipe’s thickness. These characteristics enable a reduction in the consumption of resources, but a comprehensive analysis of environmental performance is needed to identify any trade-offs. The aim of this work is to apply Life Cycle Assessment to evaluate two PVC-A piping systems with different gaskets. The study was conducted according to the EN 15804 standard and primary data from an industrial-scale production process were used. An extensive comparison with the main alternatives on the market (PVC-U, PVC-O, PVC-M, and PE) is reported, both referred to 1 kg and 1 meter of pipe.
