It's PVCu, But Not As We Know It!

PVCu recycling has been around in the industry for a few years now. Some post consumer waste goes towards being made into things such as insulation and other similar things. Some post consumer waste goes back into making new PVCu frames. 


So what direction does the industry need to take when it becomes too expensive and over-resourceful to make PVCu from oil?


This is a question that may need to be answered quite soon. The price of oil over the next 5 years is only going to go up, which will obviously have an impact on the cost of the polymers and in turn the PVCu raw material. I don't think our industry could cope with many more increases right now. The way I see it there are two roads to go down.


The first would be produce the polymers we need from sustainable crops used for oil (more like the cooking kind). This would have a manufacturing advantage as we would be able to produce what we needed here, rather than import a lot of it from the Far East. Jobs will would be created and local economies would be boosted. The downside to this however is that there isn't enough of the crops for this to fully sustain our £4 billion industry. And remember, PVC is used in a plethora of other industries, not just ours. The crops we have at the moment just won't be able to meet the demand. Planting numerous amounts of new fields of the stuff isn't a viable option either.


The second option then is to focus more on recycling the old PVC windows and doors we take out. More and more installations over the last few years have involved taking out old, tired PVC windows and doors. Rather than these going to landfill via our skip companies, these need to be taken to specialist recycling plants, preferably run and owned by the systems companies so that the right people with the right expertise can do this properly and as efficiently as possible. Installers then save lots on the cost of skips, landfill isn't used as much and so the environment benefits. But what need to consider is the public's appetite for 're-used' windows. Some people don't like the idea of used cars, so they buy new ones because they know there is far less a likelihood for things to go wrong. I know recycled windows go through a complete meltdown and are reproduced, but we would need to make sure that the public doesn't get stuck with that 'used' and 'cheap' image. But then there is the problem of meeting the demand for the whole industry. We simply don't recycle enough, or will probably never do so in the future, windows and doors to cope with the whole replacement and new build markets. And if our industry is to continue to grow, meeting that demand is going to become even harder. 


Therefore, we arrive at a problem. We have to position the industry ready for a time without oil. With these being probably the two most viable options right now to replace the need for oil, we have to come up with a way of effectively incorporating the two techniques to make that transition. If we can, then our manufacturing industry in this country could stand to benefit from billions of extra investment and massive job creation. If we could make sure that all this happens in this country, then we could also wean ourselves off the need for foreign imports. 

We Have To Get Off The Black Stuff!

There are still undercurrents of massive danger that lie beneath the weak global economic recovery. One of those currents is the HUGE amount of debt countries have above their heads. The U.S. has just reached £14.3 TRILLION, which just also happens to be their ceiling, so no more room there for any more debt, which means unless they figure something out, they are going to default on their debt payments for the very first time. The markets will not react to that very well. Also, Greece is looking for a second bailout, after getting 95 billion Euros last year. The world quickly needs to rid itself of it's debt, else risk another financial meltdown.


The other dangerous undercurrent is our use of oil. I know I bang on a bit about this sometimes, but the more you investigate into the issue of Peak Oil, when demand outstrips supply, the more you realise that when we get to this point and past it, there is the potential for chaos if we don't prepare ourselves now.


The first obvious thing to point out is price. Prices of oil are only going to go up in the medium to long term. So when we do reach peak point (which some estimate could be only 3/4 years away), prices are set to rocket up. Only then will people realise that this precious black stuff has now become the most valuable thing on Earth. But what will countries do to try to stave off panic? OPEC, the group of leading oil producing nations, could increase their production capacity to the world to try and limit the rise in prices. But how likely is this? OPEC countries may decide to keep their own country's supplies rather than export them to others, knowing how valuable their commodity is now. That's where we could see international tensions and possible conflicts as a result.


To avoid such a scenario, we really need to be looking at all possible sources of renewable energy. I believe that the future of energy is going to be in electricity. It gets the most funding and attention, and so has the best possibility of replacing oil as our main source of fuel. However, we are still far away from that scenario becoming implementable. Electric cars are still too expensive, slow and don't have the range of petrol or diesel cars. Solar panels are still very expensive, though with Government grants and schemes that's a problem that can be overcome. I also think we can all do a bit more in terms of food production i.e. grow our own, but I suppose that's a post for another day!


If we prepare ourselves now for the point where the oil industry becomes too expensive for the world to cope with, then we could possibly avert global scale problems. But it has to be now. Not next year, not in the next few years, but now. If we are to believe the oil experts, peak point is only a few years away, so we really don't have any time to spare.

Ethics Test

For those who take an interest in this sort of thing, you will know that oil has dropped from $126 per barrel to $109 at close of play last night. This is one of the sharpest drops seen in recent months.


I recently watched an interview on the BBC where the expert being asked the questions explained that for very $2 oil goes up, the petrol at our pumps rises by 1p. So by that logic, with oil now at $110 per barrel, $16 has been shed, which means in about a months time (which is how long it takes for oil bought at today's prices to filter through to market) petrol should have come down at least 8p! Bringing the cost of petrol here in Wakefield down to £126.9. Yes it's still expensive, but 8p off a litre would be extremely useful right now.


So, listen up BP, Shell, Esso, Gulf, Jet, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and any other business that sells petrol and diesel. Show us all that you do truly care for your customers and lower prices according to this drop in oil prices as soon as is possible. You're all very quick to slap on rises the minute oil goes up (not allowing for that 4 week period for prices to naturally filter through), but we all know how SLOW you all are to bring your prices down.


To all my readers, while in the office on Saturday, I'm going to email this post to every company mentioned above to ask them to take the time to read what is above, and to see if any of them will bother to reply and assure us that these lower oil prices will reflect in lower petrol costs, even if they only last a few days before prices go back up again.