Plastic piping has transformed the way we live, delivering essential services and utilities to our homes and communities. With the increased focus on reducing our environmental footprint and transitioning from a lineal to a circular economy, plastic pipes have many advantages over alternative materials and are becoming preferred material of choice to replace and upgrade pipes throughout the world.
Aligning with the key principles of a circular economy, plastic pipes are designed to minimise waste and pollution and to be kept in use for a long time. They can also be repaired and recycled.
“One of the important features of plastic pipes is their design life,” said Plastics Industry Pipe Association’s (PIPA) executive general manager, Cindy Bray. “They are intended and designed to last a very long time. In typical environmental conditions, plastics materials are well known to last in excess of 100 years. They remain functional – without requiring excess maintenance or repair – when used and installed correctly in normal operation over its design lifetime.”
As a non-profit association, PIPA works to promote the appropriate and contemporary use of plastic pipes and fittings throughout Australia. This is achieved through its four key pillars of advocate, educate, technical and sustainability. One of the key focus areas for PIPA is to educate on the differences between plastic pipes and fittings to other plastics, like single use.
“Not all plastics are the same and too often plastics pipe systems are mistakenly put in the same category as single-use plastics,” said Bray. “Pipes are long-life products, not single use, made from materials engineered to be robust, reliable, recyclable with a long service life.
“This includes how they are different to other plastic products and why the manufacture of virgin material is critical for people and the planet. To help further educate on the positive use of plastics PIPA has recently launched a digital campaign That’s using plastic for good. It differentiates plastic pipes from single-use plastic, highlighting the role they play. It’s an awareness campaign, targeted to those outside of the industry.”
With a long service life, most plastic pipes in use today are still in their first life cycle. This makes comparisons between annual plastics consumption and the total annual plastics recovery misleading for plastic pipes and fittings. PIPA and its members are acutely aware of the problem society faces with plastic pollution. For more than two decades the industry has aimed to recycle the maximum amount of usable plastic pipe and other suitable materials into new plastic pipes.
“We are committed to maximising the use of post-consumer and pre-consumer recycled content in products while ensuring that products remain fit for purpose,” Bray said. “Pipes manufactured with recycled content must conform to the relevant Australia Product Standards, just as pipes manufactured from virgin materials do. This is particularly important in infrastructure applications where reliable performance and long service life are primary considerations.”
Providing Guidance on the use of recycled material
To provide education on the use of recycled materials PIPA published a discussion paper on the Use of Recycled Materials in Plastic Pipes. This paper outlines where recycled materials can be incorporated in plastic pipes and the sustainability advantages. It also addressed misleading comparisons of virgin and recycled material and explained how they are long life products.
Further to this, PIPA has developed an Industry Technical Guidelines POP208 “Specification and Testing Guidelines for recycled materials suitable for non-pressure plastic pipe applications”. This document defines specification and testing requirements for recycled material and products that incorporate recycled material, and outlines the materials characteristics and performance criteria required when using recycled materials.
Improving sustainability now and into the future
Although there is low volume to recover due to the long life and integrity of plastic pipes systems, PIPA and its members are taking practical, meaningful steps to minimise the impact of plastic pollution. It is working together with broader industry to divert suitable plastic material from landfill into long-life, recycled pipe products that meet the relevant Australian and International Standards.
There is already now capacity to increase the use of recycled material across a range of non-pressure pipe products when suitable waste stream volumes become available. A great example of this is within PVC non-pressure pipes – through multi-layer extrusion technology (or sandwich construction), it allows recycled material to be used in the core layer of the pipe (the middle) between the inner and outer layers of virgin material. This means the core layer can be any colour, density, or formulation of rigid PVC material. The performance characteristics of these pipes is exactly the same as pipes made form 100 per cent virgin material. That’s the important role performance standards play.
Plastic Recycling Program
Due to the low volume of plastic pipes in the waste streams, the piping industry is always looking at ways to work with waste management companies, distributors of products, and specific suppliers/clients to collect volumes of plastic pipes viable for recycling. With the various applications plastic pipes are used, there is not one approach to collection, with some more challenging than others. PIPA has established a Plastic Pipes Recycling Program working with a variety of partners across Australia providing information and locations for end users to deliver their no longer needed pipes and fittings.
Education and Pilot Programs
PIPA has engaged with other industry stakeholders, which has established education and pilot programs to increase awareness on the sustainability of plastic pipes and develop the behaviours of appropriate disposal of off-cuts.
“Programs such as the Construction Plastics Recycling Scheme in Queensland and the Plumbing Industry Plastic Recycling Scheme in Western Australia not only educate, but also provides the industry with valuable insights behaviours and greater understanding of the volume of available plastic pipe offcuts and fittings from building, construction sites and education training facilities,” said Bray. “This data will enable us to paint a true picture of material available, enable us to expand these types of programs more broadly and support better consumer investment and policy decisions.”
Success of these programs can only be achieved through collaboration of all key stakeholders within the industry from associations, manufacturers, merchants through to end users.
These programs provide PIPA the opportunity to visit TAFEs and training colleges to speak with apprentices at the beginning of their careers about sustainability and recyclability of plastic pipes. It is hoped these programs will encourage those coming into the industry to continue the conversation about appropriate disposal when they are out of the classroom and back on site.
PIPA has also teamed up with Cool.Org, a company that brings real-world learning into classrooms providing free lesson plans that are mapped to relevant year levels and the Australian curriculum centred around environmental, social, economic and sustainability topics.
“I’m proud of this partnership,” said Bray. “We’ve developed 10 lessons designed for Grade 5-6 students in the subject of design and technology – focusing on circularity and the good use of plastic.”
Through the whole lifecycle, the plastic pipe industry has and will retain its long-standing commitment to improving sustainable practices and outcomes, in a way that benefits all Australians. Australia’s landscape require large-scale, special-purpose systems to move water, wastewater, gas and to protect underground networks of power and communication cables. Plastic pipeline systems are robust and long-lasting, providing reliability now and into the future.