Business View Oceania | Volume 4, Issue 1

53 54 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 and technical meetings; Advocacy to state and federal governments, policy makers, regulatory authorities, and industry stakeholders; Representation through the PVC Stewardship Program and Best Practice PVC accreditation; Sponsorship opportunities; Education; Information distribution; Influence on the future direction of the sector through nominations to the Board, Technical Steering Group, or other task forces and committees; Participation in recycling initiatives and opportunity to trial company ideas; Discounts to VCA events, seminars, and conferences, the Best Practice PVC licence mark and online register listings; and, Complimentary access to the PVC Stewardship Program logo (subject to compliance), quarterly data reports, and brochures and publications for company distribution. The team of four at VCA represents industry members throughout the PVC value chain from raw material suppliers, importers, compounders, and manufacturers through to Australian distributors and recyclers. The association communicates with members through a monthly newsletter, which draws together PVC industry insights, regulatory and market developments and global industry news, twice-yearly networking meetings, and the biennial PVC AUS conference, which features Australian and international speakers and attracts at least 150 industry participants. Sophi shares, “We are quite a small industry here in Australia, which brings its own challenges, but it does award us the opportunity to be a very active, well connected and engaged community. Our members are passionate and focussed on sustainability, contributing to discussions about solutions to issues and innovation. Our community is genuine and openly dedicated to furthering the sustainable growth of the industry.” VCA defines a set of core values that relate to innovation, communication, knowledge, education, and transparency. Sophi elaborates, “What we want to do is enhance our industry’s opportunities for sustainable growth, and we want our members’ products to be the preferred choice for PVC products in the marketplace. We are very different from a lot of trade associations in that our core purpose has always been around advancing the sustainable development of the industry, working with stakeholders directly, and having a programme that is able to demonstrate continuous improvement.” As part of this strategy, the organisation runs V INYL COUNC I L AUSTRAL I A (VCA) Chief Executive Sophi MacMillan is an Environmental Scientist with a passion for the protection of our natural environment; she speaks on behalf of VCA. “We were established in response to Sydney’s ‘Green’ 2000 Olympics bid, which included terms that limited the use of PVC in the construction of game facilities. Given that PVC is predominantly used as a building material, there was a potentially huge impact on the sector following that decision, so a number of leading Australian companies and industry stakeholders came together to form an association that would work to understand and address concerns surrounding the environmental footprint of PVC products, and to advocate for the responsible production and use of those products in the market.”