Business View Oceania | Volume 4, Issue 1

55 56 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 V INYL COUNC I L AUSTRAL I A (VCA) Stewardship Centre of Excellence and CSIRO Australia. VCA is an active member of the Asia- Pacific Vinyl Network (of which Sophi is current Vice Chair) and the Global Vinyl Council. Looking forward, VCA expects to grow their membership with both local and international companies with a stake in the vinyl market of Australia. The association will continue to support Australia’s shift towards a circular economy and to encourage increased investment in the Australian PVC industry to continue innovation, development of recycling infrastructure, and other environmental initiatives. Sophi concludes, “I think there’s going to be a growing focus going ahead in which we will see new technologies come into play, such as chemical separation for composite products- something we are currently looking at in our TexBack project funded through the National Product Stewardship Investment Fund. We want to see continued growth in participation in the PVC Stewardship Program and product accreditations and will keep educating stakeholders in Australia about the benefits of PVC. Our sector has a role to play in Australia’s sustainable future, and as the peak body organisation that represents our industry, it is our job to do all we can to fulfill it.” their industry peers and adjust their practices accordingly.” The PVC Stewardship Program today has over 50 signatory companies. Each participant commits to meet a series of obligations with strict criteria set out in the program and to report on their performance each year. Each signatory’s compliance is independently assessed approximately every five years, and the program’s annual progress report on the signatories’ collective performance is third-party verified. VCA’s Best Practice PVC product accreditation was developed based on criteria identified by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) to the PVC Stewardship Program and Best Practice PVC accreditation. Established in 2002, the PVC Stewardship Program is VCA’s primary vehicle for bringing industry players together to address concerns surrounding the environmental footprint of PVC products in Australia and demonstrate improvements in sustainability made continuously across the sector. Sophi comments, “The PVC Stewardship Program is a way for the whole industry to work together as one collective group. It also enables us to measure the performance of participants on an annual basis and share that performance as a demonstration of our commitment. Participants can benchmark their performance in relation to confirm ’best practice’ manufacturing standards for PVC products have been met. Products with the Best Practice PVC Accreditation label are recognised in the GBCA’s Green Star building rating tool. VCA acknowledges the benefits of collaboration and constructive dialogue with a range of stakeholders across Australia and the world that has guided the association’s work. In addition to state and federal government representatives, they include a number of Australian universities and organisations such as GBCA, the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, Australian ecolabel organisations, the Product