I recently installed a vinyl fence around my property perimeter. After finishing the project I had a decent amount of leftover scrap material from posts, rails, and panels I had to trim. I didn’t want to send the material to the landfill—which begged the question: Is vinyl fencing recyclable?
Vinyl fencing is a fortified plastic material and is 100% recyclable. Most recycle centers accept the product. However, returning scrap material directly back to a manufacturer allows the superior qualities of vinyl fencing to be reused in the substrate of new vinyl fencing material.
Unused or discarded vinyl fencing material should not be sent to the landfill. It will not decompose. Delivering unused material to the recycling center is a good alternative. However, the best practice for recycling vinyl fencing with the lowest impact on the environment is to deliver it back to a vinyl fencing manufacturer.
Read-on to learn more about vinyl fencing material, and the best way to recycle.
Vinyl Fencing is No Regular Plastic
Vinyl fencing is made out of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is actually a very common building material used in siding, windows, flooring, plumbing and fencing. It is also used to make toys, tools, kitchenware, outdoor products, and a huge plethora of other items—all being recyclable.
However, in order to enable vinyl fencing material to endure decades of harsh outdoor UV radiation and exposure, many expensive naturally occuring additives are used to fortify the material, such as: titanium dioxide (TiO2), UV inhibitors, pigments, acrylic modifiers and impact resistant polymers—all to prevent UV degradation, preserve color, prevent chipping and cracking, resist impact damage, increase tensile strength and to give flex.
Needless to say, vinyl fencing material in the landfill is akin to a 1970 Corvette Stingray in the scrapyard—it’s just meant to be restored.
Vinyl Fencing is a Thermoplastic: Why is this Important?
Generally, a thermoplastic is a compound that softens and can be reshaped when heated. Then, once cooled, it will retain its shape and harden.
Because vinyl fencing is a thermoplastic, recycling is a simple process. The old, or discarded material goes through a regrind where it is ground up into small pellet sized particles, reheated to the required melting temperature and finally reshaped to form the interior substrate of new vinyl fencing material.
Vinyl fencing is usually manufactured via co-extrusion—with the inner layer providing strength, and the outer layer providing decades of outdoor weathering protection. In essence, the recycled vinyl fencing material becomes the substrate—the strength-providing inner layer—the soul, of the new superior material.
Recycling Plastics: a Messy Business
Whenever your recycling debris is picked up or dropped off, the very first event that follows is sorting. Aluminum cans go one way, glass jars go to another. However, plastics. . .Plastics are complicated.
There are so many different types of plastic with many different intended uses. For example some plastics are designed to be flexible, rigid, weather resistant, durable, and or light weight. Needless to say, different plastic materials can’t be recycled together. They must be sorted so they can be recycled with other plastic materials with similar characteristics.
At a local recycling center the plastics are sorted, compressed, and then shipped out to a recycling center or manufacturer that has a need for the specific plastic material with which they are specialized to reprocess. Because of the complexity of recycling plastics, the overall recycling process is costly.
Good Environmental Intentions Exposed
In the past, it is estimated that out of all of the plastic material collected and shipped to the recycling center, only 9% was actually recycled and 12% of plastics were simply disposed and burned. The vast unused bulk of plastic waste was shipped to China to alleviate local excessive accumulation.
In essence, the separating and collection of plastics for “recycling” was nothing more than a local well intended notion to “preserve the environment”. Many thousands and thousands of tons of CO2 was being emitted into the atmosphere just to ship plastic waste to someone else (China) thousands of miles away so the excessive plastic waste could be out-of-site and out-of-mind. China was then left with the burden of dealing with a major growing worldwide plastics consumption problem. Source: Piling Up: How China’s Ban on Importing Waste Has Stalled Global Recycling
In 2018, after having received over half of the world’s plastic recyclables, China decided to ban the import of recycling debris. The ban has caused a worldwide stall on plastic waste distribution. Source: How China’s Plastic Waste Ban Forced a Global Recycling Reckoning
Because of China’s ban, local recycling centers had to make major changes to their plastic collection and recycling procedures. Many facilities simply denied the collection of plastic material altogether and plastics were redirected straight to the landfill. Other facilities began limiting the types of plastics they would accept. All in all, it became quickly evident that the old methods of collecting and outsourcing plastic recycling was no longer an option and local plastics recycling was unsustainable.
Local communities have had to explore opening new channels to find ways to facilitate plastic recycling. Subsequently, costs of recycling plastics have risen dramatically.
China’s Ban on Plastic Recycling Imports: Detriment or Benefit?
China’s ban on recycling has exposed a major cover-up of sorts with regards to how we deal with our waste. At first, finding and creating local solutions where there were none had been a pressure point for many countries and communities. But now, the notion of preserving our worldwide environment through recycling is finally becoming a reality and many local jobs are being created as we continue to develop solutions.
Delivering Scrapped Vinyl Fencing to a Local Recycling Center is still a Good Solution
Because vinyl fencing is 100% recyclable, it can be discarded at the local recycling center. It will be sorted and combined with other similar products and perhaps shipped to specific facility for recycling. Recycling the plastic will either incorporate a melt down into a base plastic material or a chemical separation and reformulation of the plastic ingredients. The new base material will then be shipped out to manufacturers to use it for manufacturing new goods and materials.
The overall process is very complex and costly. It can also incorporate many toxic procedures before the new product is ready for repurposing.
Recycling Vinyl Fencing Directly with the Manufacturer is Best for the Environment
All of the sorting, shipping, melting down, and chemical separation of plastics can be avoided by simply finding a local alternative for delivering unused or discarded vinyl fencing material.
Most vinyl fence manufacturers and distributors are happy to accept excess scrap material. The vinyl fencing scrap debris goes through a simple regrind and can immediately be incorporated into the extrusion of new materials. The process involves little or no additional treatment.
Additionally, many vinyl fence manufacturers accept scrapped debris from old discarded fence materials regardless of who originally manufactured the product.
Local vinyl fence manufacturers may be closer to you than you think. Doing a quick google search: “Vinyl Fencing Near Me” is an easy way to help you find a local manufacturer.
Major Vinyl Fencing Recycling Centers Accept Discarded Materials
There are over a hundred major vinyl fencing recycling centers in North America that will accept any kind of vinyl fencing debris. Click on the following link to find out if there is one in your local area. https://www.vinylinfo.org/recycling-directory/