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Product History
Rigid PVC has enjoyed an increasing level of usage over the past 70 years. Its many applications have continually expanded. There are many reasons for this but the chief reason is physical characteristics and their subsequent performance. Properly manufactured PVC has shown and is still showing its durability, strength, quality and longevity.
In my short involvement with PVC, I have helped to develop it into many unique applications by making adjustments to the basic formula. A toy manufacturer needed a wing material which had to make his toy fly. All forms of plastic were tried and many types of PVC also, but all failed to “fly”. By adding to the formula a very specific ingrediant, the Arrowcopter Flying toy is still flying high!
In the credit card market there are many finished cards developed to meet exacting standards and also advertising/ marketing needs, all accomplished by the adjustments to the basic PVC formula. Durability, Life Expectancy, Printability, Impact Strength, Flexure Life, Thickness Control, Color(s), Character Height and Retention, Ink Adhesion, Lamination, Die Cutting, Etc. One of the requests over the past 30 years has been that the PVC could be engineered to breakdown, disintegrate or dissolve when it had finished its useful life. Some have met with limited success through U.V. Light breakdown but by far all others have failed. The failure to perform the initial application of the PVC product doomed virtually all attempts.
BIOPVC, INC. has an additive which has repeatedly shown no adverse effects on all of the performance parameters. In tests at RPI (Reno Plastics, Inc.) the product had a superior shelf life. Impact, Dyne Level and Color all are very excellent. In the field, millions of BIOPVC™ cards performed very well.
This additive was included to accomplish something no other additive has ever been able to achieve, Biodegradation. The product started not from any claims or development by RPI, but solely from claims of its manufacturer. This is the number one claim of biodegradation.
Reno Plastics, Inc. then tried the product, developed our formula, and tested the claims internally. All the claims have repeatedly proved positive, not one negative. Multiple times, with control samples, the BIOPVC™ degraded and the standard PVC did not. These tests were all done Aerobically. It was then that I moved to 100% certainty of the BIOPVC™ product. This is the number two claim of biodegradation, RPI’s internal testing.
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Start of Test
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After 7 months of Testing |
Next, the BIOPVC™ was sent to the test laboratory of OWS in Belgium for independent verification. It showed approximately 13% degradation. The microorganisms consumed it. PVC does not just disappear; it lasts forever or for very, very long. Again proving exactly what the manufacturers claims and our testing showed. This test was also Aerobic. This is the number three claim of biodegradation, OWS of Belgium independent testing.
The Aerobic and Anaerobic question has also repeatedly been answered. To bring it to its most simplistic level, the BIOPVC™ biodegrades in the fertile environment where the microorganisms live.
In the Anaerobic environment, for example the landfill, the following applies:
- There is the presence of Oxygen during the creation of the fill. Even under heavy equipment compaction the Oxygen is there, trapped in the various pockets of earth, rubbish and refuse. Water entering the fill is also bringing in Oxygen. This environment is Aerobic lasting for up to one year.
- With most or all longer term landfills the creation of Methane gas is a problem they deal with. Methane gas is considered to be the final step in the breakdown (biodegradation) of organic matter by microorganisms. A healthy landfill is generating Methane.
- Landfills are changing to reflect the increasing levels of knowledge. One example has been the practice of trying to eliminate water from entering the fill to address leachate of the water into the surrounding ground water. The landfills with the highest biodegradation are achieving a water content exceeding 40% and recirculating the run-off.
- To further support the testing we have initiated further testing in Anaerobic Conditions. This testing has proven that the biodegradation takes place in the Anaerobic environment and that the chlorine molecule in the PVC in fact is changed to a salt. (11-21-07)
To conclude:
The product BIOPVC™ biodegrades in Aerobic conditions. In the landfill the BIOPVC™ biodegrades Aerobically in the first year and continues to degrade even if the landfill moves toward Anaerobic. With water and its life supporting role, the microorganisms continue to consume the BIOPVC™.
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