TEPPFA - Why Plastics in Civils ?

Plastic pipes systems offer an energy efficient piping solution, mainly due to their low weight. Rising energy prices and growing awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are making energy-efficiency a key parameter especially when politicians, companies, organisations and people make decisions for the future. The plastic pipe industry has responded positively to these challenges.

Being oil based, plastics use more energy per kilo than most other materials. However, compared to pipes made from alternative materials, plastic pipes are highly energy-efficient due to the low weight required per pipe metre. In fact, many more metres of pipe can be made from one kilo of plastics than from any other material. Per metre of pipe, plastic pipes therefore have a lower energy use than most alternative pipe materials.

Plastic pipes are energy neutral during use. But when it comes to the end-of-life phase, they are energy positive! And when it comes to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), plastic also offers an environmentally attractive alternative to other piping materials.

Recycling

Plastic pipes can be recycled to make plastic pipes. Many countries have set up collection and recycling schemes! TEPPFA has signed a Voluntary Commitment to collect and recycle waste from plastic pipe and fittings. In most European countries, plastic pipe manufacturers have therefore set up such schemes for used pipe systems. In Europe, this Voluntary Commitment is the most successful of its kind and has gained the respect and trust of stakeholders.

Used pipe systems are collected through sales depots, municipal waste centres, utility companies, construction companies, building merchants or DIY chains. The pipe waste is then sorted before grinding, sifting and re-extrusion.

Most recycled PVC is used to produce multilayer non-pressure pipes for sewers. Often sewer pipes are constructed with an inner layer of recycled plastic and an outer layer of virgin material.

With a normal expected life time of more than 50 years, plastic pipe systems have a potential life expectancy of several hundreds of years.

Environmental Performance

Transporting liquids or gases from one place to another is the main task of a pipe system. Along the way, the pipe system must protect the contents from loss through leakage inside out. The pipe system must also protect the contents from leakage outside in.

For sewer systems, it is a matter of preventing system overload by protecting the system from incoming ground water. Overload can lead to spillage into surface water and/or overloading of treatment plants. Leaking out of sewer water potentially contaminates groundwater.

Plastic pipe systems offer jointing solutions with virtually leak-free performance. In addition, their inherent flexibility means that plastic pipes are up to five times less likely to leak than other pipe materials. This is because they are able to accommodate ground movements that might cause other materials to crack or even break. Plastic pipe systems therefore offer optimum protection for valuable resources such as drinking water.

Various studies have been carried out to assess the respective performances of various pipe systems. A recent study - The Sustainable Municipal Pipe Systems project - carried out by Stein & Partner in 2005, sets out to examine the environmental impact of leakage and defects in non-pressure sewer systems and to compare the performance of flexible versus rigid pipe materials. Examples of flexible pipes are PVC, PE and PP. Examples of rigid pipes are concrete and clay.

Flexible pipe systems excelled, primarily because of their flexibility enabling them to accommodate shifts in the ground, which may cause cracking or even collapse for rigid pipe systems.

Read more… Advantages of flexible pipes for sewers

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