On the occasion of the third Green Industry Conference (7-9 November 2013) held in Guangzhou, China, VinylPlus has officially become a member of the Green Industry Platform.

The GIP is a joint initiative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Launched at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the Green Industry Platform is a global, high-level, multi-stakeholder partnership to catalyse, mobilise and mainstream action on Green Industry around the world. To date, over 160 governments, corporations and civil society organisations have joined this platform.

“We are honoured to join the Green Industry Platform and look forward to supporting its work”, said Brigitte Dero, Deputy-General Manager of VinylPlus. “VinylPlus is fully aligned with the Platform’s vision and goals. We are confident that sharing our knowledge and experience with other stakeholders will bring mutual benefits and inspire our industry to work even harder to reach its sustainability targets.”

Heinz Leuenberger, Director of UNIDO’s Environmental Management Branch strongly welcomed VinylPlus’ membership of the Green Industry Platform, and added: “The participation of VinylPlus enables the European PVC industry to be a key contributor to the global promotion of a more sustainable model of industrial production. While often seen as an environmental threat, plastics also offer immense potential in terms of resource efficiency and recycling measures, and we look forward to working with VinylPlus in achieving our shared objectives.”

The official Green Industry Platform ‘Statement of Support’ was signed by VinylPlus’ Deputy-General Manager on the closing day of the Green Industry Conference, jointly organised by UNIDO and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China.

The three-day conference, which saw the participation of high-level government officials, senior private sector representatives, noted academics and civil society leaders, showcased success stories and cutting-edge best-practice examples from industry. Policy challenges and opportunities related to implementing Green Industry solutions were discussed, resulting in a dynamic and critical debate on how to move from a linear to a circular economy.

Brigitte Dero contributed to the Technical Panel discussion on Green Chemistry with a presentation on VinylPlus’ approach and experience in greening the European PVC industry and products.

For further information on the Green Industry Platform: www.greenindustryplatform.org