PIPA’s long-term commitment to sustainability

9th Aug 2016

The Plastics Industry Pipe Association of Australia (PIPA) is committed to ensuring the environmental impact of plastics pipeline systems exceed required life cycle standards and believes the Australasian Environmental EPD Programme can help it in this goal.

According to PIPA’s General Manager Mark Heathcote the plastic pipeline industry is highly committed to the pursuit of sustainable development and places a keen focus on meeting modern day needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

PIPA works constructively and transparently with government and stakeholder groups such as the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) to continue positive environmental change and improvement.

“The perception of plastic pipes needed to be clarified and we wanted a system that would allow us to be open and transparent. The GBCA encouraged PIPA and its members to go down the route of EPDs. We wanted to be early adopters of EPDs because we recognise that market and the government demand accountability and EPDs will help us provide it,” Mr Heathcote said.

The process of producing EPDs has allowed plastic pipeline manufacturers like Vinidex and iPlex to take real, quantifiable data, look critically at their processes and find ways to positively improve manufacturing.

“EPDs give stakeholders the confidence that we are telling the truth about the impact of our manufacturing processes,” said Mr Heathcote. “We’d like to see more companies get serious about taking what they learn in EPDs and putting it into practice. We believe if they do this there will be a commercial payback.”

Mr Heathcote said at CEO level, in the plastic pipeline industry, there is strong understanding of the value of EPDs. “The challenge is communicating the message at the coal face. There needs to be education about what EPDs are and the value for builders. PIPA is undertaking programmes to raise the level of awareness for the value of EPDs,” Mr Heathcote said.