Re: GM Says NO to PVC in Cars

["superjicb" <superjicb@email.msn.com>]

Not only should you  thank GM, but you should ask Ford and others why  they
are not doing the same.  Ford especially.  Ford bought Volvo at a time Volvo
was speaking out against using PVC in cars.   I hope this influence from
Ford had a positive effect on Ford, instead of that Ford negatively impacted
Volvo.

CB

----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Hind (by way of ttweed@wildrockies.org(Tony Tweedale))
<Rick.Hind@wdc.greenpeace.org>
To: Multiple recipients of list DIOXIN-L <dioxin-l@essential.org>
Sent: Monday, September 20, 1999 10:02 PM
Subject: GM Says NO to PVC in Cars


> If you have a moment, take the time to thank GM (perhaps through their web
> page), acknowledging they may have had various resons, but emphasizing the
> long-term environmental benefit.  This could be the begining of the end
of
> PVC entering the auto scrap smelting furnaces (at doxzens of pounds of
> chlorine/ car, more or less), and IT'S THE FIRST LARGELY SELF-INITIATED
> PHASE-OUT OF OVC THAT I'M AWARE OF!      -tony
> ----
>
> Plastics News   September 20, 1999      Page 1
>
> GM banishing PVC in auto interior panels
>
> By Joseph Pryweller     PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
>
> Warren, Mich--General Motors Corp. plans to become the first carmaker
> to eliminate PVC on all its interior panels worldwide.
>
> By 2004, the Detroit-based carmaker expects to use non-PVC materials
> for all new vehicle programs, staff project engineer Maureen
> Sobolewski said in an interview at GM's North American Operations
> Interior Center in Warren.
>
> The policy primarily affects covering skins for instrument panels and
> door panels.  According to several resin companies, PVC now captures
> 70-80 percent of the materials market for those parts in North
> America and Europe.
>
> The surprise move paves the way for the introduction of other
> materials, such as thermoplastic olefins and polyurethane, in those
> application.
>
> GM's decision was made partly to light a fire under parts and resin
> suppliers to find alternatives, Sobolewski said.
>
> "There has been some resistance in the past by resin suppliers," she
> said.  "It's been on the back burner in the development of products.
> We've received greater commitments from them now, and we couldn't be
> happier with it."
>
> Performance issues helped force the move, including PVC's lack of
> durability over a long period, according to William Shikany, director
> of GM's interior center.
>
> The carmaker found that PVC cracks, warps, and fades too quickly,
> Shikany said.
>
> "It didn't take consumer studies to tell us that people didn't like
> cracks in panels," Shikany said.
>
> Other issues include windows fogging from the leaching of PVC
> plasticizers, and PVC's weight disadvantage compared with other
> materials, Shikany said.
>
> But the issue was brought to a head by the inability of PVC to work
> with seamless air-bag doors, said David Mattis, engineering director
> for materials and appearance at the Warren center.  Consumers are
> starting to request doors with invisible seams that still can be
> penetrated with an air bag during a crash, he said.
>
> GM's rollout of non-PVC materials began in May for all future
> vehicles.  But the carmaker talked publicly about its plan for the
> first time last week, even though the supply community has been
> preparing for the change for months.
>
> "If PVC was not already sourced in May for a vehicle's development,
> we began expecting our supppliers to specify alternatives, "
> Sobolewski said in a Sept. 15 interview.  "It doesn't affect programs
> midway into production.  But there's still the option to make a
> switch."
>
> GM has planned the move since Jan. 28, when its interior council
> approved a plan to restrict the use of PVC in newly designed vehicle
> interiors, according to a GM memo obtained by Plastics News.
>
> GM is attempting to rally its suppliers.  On July 21, hundreds of
> parts and resin suppliers were invited to GM's technical center in
> Warren for "PVC Alternative Discovery Day."  Sixteen booths were set
> up and 20 supplier technical presentations were made on non-PVC
> materials.
>
> "It really opened our eyes that they were serious," said one
> supplier.  "it gave us the chance to show our best solutions, and we
> knew they were listening."
>
> Still, many parts and resin suppliers cautioned that TPOs and
> urethanes have issues, too.  While most avoided criticizing GM's
> plan, they said that TPOs are as much as 40 percent more expensive
> than PVC.
>
> For the long term, GM is not willing to pay a major cost premium,
> Sobolewski siad.  It will be up to suppliers to absorb any
> difference, she added.
>
> Some suppliers believe that can happen albeit not easily.
>
> "Sometimes, we can pass it through with savings from processing or by
> recycling," said Jack Van Ert, director of advanced process
> development with Southfield, Mich.-based interior-parts supplier Lear
> Corp.  "But I'm not going to say that will always cover the cost of
> the material coming to us."
>
> That issue temporarily could block a wholesale switch from PVC to
> TPOs for some automakers, said Dennis Hiller, president of American
> interior operations for Collins & Aikman Corp., of Troy, Mich.  But
> that could change as costs decrease, he said.
>
> "I can't predict the time frame, but there could be more of a shift
> by 2006 or 2007," Hiller said.  "It will happen once the supply base
> matures and the costs come down."
>
> Even TPO suppliers were a bit dubious as to how well GM's plans will
> work out in the short term.
>
> "The OEMs can't just come beating down on everyone's head and
> --crack!--say that we'll be price-competitive with new materials,"
> said one resin supplier.  "They have to find the best way to fit this
> in."
>
> Andre Ferland, market development manager for Solvay Engineered
> Polymers, said GM's move is a tremendous opportunity for his company.
> But he cautioned that GM must be willing to make a greater change.
>
> "It isn't just going to be PVC replacement," said Ferland, who is
> based in Aurburn Hills, Mich.  "Our biggest dilemma has been the
> industry's stubbornness to try to force-fit new material technologies
> into current designs and manufacturing practices.  In essence, you
> try to put a square peg in a round hole."
>
> The move has resin suppliers scramblin for non-PVC solutions,
> acording to several suppliers.  Virtually every interior-parts
> supplier now has products on the road or in development, supplier
> sources said.
>
> "There are products out there ready to go," said Chris Thomas,
> marketing development manager for Montell Polyolefins' automotive
> group in Troy.  "We're working closely with some Tier 1 [parts
> suppliers] to line up some near-term models."
>
> Currently, Dtroit-based GM uses TPO instrument-panel cover skins on
> its new Saturn LS mid-sive cars and year-2000 Pontiac Bonneville.
> The automaker recently introduced both models.
>
> No other automaker has attempted such a material ban, though both
> Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler Corp. have used non-PVC skins on
> certain vehicles, according to executives with those companies.
>
> "PVC is of interest to us," said Robert Kainz, senior manager of
> pollution prevention and life-cycle programs with Auburn Hills-based
> DaimlerChrysler. "By understanding its benefits and limitations, we
> can make better business decisions."
>
> But only a handful of other vehicles in production--most of them in
> Europe--use plastic materials other than PVC in those specific
> applications.  Several of GM's Adam Opel and Saab models in Eurpoe
> use thermoplastic olefin cover stock.
>
> The decision is another blow to the bow of the PVC industry.  Some
> toy companies stopped using PVC in children's teethers last year, and
> some medical companies have announced they are stepping up efforts to
> find alternative resings for products such as blood bags.
>
> GM produced 7.56 million cars and trucks globally in 1998, according
> to figures provided by Automotive News, a sister publication of
> Plastics News.
>
> Members of the Washington-based Vinyl Institute discussed the issue
> Sept. 9 with GM officials.  While the discussion was amicable, GM
> officials' minds were not changed, said Mark Sofman, director of
> issues management for the association.  From a performance and cost
> standpoint, PVC will be difficult to replace, Sofman said.
>
> To GM, PVC's performance and weight problems made it vulnerable.  The
> automaker also wants to simplify materials use with common resins for
> global platforms.
>
> "We want to commonize and globalize,"  Mattis said.  "It's a lot
> easier to execute production decisions and develop technology when
> you're working with fewer materials."
>
> "It's a tremendous boost to TPO suppliers," said Rober Eller,
> president of plastic consulting firm Rober Eller & Associates Inc. of
> Akron, Ohio.  "This move brings U.S. and European suppliers closer
> together for global positioning.  It's a major development."
>
> The change could also provide a major charge to the movement to
> recycle interior autmotive parts.
>
> PVC parts must be separated from olefinic materials before they are
> recycled, adding cost to the process. The recycling issue makes TPOs
> a prime candidate at GM to replace PVC, Sobolewski said.
>
> GM's policy coulc be short-lived according to Bruce Barden, vice
> president of research and development with PVC sheet suppplier
> Sandusky Ltd. of Sandusky, Ohio.  In 1978, the company attempted to
> move from PVC to urethane for seat covers only to step away from
> that soon after, he said.
>
> "The PVC issue is overblow, and [environmental groups] have too much
> impact on companies with it," Barden said.  "PVC is one of the best
> polymers out there for long life and low cost.  But if this is what
> GM wants to do, we will find a way to supply it."
>
> Suppliers are being forced to adapt quickly, according working with
> GM.
>
> "There's a very solid movement toward non-PVC materials with
> automakers," said Timothy Jackson, director of automotive interior
> sales with Acton, Mass.-based Haartz Corp., a maker of both PVC and
> TPO cover stock.  "We're certainly thinking this will happen, and
> we'll be prepared."
>
> This year, the company invested $7 million to expand its plant and
> add equipment to extrude olefin roll stock.
>
> The company also is providing TPO cover stock to Dearborn Mich.-based
> supplier Visteon Automotive Systems for the instrument panel of a
> 2001-model vehicle.
>
>