A study carried out in 1999 by Rostock University on behalf of the European authorities concluded that the long-term behaviour of PVC in landfill does not raise concerns when tested under conditions which simulate actual landfill behaviour. Testing at extreme conditions to accelerate the decomposition yielded questionable results. The PVC industry asked the Universities of Hamburg-Harburg and Linköping to perform tests at temperatures up to levels tested by Rostock. The main findings were:
- No degradation of the PVC polymer was observed.
- Some plasticizers are subject to losses. However, due to microbial transformation, the concentrations in the leachate are not correlated with the losses. Phthalates and their degradation products may occur, but only transiently and at low concentrations.
- In contrast to this, the release of stabilisers appears to be attributable to superficial leaching. Concentrations in leachate can usually not be discerned from the background. The contribution of PVC products to the inventory of heavy metals in municipal solid waste is anyway low. For instance, a recent inventory showed that the relative contribution of PVC to lead present in landfills is estimated to be around 5 %.
All things considered, PVC products do not constitute a substantial impact on the toxicity of landfill leachate. Provided that landfills are operated appropriately and responsibly in accordance with present technical regulations, landfilling of PVC products does not raise environmental concerns.
