PVC (polyvinyl chloride)

HS 3904 / 3915.30PVC-Urigid PVCflexible PVCcable granulatewindow profileresin code 3

PVC splits into two materials that trade separately. Rigid PVC (PVC-U) — window profiles, pipes, fittings, credit cards — recycles well into profile and pipe compounds when sorted clean of gaskets and metal. Flexible PVC — cable insulation, flooring, hoses — is plasticised, and legacy plasticisers and stabilisers complicate its recycling; cable granulate from cable recovery is its main traded form, with copper content the value driver on the other side of the process.

Key parameters: rigid/flexible split, colour, metal and rubber contamination, and for older material the stabiliser generation. Scrap classifies under HS 3915.30, primary forms 3904. PVC's other role in this trade is villain: even trace PVC ruins rPET (it degrades at PET process temperatures), which is why PVC ppm limits head every PET flake specification. Export routes are consignee-specific and enquiry-led.