Environmental groups in Maine and Virginia are urging consumers to avoid PVC plastics to cut down on pollution at local trash incinerators.

The Maine-based Environmental Health Strategy Center and the Center for Health, Environment and Justice in Virginia issued a 100-page report Tuesday on the dangers of PVC plastics.

Specific targets of Tuesday’s study were Microsoft, which uses clear PVC plastic to package some of its products, and Johnson and Johnson. That company uses PVC plastic in shampoo bottles and other household goods.

“At the same time, many manufacturers have already made the switch,” Belliveau said. Examples include Firestone and Nike. Those companies are switching to more environmentally friendly polyethylene plastics.

In Maine, the greatest concern is getting rid of the stuff, said Mike Belliveau of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, which has offices in Portland and Bangor.

“PVC is so full of additives and chemicals it makes recycling the plastic difficult,” he said. “When it is incinerated, it acts like a feedstock for creating dioxin, and that’s one of the most toxic substances known to science.”

Maine has four municipal waste incinerators that burn an estimated 5,448 tons of PVC plastic, ranking the state 13th out of 29 states that incinerate waste, according to the report.

Florida ranks at the top of that list, burning 45,362 tons. New York ranks second at 37,517 tons, according to the report.

Belliveau gave waste incinerators such as Mid-Maine Waste Action Corp. in Auburn high points for reducing PVC pollution.

“They’ve installed carbon injectors and filters to cut down on pollution,” Belliveau said. “They certainly pollute less than they used to. But by the time things like PVC get in the waste stream and reach the incinerators, it’s too late. We have to encourage consumers to avoid PVC plastics in the first place.”

Maine burns more waste

In a press release, Belliveau said that Maine ranked No. 1 in the nation for incinerating PVC waste. While the report itself doesn’t bear that out, Belliveau said it does show that Maine burns two-thirds of its household waste.

That includes PVC, he said.

“When you consider how much of the total amount of waste Maine incinerates, that means we are burning up more than half of all the PVC plastics thrown away,” Belliveau said.

Joe Kazar, executive director at MMWAC, applauded the effort to reduce PVC plastics.

He said the plant has systems set up to neutralize pollutants. “They do a good job, but that doesn’t mean we want PVC plastics in our waste stream.”

Industrial PVC is taken out and sent directly to a landfill, Kazar said. That includes PVC piping and other construction materials taken from construction projects.

MMWAC uses air scrubbers and filters to cut down toxins released by burning PVC consumer waste that makes it through. It uses water, lime and compressed air to take out the acids.

“We also have an activated carbon system that is very effective at getting rid of dioxins,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we need to create the dioxins in the first place.”

Belliveau suggested the state create a separate landfill for PVC plastics.

“But the best thing now is for people to be aware and check the labels,” he said. “If they see PVC plastics, they should just leave it on the shelf.”