TPi October 2012

plast ic pipes

To most of us, plastic means PVc, and it is no mystery why. easy and safe to install, environmentally sound, durable, reliable, cost-effective: PVc is all of these, qualities that have made it the most popular material on the planet for piping systems of almost every type and size. but the tremendous versatility of PVc piping also commends it for a host of “unintended” applications: pipe furniture, shipping containers, shelving for stacking (everything from bottles of wine to architectural drawings), pickup truck containers for carrying smaller diameter pipe, “blue-Man” musical instruments, playground equipment, concrete forms, plant water containers, and horserace track railings. This is to name only a few products, according to the sustainable Piping systems website, the compiler of the list. If there is an outside limit to the uses for PVc — the “most plastic thermoplastic” of them all — it is certain that that limit is not yet anywhere in sight.

Photograph: Hobas