The Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (SAPPMA) has just – 9 April 2013 – released the findings of a study which aimed to investigate environmental footprint caused by the manufacturing and use of plastic pipes.

Explaining the reason behind the study, says SAPPMA Chairman Jan Venter:  “The dramatic increase in the modern world’s population, industrialization and urbanization, is making people realize that present energy sources are limited and bound to run out unless they are better preserved.  It is also leading to renewed effort to develop alternative energy sources on an economic and commercial scale.  Energy is subject to the law of conservation of energy, which states that energy can only be transferred or transformed from one form to another – it cannot be created or destroyed.  All of this has led to an increased awareness of the quantum of energy to produce, operate and maintain systems.  Piping systems are costly elements infrastructure and it is therefore to correct to also evaluate the energy costs associated with it”.

The full article on the release can be viewed in the May/June edition of Water&Sanitation Africa.