Markets for vinyl expanded rapidly during the 1950s when irrigation piping made from rigid, or stiffened, vinyl was introduced to the United States. Since that time, the industry has grown and diversified steadily. The vinyl industry directly employs thousands of people who do everything from converting basic petrochemicals into vinyl raw materials to working with federal government agencies in order to set codes and standards for the use of vinyl in specific applications. Thousands more are employed by the processors, fabricators and manufacturers who convert vinyl from small pellets or cubes of plastic into usable products. The other half of the vinyl polymer is based on the natural element chlorine.
Chlorine gives vinyl two advantages.
Thus, vinyl is less sensitive to fluctuations in the world oil market than are totally oil dependent polymers. Second, chlorine has excellent inherent flame retardant properties. These properties are passed on directly to vinyl end-products, making vinyl an excellent choice for applications such as electrical conduit and wiring that require high resistance to ignition and flame spread. In the bottled water industry, it's essential to provide a container with very low taste and odor properties. You also need a very durable container, and one that can be recycled.