There is a growing realisation of the problem that is Plastic Waste. It is now common knowledge that by 2050 the weight of plastic in the oceans will exceed that of the fish. What has this got to do with plumbing, you might ask.

In virtually every newly built house, under the floors and hidden in the walls, lurks hundreds of meters of plastic pipe. It feeds the radiators and taps and removes waste. For some jobs it is well suited – when you see old 4” cast iron pipework you realise that not only is this material extremely heavy, it is hard to work. You cannot help but be impressed by the craftsmanship of our ancestors.

However, plastic has many good features. It is very resistant to acid, can be cut easily with a saw and is safely and quickly assembled. For waste and condensate pipe you would have to say plastic wins by a mile, but what about water pipes and heating systems? All the common plastic pipe systems rely on O-rings for water tightness. Anyone who has taken an old device apart that has O-rings will see that over time they can become brittle, lose their shape and the lubricant washes away. If a leak should occur when the joint is buried invisibly behind the plasterboard or underneath a chipboard floor accessing it is a major undertaking. Modern houses often have nailed and glued floors to prevent squeaking so it is often impossible to remove without breaking.

Copper – when it is soldered – is a much better proposition. Once the joint has been made there is a chemical bond that is watertight and stronger than the pipe itself. The evidence is around us when we look at the first houses with copper plumbing. We can successfully join our new pipes onto the existing 70 year old copper.When we make a soldered joint we know that as long as we take care that joint will be good.

There is another advantage with copper. Once installed, it still retains a good portion of its value. You can come back in 50 years, remove it, take it to a scrap metal merchant and receive a nice bonus. In the plastic house it’s off to the landfill. When it was being installed, all the offcut pieces were thrown into the skip. When the copper was being installed the off-cut pieces were easily converted into a nice breakfast for the fitters. Plastic?  Landfill. Copper? Limitlessly recyclable.

Copper looks better too. Even in the plastic house, usually the fitters are too embarrassed to bring the plastic up out of the floor and into the radiators so they use short bits of copper. It holds a straight line and the fittings are less bulky. It is fully demountable with a blowtorch, biocidal, and conducts electricity very well so can be earthed. It is a much better oxygen barrier too so there will be less corrosion. And it’s more rodent proof.

Plastic does have its uses. If the pipe runs are long and difficult it can be threaded through continuously. It is quicker to install so if time is short, plastic can be a good idea. But if you want quality, reliability and recyclability copper wins the contest.