What is Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used for?

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), commonly abbreviated PVC, is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in construction because it is durable, cheap, and easily worked. PVC production is expected to exceed 40 million tonnes by 2016.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) can be made softer and more flexible by the addition of plasticizers, the most widely used being phthalates. In this form, it is used in clothing and upholstery, electrical cable insulation, inflatable products and many applications in which it replaces rubber.
Applications
PVC's relatively low cost, biological and chemical resistance and workability have resulted in it being used for a wide variety of applications. It is used for sewerage pipes and other pipe applications where cost or vulnerability to corrosion limit the use of metal. With the addition of impact modifiers and stabilizers, it has become a popular material for window and door frames. By adding plasticizers, it can become flexible enough to be used in cabling applications as a wire insulator. It has been used in many other applications.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is commonly used as the insulation on electrical cables; PVC used for this purpose needs to be plasticized.
uPVC or rigid PVC is extensively used in the building industry as a low-maintenance material, particularly in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and in the United States. In the USA it is known as vinyl, or vinyl siding.[20][21] The material comes in a range of colors and finishes, including a photo-effect wood finish, and is used as a substitute for painted wood, mostly for window frames and sills when installing double glazing in new buildings, or to replace older single glazed windows. It has many other uses including fascia, and siding or weatherboarding. The same material has almost entirely replaced the use of cast iron for plumbing and drainage, being used for waste pipes, drainpipes, gutters and downspouts.
Plasticized PVC is also used to produce thin, colored, or clear, adhesive-backed films referred to simply as vinyl. These films are typically cut on a computer-controlled plotter or printed in a wide-format printer.
PVC has become widely used in clothing, to either create a leather-like material or at times simply for the effect of PVC. PVC clothing is common in Goth, Punk and alternative fashions. PVC is cheaper than rubber, leather, and latex which it is therefore used to simulate.
PVC has been used for a host of consumer products of relatively minor volume compared to the industrial and commercial applications described above.
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