The recycling of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is one of the most important issues in the treatment of waste plastics. To improve PVC recycling, it is necessary to develop new recycling techniques, including new techniques for the dechlorination of chlorine-containing polymers. It has been established that wet dechlorination of PVC in NaOH/ethylene glycol solution is more effective than dry dechlorination. In this study, the wet process was used, and the chemical modifi cation of PVC by nucleophilic substitution was considered for upgrading waste PVC. Chlorine was substituted in solution by several nucleophilic reagents, thus changing the properties of PVC. The reaction of PVC in Na 2 S/ethylene glycol solution at 170°C resulted in the formation of a mixture comprising 32% elimination and 26% substitution products. The scanning electron microscopy/ energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mappings and elementary analysis of PVC indicated that this chlorinesubstitution process led to cross-linking by sulfur.