PN shares ’09 goals for plastics industry

PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
With our first issue of 2009, Plastics News again updates its agenda for the industry:

      ’08 Globes: All the news print to fit, some bull

PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
Every December, Time magazine has its Person of the Year, and we have our Plastic Globe awards, given to dubious or otherwise unusual newsmakers from the past year. This year´s batch covers everything from amorous bulls in Detroit to crimes against camels in Dubai; from traveling the roads in India to naked security guards in Swaziland.

      Forecast for future: windy & oh-so green

By Bill Bregar
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
What industry is getting people excited in these days of gloom? Last week in Cleveland, a wind-power conference drew an overflow crowd of 850 enthusiastic people. Let’s recap: Manufacturing people. Enthusiastic. Cleveland. December.

      China now victim of own success

By Nina Ying Sun
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
The year 2008 was supposed to be filled with joy and pride for China, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the nation’s economic reform. Instead, the financial crisis in the West and the resulting global economic downturn is pressuring China to rescue its export sector and rework its growth strategies.

      Valuable dialogue hushed by politics

By Robert Grace
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
Some things are bigger than politics. I think most would agree saving the planet is one of them.

      In waning market, strong will survive

By Frank Esposito
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
Contrary to what you may have heard, Disney is not working on a movie titled Honey, They Shrunk the Resin Industry.

      Manufacturing key in economic revival

Nina Ying Sun
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower, but can everyone be a leader in the plastics manufacturing world?

      Inventing our way out of recession

By Robert Grace
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
We’ve all been inundated with political vitriol and reports about market meltdowns and recession. It can get downright depressing. Which is why I found The Idea Conference to be just what the doctor ordered. This country needs to innovate its way out of the current crisis.

      Precautionary tale: BPA ban on horizon

PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
It’s noteworthy that we’re about to see polycarbonate disappear from infant products — including baby bottles — because of concerns about the safety of bisphenol A.

      Pieces of bailout pie may bring heartburn

By Don Loepp
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
No one in Washington wants to be responsible for starting a new Great Depression. And they’d all like to be able to take credit for stopping one from happening. So the checkbook is open, and we’re pulling out all the stops on bailing out everyone — well, just about everyone.

      Electronics get press for dressing in green

PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
Canon Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. made headlines last week for materials-related choices in their electronics products. One of the companies chose to work with bio-based plastics, while the other one trumpeted a move away from plastics.

Perspective

How to submit a Perspective

      Recycling road has been long, bumpy

By Mike Verespej - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We continue with No. 11: The recycling saga.

      Change, innovations determine our success

Barry Stuart - Woodward North Group
It is one thing to understand the challenges we’re facing today and the underlying need for change. It is entirely something else to identify that innovation which represents real value to our customers, employees and shareholders.

      Energy-saving innovations consume industry

By Bill Bregar - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We continue with No. 12: Machinery innovations for energy savings.

      Storms take toll on survivors

By Frank Esposito - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We continue with No. 13: Hurricanes and accidents

      Resin makers merge to survive

Frank Esposito - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We continue with No. 14: Resin company consolidation.

      Times tough for machinery

By Bill Bregar - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
For plastics machinery, these are tough times — the toughest U.S. capital spending environment in my 15-plus years of covering the machinery beat for Plastics News.

      Mold makers’ competition goes global

By Rhoda Miel - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We continue with No. 15: Mold Makers Under Pressure.

      Financial crisis a ‘perfect storm’ of issues

Peter Mooney - Plastics Custom Research Services
From the outset of the year, 2008 looked likely to be a difficult one for North American plastics processors due to a plethora of factors internal and external to the industry. In the United States, a combination of misguided long-term and short-term policies converged to create a “perfect storm.”

      OEMs decrease supplier base

By Michael Lauzon - PLASTICS NEWS CORRESPONDENT
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We continue with No. 16: Big OEMs Trim Supply Base.

      Japan triggers press rivalry

By Bill Bregar - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We continue with No. 18: The onslaught of Japanese Injection Molding Machines.

      What will new administration mean for industry?

By Angie DeRosa - PLASTICS NEWS CORRESPONDENT
As the United States embarks on a new era in its national politics, plastics industry companies are left to make sense of how to do business.

      Industry still in shadow of 9/11

By Bill Bregar - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We continue with No. 19: Sept. 11, 2001.

      Thinking inside the big boxes

Bill Bregar - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Plastics News begins the celebration of its 20th anniversary with a Top 20 countdown of stories covering issues of lasting impact during the last two decades. We begin with No. 20: Retail consolidation.

      Shaping Calif. chemical laws

Peter Hsiao and Andrea Tozer - Morrison & Foerster LLP
California´s “Green Chemistry Initiative” gives the state broad powers, including the ability to compel consumer product manufacturers selling products in California to reduce or eliminate toxic substances in their goods, and to publicly disclose information on health or environmental risks posed by the chemicals they use.

      Sustainability isn’t just a fad

Adam Bell - Rotuba Extruders Inc.
For those who use the Internet to research products for safety issues before making purchase decisions, the latest news regarding bisphenol A is likely to cast more doubt about the safety of some plastic products.

      When science trumps politics

David Cadogan - European Council for Plasticizers and Intermediates
(Sept. 26) -- The U.S. Congress upheld science over politics with their passage of H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The final passage of the bill showed that U.S. lawmakers were diligent in reviewing all the facts surrounding chemicals in toys.

      Art to waging business in China

Bob Adams - Business professional
If the Western executive is to succeed in China selling products, sourcing vendors, or building a production facility, he or she must realize business isn’t playing checkers as in the U.S. but rather 3-D chess, where every angle must be observed and evaluated, move by move.

Mailbag

How to submit a letter to the editor

      Globalization makes invention complicated

Salvatore J. Monte - Kenrich Petrochemicals Inc.
“Invent, baby, invent” is just feel-good thinking unless we change the way we view and do business in America. What good is an invention if you can’t protect it in a flat world?

      Science must guide industry decisions

Roger F. Jones - Franklin International LLC
Adam Bell of Rotuba Extruders Inc. recently wrote a Plastics News Perspective in which he implies that only bio-based polymers for food and drink containers are bisphenol A- and phthalate-free. It does not do our industry any good to be throwing stones at perfectly legitimate products with such loose assertions.

      Asian group lauds ACC, SPI initiative

Vijay Merchant - Asia Plastics Forum, Sustainable Development Council
The plan for the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. and American Chemistry Council to join hands to train ambassadors for the plastics industry is a great and timely initiative.

      Rehrig Pacific Co. clarifies headline

William H. Block - Rehrig Pacific Co. Inc.
We would like to correct the false impression in the marketplace given by your headline “Rehrig files for bankruptcy protection” [Sept. 15, Page 5]. Rehrig International Inc. of Richmond, Va., is the company that filed for Chapter 11 protection, not Rehrig Pacific Co. Inc.

      Recycling programs should be expanded

Lonnie Maxcy - Maxcy Molding Technologies Inc.
Has anyone really ever thought of a serious method for reuse or recycling of plastic bags? They are banned from the local recycling program. The local grocery stores don’t want them back, so there is no choice but to use the ones we can and to throw the rest into the trash. It’s a vicious, no-end circle.

      Headline could give false impression about firm

William H. Bloch - Rehrig Pacific Co. Inc.
We would like to correct the false impression in the marketplace given by your headline titled, “Rehrig files for bankruptcy protection,” in the Sept. 12 issue of the Plastics News Daily Newsmail. Rehrig International Inc., of Richmond, Va., is the company that filed for Chapter 11 protection, not Rehrig Pacific Co. Inc.

      Getting to the root of resenting China

Lonnie Maxcy - Maxcy Molding Technologies Inc.
Having had the opportunity to read Nina Ying Sun’s China Perspective [“Let China savor this moment,” Aug. 25, Page 6] I applaud her article (somewhat).

      PN articles diminish role of toolmakers

Chris Di Filippo - Al-Cast Mold & Pattern Inc.
I was surprised to see the two articles in the Aug. 18 Plastics News special report on rotational molders that profiled Dutchland Plastics Corp. and Plasticraft Corp. I don’t agree with how the two companies were promoted in the articles, being that it was a rotomolding special report, not blow molding.

      Crisis will force conservation

Walter Bobruk - Agency Fibers Ltd.
(Sept. 5, 2008) -- I thank Kim Jeffery for all his company is doing now to recover bottles for reuse and recycling. I would like to address the fact that his business is based on laziness of the U.S. citizen.

      SPI campaign too little, too late

George Makrauer - Comad Management Group
It’s painful to say the SPI’s Internet affair is far too little, far too late, and completely in the wrong direction.

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