Plastics News
Upcoming Events:
Current Trending Topics in the News with Links to Articles:
- Governmental and Lobbying:
Report says more states and cities likely to sue over plastics pollution
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/plastics-pollution-lawsuits-likely-increase-report-says
Less than a week after Baltimore filed a lawsuit trying to force companies to pay for plastics pollution in the city, an environmental group is out with a report suggesting other cities and states do the same.
The Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law released a report June 26 that outlines legal strategies, including nuisance, product liability and consumer protection laws, that it says local and state governments can use.
“States and cities are on the frontlines of the growing plastics crisis and the mounting costs it imposes on governments and economies,” said CIEL President Carroll Muffett. “This report not only highlights the key corporate drivers of that crisis, but equips governments with robust legal tools to seek remedies, recover costs, and hold polluters accountable.”
The report, “Making Plastic Polluters Pay: How Cities and States Can Recoup the Rising Costs of Plastic Pollution,” suggest governments look to ongoing litigation around climate challenges and toxic chemicals as guideposts.
Congress may consider recyclability labeling law
One of the leading U.S. senators on plastic pollution issues, Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley, is drafting legislation calling for national standards around how to label packages for recyclability. Industry groups are backing the idea — with an important caveat.
They want any national standards to override state legislation, like California’s 3-year-old SB 343 law that significantly tightens environmental claims on plastics packaging sold in the Golden State.
Merkley has been circulating draft legislation to create national labeling standards for recyclability, compostability and reusability for beverage containers, food service products and packaging, according to a June 14 letter from the packaging trade group Ameripen.
Plastics treaty could boost packaging firms offering alternative materials
Companies pushing new business models for packaging say a global plastics treaty can provide a big boost by endorsing policies like recycled content mandates, bans on problematic single-use applications and better definitions of plastic.
At least those were some of the ideas in a new report from the World Economic Forum that profiled 24 companies touting ways to reduce the environmental impact of single-use plastics, and the role of the plastics treaty in doing so.
The companies profiled ranged from small startups like the United Kingdom-based Notpla making seaweed-based alternatives to petroleum plastics, on up to global resin makers like Braskem and its Cazoola circular plastics design laboratory.
- Features and News Articles:
PVC prices tick up in June
https://www.plasticsnews.com/resin-pricing/north-american-pvc-resin-prices-tick-june
North American PVC prices have moved up an average of 1 cent per pound since June 1 as construction season has heated up.
Prices had been flat in May after moving up 1 cent in April. PVC prices now have increased in four of the last five months for a total increase of 7 cents in that period.
“The domestic market is strong,” a PVC market source told Plastics News, “and the export market isn’t too bad, even with China exporting a lot more.”
Numbers That Matter Live: High interest rates affecting plastics markets
https://www.plasticsnews.com/livestreams/high-interest-rates-affecting-plastics-markets
The Fed is still trying to get inflation under control, and interest rates may remain high for the next year. In the June Numbers that Matter editorial livestream, Bill Wood talked about the impact that’s having on plastics end markets.
“The economy is clearly gliding gradually. And I that I think that’s the best we can hope for at this time,” said Wood who is Plastics News economics editor.
The Fed’s goals are price stability — close to 2 percent inflation — and maximum employment.
“And by the Fed’s own projections — this is their projection — they’re going to be down to the 2 percent level that they’re aiming for sometime next year. So they’re sending out a not-so-subtle message that they’re not really in a hurry to lower interest rates at this time,” he said.
Kickstart: More cargo shipping complications on the horizon
Global shipping may be facing more turmoil with costs per container headed to the U.S. West Coast from Asia up more than 200 percent, continued disruptions from attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea near the Suez Canal and a potential strike at ports on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast.
“At the moment it is unlikely — but not impossible — that [container shipping costs] will reach the levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are so many factors in play it is not possible to predict the market with any degree of certainty,” Peter Sand, chief analyst for Xeneta, a global air and ocean freight market analytics company, said in a June 14 blog post.
Supply chain snags in the aftermath of shutdowns related to the pandemic in 2020 led to delivery delays and higher costs. While conditions have calmed down since then, the cargo industry has little room to adjust for the unexpected. So when Houthi rebels in Yemen began attacking cargo ships entering the Suez Canal late last year — in support of Hamas in its attack on Israel — cargo ships began rerouting to take a longer passage around Africa, leading to slower delivery times and higher pricing.
Mergers & Acquisition Tracker
Updated list of merger and acquisition deals within the plastics industry. Details include the buyer and the company or assets being purchased, along with a link to read more about each transaction.
- Recycling and Sustainability:
Prices for European recycled resins drop across the board
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/prices-european-recycled-resins-drop-across-board
Europe’s recycled resin producers managed to push through a price increase in May linked to higher raw material costs, but in June the short-lived price boost came to an end as a result of lower costs and weak demand.
The recycled PET sector saw the largest price increases, but input costs increased at a faster rate in May, squeezing recyclers’ profit margins. Recycled PET clear flake prices increased by €40 per metric ton in May, clear food-grade pellet prices increased by €50 per tonne and with colored flake prices were up by just €10 per tonne for the month.
But in June, recycled PET clear food-grade pellet prices have fallen by €30 per tonne with colored flake prices declining by €10 per tonne due largely to the lower cost of bottle scrap. Clear flake prices increased slightly.
Plastics Recycling World Magazine
Link to May/June Issue:
https://content.yudu.com/web/1rl19/0A42x3p/PRWMayJun24/html/index.html
Post-industrial Recycling: growth opportunities
The impact of recycling production waste is being felt everywhere, from compounding and film extrusion to injection molding, stock shapers, and event PEX pipes.
The latest developments in post-industrial recycling (PIR) represent large steps towards a more sustainable and circular approach to plastic waste management.
Additives improve mixed recycling feedstock
Compatibilizers and coupling agents act at the interface of dissimilar materials to improve processing and properties.
One of the challenges for plastics recycling is that different types of polymers doesn’t always mix well together. The resulting blend may have processing difficulties, poor appearance, or poor physical properties. Mixed materials are a concern for post-consumer recycling and also post-industrial or post-consumer recycling of multilayer materials.
Integrated size reduction on show at NPE 2024
At the NPE 2024 exhibition in Florida in May, developers of shredding technology for waste plastics showed new units with improved throughputs, versatility, and reliability.
An increasingly diverse range of waste materials is being met with an array of solutions from shredder suppliers. A crop of combination shredder-granulator units joins innovations in the rotor, knife, cutter, motor, and control designs for standalone shredder units designed for downsizing large and small products.
Upcoming Events:
AMI Plastics Recycling World Expo – Europe
September 11 – 12, 2024
Brussels, Belgium
For details and to register: https://eu.compoundingworldexpo.com/enquire-about-exhibiting
AMI Plastics Recycling Technology
October 23 – 24, 2024
Vienna, Austria
For details and to register: https://www.ami-events.com/event/bc7e919f-830f-4c9b-9963-e5ca9f7f7b47/summary?RefId=Advert_AMI_magazine
AMI Plastics Recycling World Expo – North America
November 13-14, 2024
Cleveland, Ohio
For details and to register: https://na.plasticsrecyclingworldexpo.com/exhibit/become-an-exhibitor
