Plastics News
Upcoming Events:
Plastics News Executive Forum
Dates: Monday, March 11, 2024 – Thursday, March 14, 2024
Location: Wyndham Grand, Clearwater Beach, FL
Details: Coming Soon
Current Trending Topics in the News with Links to Articles:
- Governmental and Lobbying:
US finalizing plans to phase out single-use plastics across public lands
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that all bureaus and offices finalized sustainable procurement plans to phase out single-use plastics on public lands within the next decade.
The measure was first announced by President Joe Biden in June 2022, as part of a broader administration effort to improve the health of the oceans. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who oversees national parks, was responsible for developing the plans. These will be updated in 2024 to include stepdown targets and additional details on where and how single-use plastics will be eliminated.
- Features and News Articles:
Plastics processors face automation needs, sustainability demands
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/automation-sustainability-demands-facing-plastics-processors
More plastics processors are turning to automation to fill open positions that get no job applicants and to contain their labor costs at a time of high inflation.
As the robot rollout continues — and even creates some new jobs — sustainability issues are requiring increased attention and innovation pressures never let up, especially to miniaturize products.
Industry executives talked about how they are facing these challenges during a panel discussion about the future of molding at the Injection Molding and Design Expo held Sept. 20-21 in Novi, Michigan.
PS resin prices continue their climb
https://www.plasticsnews.com/resin-pricing/polystyrene-prices-rise-again
Continued upward pressure on benzene feedstock sent North American polystyrene resin prices up in September for the second consecutive month.
Prices for all grades of solid and expanded PS were up 3 cents per pound for the month, according to market sources contacted by Plastics News. Prices also had jumped 3 cents in August after being down a total of 9 cents in June and July.
- Recycling and Sustainability:
Flexible packaging firms highlight changing views on sustainability
https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/flexible-packaging-firms-highlight-changing-views-packaging
For many packaging firms, gone are the times when sustainability was just sliver of thought operating on the fringes of an overall larger operation. Companies and consumers alike are increasingly making their buying choices based on the recyclability of packaging as well as recycled content.
TC Transcontinental Packaging highlighted the company’s work in sustainable packaging development and talked about the firm’s corporate social responsibility, or CSR, efforts leading up to Pack Expo in Las Vegas.
“Corporate social responsibility is no longer a siloed initiative, separated from corporate strategy,” said Alex Hayden, TC Transcontinental Packaging’s senior vice president of research and development, sustainability and ESG, in a statement.
Preventing pellet pollution focus of expanded Operation Clean Sweep, congressional push
Two U.S. plastics industry groups are expanding their voluntary Operation Clean Sweep pellet spill containment program by adding more rigorous third-party auditing covering, for now, about 50 companies and more than 500 U.S. facilities.
The Plastics Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council launched Sept. 27 what they’re calling OCS Blue Verification, adding a requirement for auditing of companies in the upper tier of the Operation Clean Sweep program, known as OCS Blue.
The groups said the move adds transparency to OCS, but it also comes as lawmakers in Congress continue their push for new rules that go beyond such voluntary efforts.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the majority whip in the U.S. Senate, and several other senators in July reintroduced the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, which would require the Environmental Protection Agency to write tougher regulations to prohibit pellet discharges by factories and in resin transport.
Plastics Recycling World Magazine
Link to September 2023 Edition: https://content.yudu.com/web/1rl19/0A42x3p/PRWSep23/html/index.html?refUrl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.plasticsrecyclingworld.com%252F
Current Trending Topics:
Innovation in Plastics Sorting Techniques
NIR and robotic sorting technologies are raising the yield from mixed material streams, while a new process using Raman spectroscopy is targeting black plastic waste. Read more…
Getting to Grips with the PO Packaging Waste Stream
Improving the recycling of rigid polyolefin packaging is the target for a number of groups and projects. See more on recent developments…
More Than Just Size Reduction
Granulator groups are developing larger machines, combination technologies, and energy efficient models in response to the changing recycling environment. See more on new trends and products…
Upcoming Events:
Plastics Recycling Technology
October 10 – 12, 2023
Vienna, Austria
For details and to reserve: https://www.ami-events.com/event/04194add-97e5-4a3b-a5a4-10e937775a9f/summary?RefId=Advert_AMIMagazines&utm_campaign=221002_C1262_PA_IR_Conf_UK_Prospect_Attendees_AMIMag&utm_medium=advert&utm_source=AMImag
Plastics Recycling World Expo – North America
November 15 – 16, 2023
Cleveland, Ohio
For details and to register: https://www.ami-events.com/event/25327b37-2e86-4eda-917d-3fbc4585c492/regProcessStep1:29e62f9a-6da7-472b-8f1d-88c3b01c33fb?RefId=Advert_AMI_magazine3&rp=326f1b5b-5024-49e6-b212-9837e0586b41
AMI Plastics World Expos – Europe
September 11 – 12, 2024
Brussels, Belgium
For details and to register: https://eu.compoundingworldexpo.com/enquire-about-exhibiting
