Congress will return to Washington, DC this week from their August recess. One of the major issues Congress is expected to address is energy and particularly high oil and natural gas prices.

SPI is asking you to contact your lawmaker and ask them to pass pro-drilling, pro-supply legislation. If you have already done this, thank you very much for taking the time to support the industry on this matter. If you haven’t had a chance yet to contact your lawmaker, SPI urges you to do it today so that Congress knows that high natural gas prices are hurting the plastics industry! Lawmakers are more likely to take positive action on this issue if they hear from YOU, a constituent in their state.

Action Requested
Please e-mail your lawmaker asking him/her to support pro-drilling, pro-supply legislation. You may choose to modify the form letter found in SPI’s Political Action Center or simply send it without making any changes. The most important part is that you communicate with your elected official.

After taking action on this bill, we also ask that you forward this alert on to your colleagues, customers, suppliers and neighbors and ask them to do the same.

Andrew Winston, a globally recognized expert on green business and co-author of the bestselling book “Green to Gold”, will be the featured keynote speaker at Sustain ’08: Plastics Business Summit, a landmark sustainability conference that will feature two dozen presenters ranging from brand owners and designers to plastics executives and leading environmental consultants. The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) and the Plastics News Global Group are co-organizing the event, to be held November 5-7, 2008 in Chicago.

“Andrew Winston is the perfect speaker to set the stage for what plastics industry executives want to accomplish over the course of the Sustain ’08 conference,” said SPI President and CEO William Carteaux. “The leaders of our industry want to explore how to incorporate sustainability into their business plans and meet the environmental demands of customers. Winston’s keynote will lay the foundation for attendees to tackle specific issues in the panels and presentations that follow.”

“Many in the plastics industry want to do the right thing, while keeping a close eye on their bottom line during these challenging economic times — and Winston has documented how green business means good business,” added Tony Eagan, publisher and vice president of the Plastics News Global Group. “Sustainability is a broad topic affecting everyone and every link in the supply chain. At Sustain ’08 we will address the impact on various end markets, from automotive and electronics to packaging, construction and medical equipment.”

With clients that have included Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard and IKEA, Andrew Winston assists companies in using environmental strategy to grow, create enduring value and build stronger relationships with employees, customers and other stakeholders. His book, Green to Gold, is a guide to what works — and what doesn’t — when companies “go green,” and is based on four years of research with hundreds of executives at dozens of companies. Winston’s career has included management positions in strategy and marketing at Boston Consulting Group, Time-Warner and MTV and he now heads his own firm, Winston Eco-Strategies. He also served as the director of the Corporate Environmental Strategy Project at Yale University’s renowned School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Winston has a B.A. in economics from Princeton, an MBA from Columbia and a Masters of Environmental Management from Yale.

The Sustain ’08 conference will provide plastics company CEOs, sustainability officers, marketing executives and others with the knowledge and tools they need to view sustainability as a strategy toward reducing costs, eliminating waste and marketing responsibly — all while maximizing profitability. Kicking off with an afternoon energy-management workshop and evening welcome reception on November 5, Sustain’08 will include panel discussions and presentations geared to the plastics industry on a variety of vital topics, including: how to define your carbon footprint, environmentally responsible product design, key end-market impacts, “greenwashing” and environmental marketing, supply-chain solutions and much more.

To register online, make a hotel reservation or obtain full program details on Sustain ’08: Plastics Business Summit, visit www.sustain08.com. SPI members save $200 on the regular registration fee.

The American Chemistry Council and The Society of the Plastics Industry are teaming up on a program designed to educate and mobilize companies and individuals within the industry to bring the positive messages about plastics to their communities.

The plastics industry has a great story to tell regarding efforts in litter and marine debris prevention, recycling and continued research in developing innovative, environmentally-friendly products. Working together, we can spread the message that plastics are a resource too valuable to waste.

This includes demonstrating industry’s desire to promote product stewardship and sustainability, an awareness of the impact of our products and our commitment to be responsible community members.

The proposed vehicle for carrying out these efforts is a “Plastics Ambassador Program.” This 12-month program will seek to engage employees to participate in various activities at local, state and national levels, including:

• Sharing positive plastics messages at community events, PTA meetings, recycle days, beach clean ups, legislative hearings, city council meetings, etc.
• Sponsoring PlastiVan™ visits at your schools. The PlastiVan Program is a great way to excite young people about science and the vast opportunities the plastics industry has to offer. PlastiVan’s travel to schools and companies throughout North America, educating people of all ages about plastic’s chemistry, history, processing, manufacturing, sustainability and application.
• Engaging with the media through letters to the editor, opinion editorials, desk-side briefings and interviews to promote the positive attributes of plastics and the industry.
• Meeting with elected officials in their home districts or inviting officials to tour your facility to provide industry perspective on related legislation.

We need your help to get the Plastics Ambassador Program off the ground! Please let us know by September 5, 2008 if your company and its employees are interested in participating in this important effort. We will be happy to provide you with additional information outlining the program, time commitment, resources, training and more.

In addition, we are interested in learning more about your individual company initiatives and successes with this type of outreach. We are seeking to gather best practices and are soliciting any current materials you have already developed for similar public relations and advocacy efforts.

For additional information, please contact Capers Brown (ACC) or Lynne Harris (SPI).