The title of this blog entry is a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek way of re-writing “A life without plastics?,” which is the actual headline of a recent Chicago Tribune article. The reporter chronicles her family’s attempt to live one week without plastic in a funny and highly entertaining way. Of course, many assertions made about plastics in the article are misinformed. And, because the average person (like the reporter) knows so little about the entirety of what plastics makes possible, the article would be more correctly titled “A life without plastic packaging?” As Plastics News Editor Don Loepp states on his blog:

“As usual, the reporter doesn’t really make much of an effort to live entirely without plastic. That would require giving up electricity and plumbing, healthcare and automobiles. No, the focus is on giving up packaging and disposable diapers — and even then, [the] reporter discovers that living without plastics in 2008 isn’t easy (or perhaps even desirable).”

Like Don, most of the SPI staff were more intrigued – and more entertained – by the healthy exchange of ideas found in the section of readers’ online comments than by the article itself. In fact, we nabbed the title of this blog entry from this comment sent in by an Illinois reader:

“To go without plastic you’d have to live in a cave or tree. There is lots of plastic in every building. You couldn’t drive a car, ride a bus/plane, or ride a bike. You’d have no food since it’s used in the equipment to grow and harvest food and transport, refrigerate, etc. Get real!”

Now this is a reader who “gets it.”

You really should read through the comments section and tell us what you think. Not only are many of them funny, but they make an array of excellent points concerning plastics’ benefits and the real price our society would pay – to our economy, energy efficiency, health, safety and security – if there really were no plastics. There are good and practical reasons why plastic is so prevalent as the material of choice — benefits that are not always readily apparent.

You will also find comments on the article by those who are extremely, fiercely anti-plastic. We try to engage with them, perhaps dispel some myths and point out facts, but realize that changing their minds is unlikely. Of course, SPI member companies continue to work within the existing regulatory architecture to insure that products made from plastics are safe. Additionally, our industry has a keen interest, and is already highly involved, in becoming more sustainable and we are eager to engage with consumers and talk openly with them about our products. In fact, use the comment field below!

As You Sow, an organization dedicated to ensuring that corporations act in the best interests of “the environment and the human condition” recently came out with its second Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report. The report evaluates efforts by beverage producers to reduce materials use; increase recycled content in containers; raise recycling rates; support policy initiatives to increase recycling rates and disclose these activities to stakeholders.

Based on a survey sent to 23 beverage companies, the report notes “some impressive progress” but states that “most beverage companies continue to fail basic criteria for dealing with the environmental implications of their packaging.” Ouch.

Among the findings were that Coca-Cola Co. leads its industry peers in “commitments and performance on beverage container source reduction, company-wide recovery goals, and investments in recycling programs.” Coke’s goal is to recover 50 percent of its bottles and cans by 2015. In addition, the report praises Nestlé Waters North America for showing the greatest improvement since publication of the first report (2006), noting that the company now produces “the lightest weight bottle in the industry” and has set an industry-wide goal of recycling 60 percent of PET bottles by 2018.

What do you think of this report?

In addition to recycling, reuse is another key component of the sustainability solution. The reuse of plastic beverage bottles recently won four industrial design students from Appalachian State University a $5,000 scholarship and an expense-paid trip to Google headquarters in California in the Juicy Ideas Competition. The winning team created a working bicycle that was fabricated from green plastic Mountain Dew and Sprite bottles. Watch this video of the winning bottle bike:

Organized by AdvantageWest Economic Development Group as a way to encourage entrepreneurship and environmental responsibility, the competition asked “What can you squeeze from a throwaway item?” The bike narrowly defeated a wind generator made with plastic bottles by students from Western Carolina University, wall insulation using plastic bottles developed by Western Piedmont Community College students, and storm covers for windows using plastic bags developed by a team from Rogers State University.

Have an opinion on the commercial viability of any of these student innovations?

As we close out 2008 there will be a collective sigh of relief followed by a collective holding of breath as we head into 2009. Since every cliche known has been used to describe the current economy, I’ll stick with my favorite: tumultuous.

I realize that all the CEOs of our member companies are focused on their businesses and that the peripheral issues may seem less important during “tumultuous” economic times like these. Rest assured that your trade association is also very much focused on your business. While you work to meet quotas, payrolls and other financial demands that change daily, SPI is continually engaged in covering your assets via equally important, but perhaps less visible, trade association work. Membership in SPI is like an insurance policy during hard times. Because most of you have been SPI members for quite some time, you realize that the dues you pay enable us to represent you in government affairs, the regulatory process, trade show development, statistics and safety programs and international trade (to name a few). Those dues dollars are now being put to good work to make sure that once the economy does rebound, the plastics industry will return to being a vibrant and highly productive component of the global market – just as it has been for the past 60+ years.

As vice president of the Equipment Council and executive director of the Machinery and Moldmakers Industry Groups, I know that these segments have been hit particularly hard. Nevertheless, our work on important industry projects continues. The development of safety standards and equipment statistics has been uninterrupted and proceeds thanks to the support of our committee members. Thanks to each member company that supports these efforts through the dedicated work of employees who take the time and trouble to travel to various meetings. We are constantly looking for ways to make these meetings more valuable and cost effective. To that end, we will be starting a series of online webinar meetings to keep the process flowing while containing costs to committee members and their companies. We are all in this together and we will all pull through together.

I’ll be blogging on a regular basis to keep you up to date on programs and events going on in the Machinery and Moldmakers Groups. Stay tuned for my next entry on the annual business conference scheduled for May 3–6, 2009 and the outstanding program we’re developing to get you the most current information on the state of the industry.

I wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season!

And it sure tastes good!

The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), recently announced several alliances for its upcoming NPE 2009 Show in June 22-26, 2009 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Most of these alliances are in the form of Education Programs designed to enable NPE participants to get an intellectual edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Partnerships with other organizations and events are key ingredients that help SPI to cook-up the largest plastics conference, exposition and technology exchange at NPE 2009.

SPI is the first ingredient in what will be a very tasty meal for designers, processors, suppliers, and downstream partners of the plastics industry. Next, add a dash of SPE’s ANTEC program, where over 800 first time delivered technical papers will be presented. That goes well with just a touch of FSTC, the Federal Societies of Coating Technologies, for the Coatings Executive. For some extra flavor, we’ve just seasoned the conference with some PET+ for Plastics Packaging Strategies connoisseurs. Another zesty course is the IPDC or International Plastics Design Competition, brought to you by the APP (Alliance of Plastic Processors), featuring Globelspec, UL (Underwriters Laboratories), the IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America), PN (PlasticsNews), DesignNews, and will feature products and designs from transportation, packaging, medical supplies and products to those plastics innovations we use in our daily lives. Simmer all of the ingredients together in McCormick Place for five days, adding a little D.O.C./MEP.EXIM (Department of Commerce’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership and banking with assistance from the Export Import Office), DOA, EPA, DOE (the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy in our Emerging Technology Pavilion) and you have one delicious conference!

For more information go to www.npe.org and we will see you NJIC! (Next June in Chicago)