Photo courtesy of Longwood Gardens & GPTMC

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. Part of this enjoyment stems from the fact that I have two sons, ages two and five, who are in their prime “magic of Christmas” years.  They love the decorations, the carols and the anticipation of presents. Although we are certainly trying to teach our children not to be too materialistic, there is one material that is essential for our holiday season. From the garlands, wreathes and lights that adorn the windows and porch, to the resin decorations perched on sideboards and dressers throughout the house, it is hard to imagine celebrating the holidays without plastics.

Chief among the decorations, of course, is the much revered Christmas tree. According to a list of “Christmas Tree Facts” posted by the University of Illinois Extension, 48 percent of U.S. households decorated their houses in 2002 with a plastic Christmas tree, with 21 percent choosing a real tree and 32 percent choosing no tree. The vast majority of artificial Christmas trees on the market today are made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PE (polyethylene), or a combination of the two. Up until very recently, most trees were made exclusively from PVC. The needles on traditional pre lit artificial Christmas trees are cut out of compressed sheets of PVC (typically recycled), whereas the branches and needles of PE artificial Christmas trees are made by filling a mold made from a real tree.

A carbon footprint study recently issued by the American Christmas Tree Association (yes, there truly is a trade association for everything!) submits that artificial plastic trees are the more environmentally friendly choice over the long-term. In the interests of full disclosure, however, the National Christmas Tree Association argues to the contrary. This debate aside, if, like me, you selected a real tree this year, you may well be relying on a high-impact polypropylene Christmas tree stand to keep your evergreen upright throughout the season. Indeed, from the durable polyethylene “Santas Secret Boots®” watering device that we use to water our tree, to the plastic train and track that encircles the tree, right up to the plastic underskirt on our tree’s angel, plastics, as in our broader lives, plays an essential function.

Plastics role in the holidays does not stop at the decorations. The 2008 Deloitte Holiday Survey reports that for the fifth consecutive year, gift cards (made most likely from PVC) were the top gift choice. Specifically, 66 percent of households planned to purchase an average of 5.3 gift cards in 2008.

And of course, my kids are not alone in hoping for toys from Santa, many of which will be made from plastics. So as you celebrate the holiday season and enjoy its visual and material delights, remember this line from Sam Wainwright in the holiday movie classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life” – “plastics, baby, plastics!”

Although the notion of renewable energy sources is very much in vogue at the moment, the potential of solar, thermal or wind energy has been discussed for years. To date, however, cost, aesthetics and the ability to produce sufficient energy to replace some of the fossil fuel-based energy sources on which we currently rely has limited their application.

A British company believes, however, that it may have a solution: Plastic trees and plants. (No, these are not the ones that you buy for that family member who seems incapable of caring for a living plant.) Solar Botanic, with recently announced R&D funding from U.S.- based GREENgENERGY, Inc., is developing an innovative and efficient energy solution by combining biomimicry and nanotechnologies in unique, patented, energy-harvesting artificial trees.

Solar Botanic assures that each tree will look realistic despite the fact that the trunk will be made from recycled plastics and rubber, and the “nano-leaves” will contain three separates devices to harvest solar, wind and thermal energy.

Specifically, each of the leaves’ petioles (the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem) will hold very small piezoelectric nanogenerators, capable of capturing the wind’s kinetic energy and transforming it into electricity. Each leaf is then comprised of two layers, one containing thermoelectrics to convert solar heat into electricity and the other a photovoltaic layer to transform the sun’s light into electricity. Solar Botanic claims that a single solar tree with a 20 feet canopy should generate enough power to satisfy the needs of an average home. And naturally, the artificial trees will offer the same wind barrier and shade benefits that real trees provide.

In addition to being used to service individual households, Solar Botanic envisages numerous commercial applications from lining highways and car parks (potentially providing the power source to recharge electric cars) to entire artificial tree forests that could make a significant contribution to the national electrical grid.

At this point Solar Botanic expects to release its first prototype tree next summer and there remain, of course, a number of hurdles to this type of technology being introduced on a broader scale. Nonetheless, it’s pretty exciting to think that this may be part of the energy solution. And besides, with the fall just around the corner, the idea of having to rake a few less leaves is pretty attractive too!

You may not know this, but NPE2009 is one of only about 35 trade shows being held in the United States this year that was chosen to participate in the Department of Commerce’s International Buyer Program. This honor bestows a number of benefits:

• First, U.S. Commercial Specialists located in dozens of countries have been recruiting overseas buyers to attend NPE2009.
• Second, as noted earlier on the NPE blog, a number of those Commercial Specialists will be escorting their delegations to NPE2009 and will be available for one-on-one meetings with U.S. exhibitors to discuss current market situations, export issues relevant to your firm and export opportunities in their markets. Be sure to register for these Showtime appointments.
• Third, even if they are not able to attend NPE2009, Commercial Specialists in approximately 60 countries have worked to prepare market reports that will be included on a CD that the Department of Commerce will distribute to U.S. exhibitors at the show.

And the best bit is that all of these services are provided free of charge.  

If that was not enough, the International Trade Center, which is co-sponsored by SPI and the Commercial Services division of the Department of Commerce, will be hosting a number of events to promote plastics trade between the United States and the rest of the world:

Latin-America Networking Lunch
Location:  S102B-D
Date:   Tuesday, June 23
Time:  1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
 
This event is being held in conjunction with Seminarios Plástico and will feature a panel of U.S. Commercial Service Specialists from Latin-America who will provide a brief overview of market conditions and export opportunities in their respective countries.  Following this presentation, attendees will be able to mingle with U.S. exhibitors interested in exporting to this region and guests from Latin-American countries.

Like all of the events being hosted by the International Trade Center, there is no charge to participate in this luncheon. However, space in the ballroom is limited, so only those with tickets will be admitted. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at the International Trade Center (ITC) located in Room S100C in the South Hall. So please stop by the ITC to pick up your ticket.

International Reception and Plastics Design Competition Awards Ceremony
Location:  West Ballroom
Date:   Wednesday, June 24
Time:  5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
   
SPI invites all exhibitors and international attendees to the International Reception (5:00 – 6:30 p.m.). The reception will be immediately followed by the International Plastics Design Competition Awards Ceremony (6:30 – 8:00 p.m.). Click on the link above to obtain additional information concerning these events.    

Asia Networking Reception
Location:  The International Trade Center (S100C)
Date:   Thursday, June 25
Time:  3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Finally, the ITC invites all U.S. exhibitors and attendees from Asia to the Asia Networking reception. As SPI’s Senior Director, International Trade and Trade Counsel, I will begin the reception by providing a brief overview of market conditions in this region and export trends. In addition, U.S. Commercial Service Specialists from the region will be on hand to provide additional market insight and assistance. So come by the ITC to grab a drink and take advantage of this opportunity to meet with new and existing colleagues and business partners from Asia.

Outside of these events, the ITC will be staffed and equipped to assist you with your international trade questions and to promote business. Staff at the ITC will include representatives from SPI, U.S. Commercial Service Specialists and interpreters for several languages. International telephone service, computer stations, a fax machine, three meeting rooms that can be booked on a first-come, first-served basis and tea/coffee service and light snacks complete the package.

We look forward to welcoming you to the ITC!

Arlington County (Va.) may be the smallest self-governing county in the United States (just under 26 square miles), but as of April 1, Arlington will be leading the way when it comes to recycling plastics. Most people know of Arlington due to its iconic landmarks including the Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery and the U.S Marine Corp Memorial (commonly referred to as the Iwo Jima Memorial). However, beginning on April 1, Arlington is setting a new landmark by becoming one of the relatively few counties in the United States to provide curbside collection of all plastic containers (regardless of its resin identification code), aerosol cans, plastic bags, rigid plastics, aluminum foil and trays, milk and juice cartons, books and cardboard boxes. Each resident will receive a new wheeled recycling cart (plastic, of course) and will no longer be required to separate out the commingled material from paper products.

In short, no-one in Arlington will have an excuse anymore for not recycling their plastics! On the contrary, Arlington residents will now be able to recycle virtually everything at the curb: recycling using a recycling cart, electronics waste collection by request, white goods (major appliances)/metal collection by request, brush collection by request, spring yard waste collection, leaf vacuum collection, leaf bio-bag collection, Christmas tree collection, car battery collection, regular refuse collection using a trash cart and bulky trash collection.

As a result of these efforts, Arlington reported a recycling rate of 40.3 percent in 2007 (well above the 37 perccent recycling rate target that the county set just three years ago for 2014). With this latest recycling initiative, Arlington is well on track to exceed the goal for 2024 of 47 percent. Congratulations, Arlington!

What is your state or county doing to increase recycling?

I recently returned from Plastindia 2009 and the inaugural one-day plastics industry summit that we held in conjunction with the Plastindia Foundation and the Confederation of Indian Industry. Overall, the event went well and I believe offered the attendees useful information concerning the state of the industry in the two countries and some of the resources available to companies seeking to begin or expand exports to India. Perhaps more valuable, however, was the general sense of optimism from both the U.S. and Indian speakers concerning the opportunities presented by the Indian market.

And the numbers support the optimism:

• 5 kilograms (or 11 pounds) — The weight of plastics consumed by the average Indian consumer per annum. Conversely, the average consumer in the United States uses almost 110 kilograms (or 242 pounds) of plastics per annum. Demand in India is expected to double in the next three years alone.
• 7.3 percent — India’s GDP growth rate for 2008. Like the rest of the world, India, has certainly been affected by the global slow-down, but in India that means that GDP growth was simply down from the 9.0 percent increase seen in 2007.
• 30,000 – The number of additional machines that India will need over the next three years in order for it to meet the increased demand for plastics in India.
• 500,000 – The estimated number of mobile phones sold in India each day!
• 526,382,000 – The value of U.S. plastics exports to India in 2008, up more than 300 percent over the last four years.
• 1,147,995,904 – India’s estimated population as of July 2008, according to the entry for India in the CIA World Factbook.

When so many of the numbers that we hear on a daily basis are negative, I can tell you that it was refreshing to hear some numbers that we can all get optimistic about!