Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a big fan of the Indianapolis Colts. But it wasn’t the New Orleans Saints victory over my hometown team in the Super Bowl that upset me the most last Sunday evening. No, what got me miffed was that preachy “Green Police” Audi commercial that I saw during the fourth quarter. (See Barry Eisenberg’s blog post for the details on the ad and why our industry was not amused.) 

A splashy ad that paints plastics with a broad “environmentally unfriendly” brush gets me riled up because it places a premium on being funny rather than true. The “Green Police” ad reinforces the same tired and, frankly, ignorant biases against plastics that my SPI team and I have been trying to educate people about since I became president of the association.  In 2008 and 2009 combined I personally gave about 50 presentations seen by approximately 10,000 people that centered on how plastics contribute to a more sustainable world. But in one fell 60-second swoop, more than 100 million people saw an ad that preyed on preconceived notions of plastics. (According to the Nielsen Co., more than 106 million people watched the Super Bowl, making it the most-watched program in U.S. television.)

But unfair bias works both ways and I believe the ad also magnified the negative perceptions people have about environmentalists being crazy extremists. The New York Times called the Audi ad a “misguided spot that put the ‘mental’ in ‘environmental.’”  Scott Cooney, author of Build a Green Small Business:  Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur, writes that the Audi ad:

…quickly turned into yet another perhaps well-intentioned ad that casts environmentalists, frankly, as wack-jobs… Perhaps the most offensive, to those of us in the sustainability movement was where an army of “Green Police,” prowling through people’s trash, finds a battery and storms the house of the offender. While I suppose the ad execs who came up with it thought they were brilliant, I would only imagine most in the sustainability movement, like me, groaned at the implication that people who care about the environment are psychotic enough to prosecute people who choose plastic at the grocery store or don’t compost their scraps.  Ugh, Middle America just took another unneeded step away from feeling that sustainability is cool, easy, and normal.

I’ve worked in the plastics industry for more than 20 years and I am so proud of the innovative contributions our industry has made to the automobile industry. That’s why Audi’s ad leaves many of us industry veterans feeling as if we’ve been slapped in the face by a loved one. ”Truth in Engineering” is the name of the advertising campaign Audi launched in 2007 and it is the tag line at the end of the “Green Police ” ad.  I wish Audi had given “Truth in Advertising” equal billing.

You’ve heard the rumors. You’ve read the industry papers and blogs. The grapevine is full of discussion that NPE is looking to change its 40-year tradition of being held in Chicago. Today, I want to say that…it’s ALL true!

NPE—The International Plastics Showcase—has a new home! I am pleased to announce that NPE, the triennial plastics industry expo and conference, will be moving to Orlando for 2012 and 2015. NPE2012 will be held at the Orange County Convention Center from April 1-5, and NPE2015 from March 22-26. As many of you know, this is big news! Founded by SPI in 1946, NPE had taken place at Chicago’s McCormick Place since 1971.

The move to Orlando was a decision made by the industry, for the industry. The SPI leadership, steered by the NPE Operations and Executive Committees, conducted a thorough review and analysis of the two contending host venues—Chicago and Orlando. In particular, NPE2012 Chairman John Effmann of ENTEK Manufacturing and Vice Chairman Jim Murphy of Davis Standard Corporation along with SPI Board Chairman Jim Buonomo of Nypro and Vice Chairman Chris Keller of The Conair Group deserve a pat on the back for the many hours they have spent personally reviewing the numbers and meeting with representatives from the two host venues. They have taken every aspect of the show into consideration along with the final proposals from the contenting host venues and presented their recommendation to the SPI Executive Board for final action. Here’s the bottom line: Orlando and the Orange County Convention Center will offer both exhibitors and attendees significant cost-savings that will continue the economic stimulus measures SPI enacted for NPE2009.

The NPE Operations Committee recommended Orlando after doing a systematic comparison of all possible venues. What we learned is that holding NPE2012 in Orlando would provide big reductions in the chief expenses incurred by exhibitors and attendees. These reductions could save the two groups an average of: 48% for booth utilities; 19% for on-site hauling (“drayage”) and rigging services for exhibitors; 23% on lodging; and 11% on overall travel. The savings on travel from the U.S. Midwest—a key plastics manufacturing region at whose heart is Chicago—would be even greater: 19%.  Finally, Orlando demonstrated a greater range in pricing than Chicago for hotels and restaurants, and lower costs for ground transportation expenses like cabs to and from the airport and convention center parking.

All in all, by moving the show to Orlando, SPI can save the plastics industry up to $20-million — which will play a substantial role in SPI’s mission to stimulate the plastics industry’s economic recovery.

And it’s not all about cost.  Orlando also was the clear winner with customer service. At the end of the day, Team Orlando led by the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Orange County Convention Center won the bid because of  its community effort, professionalism, dedication to service, partnership mindset–we’re not just a customer—and innovative spirit. Orlando truly made the discernible difference with a customer-service-centric attitude that will play a major role in enhancing the overall experience for everyone involved in the 2012 trade show.

I am also really excited about three other NPE innovations that will come with the change of venue:

• The switch to early April from the traditional late-June dates will allow far more time for exhibitors to follow up on inquiries and leads generated before summer vacations.
• Instead of the traditional Monday opening day, NPE2012 will start on Sunday, with educational programs and other special events; the trade show will be open from Monday through Thursday, eliminating the sparsely attended final half-day of previous shows.
• SPI will address the longstanding wish of attendees and exhibitors that exhibits be grouped by product category.

Over the next several weeks I will blog again to share more information about the industry-wide benefits and opportunities of NPE’s new home — Orlando!

You can ask any of the talented people on my staff and they’ll tell you – I absolutely hate when a job is done shoddily or without being thought completely through. So, when something that is ill-conceived reflects badly upon the plastics industry, I get a little steamed.

A few days ago, a group by the name of Clean Production Action released what they called a “Plastics Scorecard” and incorrectly described it as a “lifecycle-based system for evaluating the environmental and human health performance of a plastic product.” Plastics News wrote about it here.

Now, you have to understand, a proper life-cycle assessment is usually a very specific kind of study that is methodical and thorough – people are specially trained in how to perform them in a meticulous way that takes into account many variables. Almost by definition, a life-cycle assessment (LCA) must start at the very beginning and be followed to the very end.

Needless to say, I strongly disagree with this group’s “Plastics Scorecard.” It is severely flawed in that it does not consider every life-cycle component – which is absolutely necessary when using a model based on a life-cycle assessment. My technical staff has reviewed what Clean Production Action has come up with and quickly came to the conclusion that the criteria for their scorecard have been selectively chosen and are not comprehensive.

Certainly when compared with other LCA projects that our staff has worked on, this tool is lacking and serves as a reminder that data can be significantly skewed depending on what is selected as the start and end points of the cycle. The Clean Production Action group has taken exactly this type of unscientific approach. The sample grades that have been assigned to products appear arbitrary – again, without references or sound science to back up the assumptions made.

I’d be interested to know what others think.

I am actually impressed with how far we have come with recycling in America in a relatively short time period. But I am also keenly aware of how far we still have to go.

We should not lose sight of the incredible strides the plastics industry has already taken in terms of its use of recycled material and its serious consideration of “end of life” issues for its products. I know there are those who are not satisfied with our progress. But I think they need to fully comprehend where the industry was and where it is today concerning the whole host of issues surrounding sustainability.

I’ve been in the plastics industry for more than 20 years. Believe me, the topic of sustainability, and recycling in particular, was not nearly as prevalent on the agendas of conferences and meetings I attended in the 1980s as they are today. Papers on plastics recycling are being discussed and praised. Entire plastics conferences are now devoted to sustainability. I have given my own presentation – more than 20 times in the last year at conferences around the world — on the importance of sustainability as the central driver for innovation (and, yes, bottom-line reward) for the future of our industry.

Take a look at all the marvelous, innovative work pertaining to recycling being done by companies receiving the Society of Plastics Engineers’ 2009 Environmental Stewardship Awards. Then look at the recycling work of past winners of the same award. Next month, at NPE2009, we will hold the first International Plastics Design Competition and three sustainability awards will be presented for entries that yield improvements in energy efficiency, waste reduction, pollution reduction, and/or water conservation, and the use of recycled material can be seen in many of the entries. Sustainability and recycling are also a major theme of NPE2009 in general – both on the exhibit floor and in the conference sessions.

I have to read the plastics industry trade press as part of my job. Articles about fantastic plastics recycling work are here, there and everywhere…and then everywhere again. SPI blogs about plastics recycling projects all the time. Through ASTM, a recognized standards making body, SPI and others are working to update and improve the resin identification coding system to facilitate more efficient recycling of a variety of post-consumer plastics.

I can’t even do justice in this space to the steady stream of new recycling ventures I hear about on a weekly basis.

The point I’m trying to make is that we get it. The plastics industry is not at all dragging its feet on the issue of recycling. In fact, it is central to the plastics business and growing all the time. Why? Because consumers and retailers are demanding greener solutions. If they hope to stay in business and even thrive, plastics industry companies need to deliver those solutions.

It’s a nice feeling when arguably the most well-known and respected business and financial newspaper in the world backs up a perspective you have been preaching to every open ear you can find.  As SPI staff and I come down the home stretch of preparing for NPE2009, I was quite pleased to read a Wall Street Journal article last week that examined trade shows in a down economy and concluded that participating in them is still one of the most valuable things a small business can do:

For small-business owners trying to navigate the economic downturn, spending money on trade and consumer shows might seem like a luxury better reserved for more prosperous times. Not so, say many experts, who believe that exhibiting at—or at the very least attending—these events is one of the smartest things that a small-business owner can do, regardless of the state of the economy. Not only do exhibitions provide critical exposure to potential buyers, they also are essential for learning about unfamiliar markets, building personal relationships and getting an up-close look at the competition.

Words that are music to my ears! I recommend small business owners, in particular, read the article  because it contains some very useful, practical tips on how to minimize exhibit costs and, if not exhibiting, how to maximize you company’s presence as an attendee.

Of course, so many of you knew the score without needing to read the WSJ article.  I’m pleased to report that, despite worldwide economic trouble, NPE2009 will surpass NPE2006 in size and scope. As of last week, exhibiting companies had contracted for 16% more booths than by the same date in 2006, and sales of exhibit space in the five weeks preceding May 8 were greater than in the same period in 2006. In terms of attendees, NPE history shows that 80% of all visitors register beginning May 1, and indeed, NPE2009 registrations have begun to spike right on schedule.

As one expert in the WSJ article said, trade shows will always be one of the most valuable things you can do because “there’s simply a consolidation of buyers in one place. They have money to spend and buying authority to exercise.”  I couldn’t agree more.