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Oregon considers changes to deposit law
PORTLAND, ORE. (Oct. 10, 12:30 p.m. EDT) -- An Oregon panel considering changes to the state’s bottle deposit law is preparing a package of proposals that would boost plastics recycling. The proposals include doubling the deposits to 10 cents and putting deposits on all beverages except milk and milk substitutes.

Calif. symposium on ´green´ challenges
IRWINDALE, CALIF. (Oct. 7, 2:10 p.m. EDT) -- The Society of Plastics Engineers and the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. are among organizers of an Oct. 22 plastics symposium in Irwindale. The symposium, “Meeting the Green Challenge,” will focus on recycling technologies, waste minimization, market opportunities in emerging renewable energy, utility programs to reduce energy use and cost, bio-based alternative plastics and regulatory and legislative trends.

Cascade’s green goals produce solid ROI
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (Oct. 6, 7:20 p.m. EDT) -- Sustainable manufacturing, says Cascade Engineering Inc.´s Fred Keller, is the next big step for companies. While there is an environmental benefit to clean production, it also makes real business sense for companies that set real goals, said Keller, the injection molder´s president and CEO.

Nestlé’s Kim Jeffery: Don’t fight change, lead it
GREENWICH, CONN. (Oct. 6, 7 p.m. EDT) -- Kim Jeffery not only wants, but invites, an open dialogue on what it means to be a good environmental steward and a sustainable corporation. “What we all need to do is figure out how to use materials wisely, how to use less and how to reuse more and more,” the Nestlé Waters North America Inc. executive said.

Minas Basin will put plastics to use as fuel
DARTMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA (Oct. 6, 6:55 p.m. EDT) -- A paper and power company steeped in renewable traditions is investing in a plastics-to-fuel venture. Minas Basin Pulp and Power Co. Ltd., through its Scotia Recycling Ltd. unit, is leading a project to turn 8.8 million pounds per year of plastic scrap into more than a million gallons of diesel fuel or fuel oil.

Database helps define what´s eco-friendly
PHOENIX (Oct. 6, 6:30 p.m. EDT) -- There are few ways to define what makes a product “green,” which makes it hard for designers to know what materials they should use to boost their environmental efforts. Ecolect LLC and its founder Matt Grigsby are working to solve that problem. (View a video of Grigsby discussing "nutrition labels" for materials at www.plasticsnews.com/multimedia.)

Kicks keep scrap plastics out of landfills
PHOENIX (Oct. 6, 5:55 p.m. EDT) -- Nike Inc. has put a price tag on sustainable sneakers. For $100, shoe buyers can pick up a pair of “Trash Talk” basketball shoes, made from bits of recycled urethane foam, odd lots of unused leather and even post-industrial scrap rubber.

Interface sets the pace for going green
SHANGHAI (Oct. 6, 4:20 p.m. EDT) -- In many ways, Ray Anderson is an unlikely environmental advocate. The 74-year-old chief executive officer has spent most of his life building up his business. Then, sometime in the 1990s, Anderson did something that some might call imprudent, even suicidal — he went green and he took his company with him.

Canadian Springs adding bottle deposit
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO (Oct. 3, 4:20 p.m. EDT) -- A leading supplier of delivered bottled water in Canada will place a deposit on single-serve bottles beginning Jan. 1.

New owner to restart Wellman recycling plant
JOHNSONVILLE, S.C. (Oct. 2, 4:55 p.m. EDT) -- An investment group will give PET recycling a shot in the arm through an agreement with Wellman Inc. They plan to buy the assets of Wellman’s Johnsonville site, which includes a 190 million pound-per-year PET bottle recycling operation, an engineering resin business and a polyester staple fiber plant.

Phoenix boosting recycled PET capacity
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO (Sept. 26, 4:10 p.m. EDT) -- After a successful pilot project, Phoenix Technologies International LLC is investing $2.8 million in its Bowling Green plant to produce an additional 10 million pounds of food-grade recycled PET pellets a year.

Machinery maker sees demand rise outside Asia
TAIPEI, TAIWAN (Sept. 24, 7:15 p.m. EDT) -- After 20 years in the business of plastics recycling technology, Taiwan’s Ko Win Yang Industrial Co. Ltd. has found its niche outside Asia.

Taiwan´s Victor Taichung diversifies into recycling
TAIPEI, TAIWAN (Sept. 23, 11:50 a.m. EDT) — Taiwanese injection press maker Victor Taichung Machinery Works Co. Ltd. is diversifying into the recycling business with the purchase of Taiwan’s largest plastic container recycler.

US cool to producer responsibility programs
DENVER (Sept. 18, 5:35 p.m. EDT) -- Extended Producer Responsibility programs have boosted recycling rates and helped plastics processors with materials costs, an executive with one of the first EPR plans said — even though such schemes face an uphill battle in the United States.

SPI, ACC join forces to train ´ambassadors´
WASHINGTON (Sept. 12, 12:25 p.m. EDT) — Looking to defuse attacks on the industry, the two major associations that represent plastics companies are joining forces in an effort to galvanize their members to speak out on recycling, the benefits of plastics and legislative issues that threaten the industry.

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