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Calif. fails to act on bag, bottle legislation
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (Sept. 2, 3:30 p.m. EDT) -- Without voting, the California legislature rejected over Labor Day weekend a proposed 25 cent fee on single-use paper and plastic carryout bags. State legislators also failed to pass a bill that would have extended bottle deposits to many plastic consumer containers, such as detergent bottles.

Seattle citizens to vote on bag tax
SEATTLE (Aug. 29, 11:55 a.m. EDT) -- Residents of Seattle will have an opportunity to reverse a 20 cent tax on disposable, single-use carryout bags that the city council enacted one month ago. Meanwhile, a coalition has filed a lawsuit to overturn a recently passed plastic bag ban in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and two counties in Hawaii have pending bag bans.

Brazil holds version of IDEA competition

Goma stool

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL (Aug. 27, 4:50 p.m. EDT) -- Winners in Brazil’s inaugural version of the International Design Excellence Awards included a variety of products with plastics content. Objeto Brasil, a São Paulo-based design group, organized the single-country IDEA/Brasil competition with cooperation from Industrial Designers Society of America in Dulles, Va.

Plastic bills resurface in Calif. legislature
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (Aug. 26, 3:45 p.m. EDT) — With less than a week left in its legislative session, the once-defeated plastic bag tax in California has resurfaced as a Bag Pollution Cleanup Fee. In addition, several amendments have boosted the chances for a new expanded bottle bill, and there could be votes on two other previously defeated measures -- bans on perfluorinated compounds in food packaging and on bisphenol A in baby bottles.

Primo, groups form alliance to recycle PLA
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Aug. 22, 4:10 p.m. EDT) -- Primo Water Corp. is leading a new consortium to develop bioplastics recycling. Primo, which bottles water in polylactic acid containers, is joined by 19 organizations in the Bioplastics Recycling Consortium.

Delta-Energy adds capacity in North Dakota
BERTHOLD, N.D. (Aug. 22, 2:50 p.m. EDT) -- Delta-Energy LLC, which recovers carbon-black-based products for reuse in rubber and plastic compounds, has boosted the capacity of its Berthold plant by 50 percent.

Polyflow process recycles ´just about anything´
AKRON, OHIO (Aug. 14, 3:45 p.m. EDT) -- The future of plastics recycling might be taking shape outside an abandoned lumber warehouse in Akron. That’s where Polyflow Corp. has been testing a process that can convert plastic and rubber scrap into feedstock chemicals.

Recycler MBA may expand in U.K. or China
RICHMOND, CALIF. (Aug. 4, 2:35 p.m. EDT) -- The joint venture of MBA Polymers Inc. and European Metal Recycling Ltd. may decide by the end of August or September on the site of its next plant for recovering plastic resin from the waste of end-of-life durable goods.

Packaging taxes, bans looming in California
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (Aug. 1, 3:25 p.m. EDT) -- A series of recommendations from the California Ocean Protection Council could lead to more bans and taxes on plastics packaging.

Seattle passes bag tax, PS ban
WASHINGTON (July 29, 9:40 a.m. EDT) — Seattle has become the first major U.S. city to place a tax on plastic bags, and has also enacted a ban on polystyrene containers for businesses that serve food. Both the 20 cent fee on plastics, paper and other disposable takeout bags and a ban on PS containers go into effect Jan. 1 and were approved July 28 by Seattle City Council.

Plastics help designs bring home IDSA gold
DULLES, VA. (July 28, 12:20 p.m. EDT) -- A low-cost laptop, a featherlike welding helmet and a customized baby bottle were among the products making good use of plastics in winning 2008 International Design Excellence Awards. The annual contest, co-sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America and BusinessWeek magazine, drew 1,517 entries from 33 countries.

Plastic bag bans, taxes gain ground
ARLINGTON, VA. (July 25, 3:45 p.m.) -- Plastic bag tax initiatives in Los Angeles, Seattle and in the California Legislature are threatening to trigger fees that effectively would ban plastic carryout bags at large retailers.

Beijing picks Biograde bags for Olympics
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (July 17, 6:10 p.m. EDT) -- Australian bioplastic manufacturer Biograde Ltd. has won a US$1.2 million contract to provide biodegradable packaging to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

ACC’s Russell: Challenges keep growing

Russell

PALM DESERT, CALIF. (July 17, 5:35 p.m. EDT) -- Since Steve Russell took over as managing director of the plastics division of the American Chemistry Council, the group has dealt with more than 400 pieces of anti-plastics legislation. He said the group has made progress in being more aggressive and promoting the benefits of plastics. Still, he knows there is a lot more to do.

Pepsi buying equipment worth $25 million
RALEIGH, N.C. (July 17, 3:40 p.m. EDT) -- Pepsi Bottling Ventures LLC, the third-largest bottler of PepsiCo products in the United States, will spend $25 million on new plastics processing equipment for its Raleigh plant, to save on shipping costs.

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