The video below includes one of the highlights -- it's Akerson talking about the problem of insular thinking. The audio is a little difficult to understand, but we thought we'd post it anyway because many blog readers in the auto industry will be interested in anything GM's top dog has to say.
The video is from a conference in Beijing sponsored by our sister publication Automotive News. Jason Stein, editor of AN, is the moderator.
The full interview covered a wide spectrum of topics, everything from the process when he was selected to head GM, and his wife's reaction (he says he didn't tell her until they were on vacation) to his love of the new Cadillacs and the Volt and electric cars.
]]>Today's issue has the story -- although the subject matter may seem more appropriate for Cosmopolitan!
The story, "Sex or Sleep?", looks at PU's growing stake in the mattress market, and what it means to activity in the American bedroom.
OK, I'll spell it out: "They induce a blissful snooze but make sex a challenge."
Sadly, polyurethane never gets mention in Miriam Gottfried's cover story. The story calls it by the generic name "memory foam," described as a "dense material that softens in reaction to body heat" that dates back to NASA research in 1966.
Memory foam has shaken up the sleepy mattress industry, accounting for almost 20 percent of the market, Barron's reported.
Check the link for the salacious details. Don't worry, it's all in good taste -- despite Rupert Murdoch's role, Barron's is still a Dow Jones flagship.
]]>Readers of that story, "Brewing up market share, 1 cup at a time," may be interested in the latest news about sector leader Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.
The New York Times' Dealbook reported this week that Green Mountain founder Robert P. Stiller resigned his position as chairman on May 8 after he sold 5 million shares of the company's stock -- worth about $125 million -- to pay off loans he had taken against the shares.
Stiller, who is still on the company's board, now owns only about 5.4 percent of Green Mountain, down from 27.5 percent in early 2008, according to the report.
Indepedent shareholders took a bath as a result of Stiller's margin call too -- the value of Green Mountain stock lost about half their value in the past few weeks.
]]>The first two stories in the series, "Playing with fire," charge that the chemical industry misled consumers and legislators in order to require widespread use of flame retardants.
The second story is particular is sure to raise eyebrows. "Big Tobacco wins fire marshals as allies in flame retardant push" charges that the tobacco industry worked behind the scenes to steer the debate away from making cigarettes less hazardous -- and towards requiring wider use of flame retardant chemicals.
A primary player in the debate, according to the story, was Peter Sparber, a former Tobacco Institute executive who helped create and steer the National Association of State Fire Marshals.
The meat for the report came from tobacco industry documents that became public after cigarette companies settled lawsuits over the health costs of treating smokers, according to the Tribune.
Watch for the next two installments in the series on Wednesday and Thursday.
]]>Last year California Watch had reported that Gerald Lieberman, a private consultant hired by California school officials, added a new section to the 11th-grade teachers' edition textbook called "The Advantages of Plastic Shopping Bags," with the title and some of the textbook language inserted almost verbatim from letters written by the American Chemistry Council.
In the wake of that disclosure, the state Environmental Protection Agency took another look at the proposed curriculum, which is part of a statewide K-12 curriculum on the environment.
In a follow-up story posted last week, Suzanne Rust of California Watch reported that the curriculum has been rewritten.
The lesson (PDF) "no longer includes a section titled, 'The Advantages of Plastic Shopping Bags,' and it incorporates more recent and relevant recycling statistics," she wrote.
The story quotes Bryan Ehlers, Cal/EPA's assistant secretary for education and quality programs, who said: "We went back and looked at the whole unit and really picked through it with a fine-tooth comb."
"Our concern always with the curriculum was to ensure integrity and accuracy," Ehlers said.
In "Advantages of Plastic Shopping Bags" workbook section had asked students to list some advantages of plastic bags. The correct answer, according to the teachers' edition, was: "Plastic shopping bags are very convenient to use. They take less energy to manufacture than paper bags, cost less to transport and can be reused."
California Watch is an initiative of the Center for Investigative Reporting.
]]>DME Co. announced today that it is accepting applications for its DME Plastics University Scholarship Program through July 15 for the 2012 fall semester.
The program offers $1,000 scholarships to increase the number of highly-skilled workers in the plastics industry. Scholarships are for students enrolled in plastics manufacturing-related programs.
Scholarship applications are available at www.dme.net/education.
To be eligible, students must attend an accredited trade school/university offering a two-year certificate, two-year associate or four-year bachelor's degree in a plastics manufacturing-related field.
Madison Heights, Mich.-based DME said students enrolled in related coursework will be considered if they demonstrate a strong academic emphasis and interest in plastics.
]]>With a "Ban the Bottle" graphic looming in the background, Velez-Mitchell tells viewers that she has an ally -- none other than 84-year-old Jean Hill, who led the effort to ban single-serve PET water bottles in Concord, Mass. (See PN's April 26 story, "Concord, Mass., voters pass ban on PET water bottles ")
I enjoyed hearing what Hill has to say -- it's the first time I've seen her on camera. Her message is that the bottle ban in Concord is a big deal, and the media's coverage has been shallow.
She's absolutely right about that.
Velez-Mitchell is a little over-the-top, literally applauding Hill and saying "Thank you for leading the crusade against plastic bottles." But that's her opinion, so it's OK.
But then the story stumbles by using some discredited information.
Velez-Mitchell describes the garbage patch as "a giant mound of garbage ... bigger than Texas in the Pacific Ocean." That's hyperbole that's been discredited by ocean researchers.
She also cites a website (thinkoutsidethebin.com) that says plastic debris kills 100,000 marine animals a year. Remember that one? I wrote last year about how Harold Johnson, a Saco, Maine, journalist and author of "The Flotsam Diaries" blog, researched and discredited the oft-cited number.
Note to CNN: Interesting story, but don't believe everything you read on the internet.
]]>The 1,126-word article, one in the Times' "Made in California" series, includes descriptions of Pelican's quick-mold-change and automated production processes.
"The new tool goes in and we're making a new case, all in less than 10 minutes" rather than the previous change time of about 18 hours, Lyndon Faulkner, Pelican chief executive officer, says in Ronald D. White's report, headlined "Pelican Products proves as durable as the storage cases it makes."
Last year Pelican was one of the winners of a Plastics News Excellence Award. The company, which does injection and rotational molding, picked up the award for industry/public service.
(Thanks to Roger Renstrom, our long-time West Coast correspondent, for suggesting this item).
]]>The pupils were learning about manufacturing in their social studies unit, according to "Currier Plastics shows second-graders their future can be both bright and local," a story in Auburn's The Citizen.
"We were studying a unit in social studies on manufacturing," teacher Ann Kott told the newspaper. "We thought, 'What would be a good way to bring this to life for them?'"
The visit to Currier Plastics helped the pupils learn the importance of math and science, gave them a peek at how computers are used in a modern factory, and helped them realize that there are local jobs available in the manufacturing sector.
Currier was founded in 1982 by the late Raymond Currier, an engineer that bought two injection molding machines to form his own business. His son, John Currier, is currently the company's president.
The company takes pride in its work with the local community -- Plastics News' Frank Antosiewicz mentioned the efforts in a story last year about a $2 million expansion that included adding more blow molding and injection molding equipment.
"Herman Avenue second graders have been visiting Currier Plastics for about 15 years now," John Currier said in a recent press release, "and my son Tim was in one of the first classes to visit. He now works in our maintenance department."
When the plastics industry talks about "sustainability," usually the emphasis is on things like energy efficiency, recycling or carbon footprint.
But reaching out to the local community, and getting teachers and students to understand the importance and impact of the industry, is just as important to plastics sustainability in future generations.
]]>University of Washington oceanographer Giora Proskurowski and Tobias Kukulka of the University of Delaware say they found that high winds push lightweight plastic particles deep below the ocean surface -- deeper than previous studies had realized.
That meant decades of research on plastic marine debris may in some cases vastly underestimate the true amount of plastic debris in the oceans, Proskurowski said in a news release from UW.
Proskurowski's data came from a 2010 North Atlantic expedition, where he and his team collected samples at the surface, plus an additional three or four depths down as far as 100 feet.
"Almost every tow we did contained plastic regardless of the depth," he said.
Proskurowski said more research is needed, because at this point oceanographers just don't have a good handle on how much plastic is in the ocean.
He added: "On this topic, what science needs to be geared toward is building confidence that scientists have solid numbers and that policy makers aren't making judgments based on CNN reports."
Research for the report included data from the Sea Education Association's Plastics at SEA program.
]]>"Lego gets snapped at over girls' line of toys," from the San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate.com. According to the story, "a pair of feminist activists" is unhappy with the new Lego Friends line of toys designed for girls.
Characters in the Lego Friends line include Mia, an athlete; Olivia, an inventor; Stephanie, an animal lover; Emma, who enjoys fashion; and Andrea, who likes to sing and dance.
The activists, Stephanie Cole and Bailey Shoemaker-Richards, started a petition on Change.org protesting Lego's marketing strategy.
And more than 55,000 people have signed the petition.
OK...
"Plastic remains No. 1 pollutant on Jersey coast," from the Greater Media Newspapers chain in Manalapan, N.J.
The story notes that according to Clean Ocean Action, 7,500 people participated in 2011 Beach Sweeps on the New Jersey Shore, and they collected 452,698 pieces of marine debris that had washed up in 65 locations.
Some 83 percent of the total was plastic.
There was some good news -- for the first time in 19 years, cigarette debris (filters, packaging, lighters and cigar tips) were not in the top three pollutants.
So perhaps there's hope after all for changing consumer behavior.
Thanks to all the volunteers who participated in the Beach Sweeps. Were there any Plastics Blog readers in the clean-up crews?
]]>CEO Richard Yan said the plan is to send a vintage HPM apple press to Yizumi's factory in Foshan, China. The company will make reproductions and display them in prominent locations at Yizumi facilities.
"Every factory will have one to demonstrate the glory of HPM," Yan told Plastics News senior reporter Bill Bregar at NPE2012 in Orlando, Fla.
Yizumi made headlines at an auction in Mount Gilead in 2011 when it topped another bidder to get HPM's intellectual property and customer lists. But at NPE2012 in Orlando, Yan said Yizumi also picked up some other key HPM icons: an original apple press that graced the lobby for years and a 1937 injection molding machine with a plaque saying it was one of the first HPM presses sold in the Chicago area, to Santay Corp.
The 1937 press will go on display at Yizumi headquarters.
HPM was founded in 1877 to make apple presses. The old press had a tag during the auction. Now the apple press is in storage in Marion, Ohio, at Bivouac Engineering and Service Co., run by former HPM President William Flickinger. Last fall, Yizumi bought Bivouac, which specializes in HPM injection presses.
Flickinger is now president of HPM North America.
(... and thanks to Bill Bregar for today's post).
]]>Remember, this industry has first-hand experience with what a fractured supply chain can do to OEMs and suppliers alike, following natural disasters in Japan (earthquake and tsunami) and Thailand (flooding) last year.
I've been watching coverage of the nylon 12 situation -- triggered by a March 31 explosion and fire at an Evonik Industries AG plant in Marl, Germany. So far the best story came from David Vink, who wrote "Evonik warns customers about nylon 12 supply constraints," which Plastics News posted on April 15.
If you want to bring yourself up to speed on cyclododecatriene feedstocks, nylon 12, competitors to Evonik, potential replacement materials, plans to rebuild the Marl factory and the supply-demand picture prior to the explosion, you should start with Vink's story.
To help fill in the blanks with information since that report, here are some important additions:
Paul Blanchard from IHS Chemical noted that Evonik and Arkema SA -- which buys cyclododecatriene from Evonik -- together account for about half the world's supply of nylon 12. So if it wasn't clear before, that number should drive home the point that this isn't just a problem for Evonik.
Despite that, Dustin Walsh, a staff reporter for Crain's Detroit Business, noted today that automakers have not announced any planned shutdowns or cutting forecasts as a result of the anticipated shortage.
Walsh wrote in his "Shifting Gears" blog: "Mike Goss, general manager of external affairs for Farmington Hills-based Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc., said in an emailed statement: 'The material provided by Evonik is in our North American supply chain, but until we complete an assessment with our suppliers, the impact is unknown. At this time, there is no need to adjust production, and we will continue to work closely with our suppliers to ensure ongoing production.'"
Walsh also wrote that hundreds of auto industry executives are meeting in Troy, Mich., this afternoon to discuss the situation. Their goals:
We'll continue to stay on top of this story, so watch PlasticsNews.com for updates.
]]>But the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance is questioning the retailer's committment to the cause in a report released today -- Earth Day -- called "Walmart's Greenwash: How the company's much-publicized sustainability campaign falls short, while its relentless growth devastates the environment." (PDF)
There's only one mention of plastics in the report, and it's not critical. Wal-Mart's plastics recycling record is held up as an example of a project that the company wants environmentalists -- and the public -- to notice:
Walmart's sustainability campaign is not your typical corporate greenwash. It is more complex and clever than that. It has enough substance mixed in with the spin to draw you in. It's easy to get swept up in the big numbers Walmart can roll out -- like the 30 tons of plastic hangers it recycles every month -- and to be charmed by the very fact of this giant company, with its hard-nosed corporate culture, using a word like 'sustainability.'More than a few environmentalists have been won over. With their endorsements and the flood of positive press that seems to follow each of Walmart's green announcements, the company has managed to turn around flagging poll numbers, shift its labor practices out of the limelight, and, most crucially, crank up its expansion machine.
ILSR takes the company to task for failing to take action on climate change, and falling fall short of a goal set seven years ago to use more renewable energy.
Some more materials-related items, potentially of interest to Plastics Blog readers:
The report says:
In the first year or two after its founding in July 2009, the Sustainability Consortium was closelipped about its progress. In the last few months, the consortium has finally said that it is not in fact developing a rating system or even product-specific information. It is assembling general lifecycle data for types of products - a typical environmental footprint for orange juice or detergent, say, but not for specific brands within those categories.Spokesperson Jon Nicol says this data could be a starting point for a rating system should a company wish to develop one. So far, the consortium has finished just 10 assessments.23 A Walmart supercenter carries roughly 140,000 items across thousands of product types.
Was Walmart woefully naive about what it would take to create the kind of Sustainability Index it promised? Was it a miscalculation to have corporations play a big role in developing environmental standards for their own products? Should Walmart have put its efforts instead into refining and adapting an existing rating system, one not controlled by industry, such as GoodGuide? Was the index just a PR ploy from the start?
Brian Stillman, a journalist and documentary filmmaker whose previous works include "Toys Are Us: A Revolution In Plastic," is working on a new movie, "Plastic Galaxy, The Story of Star Wars Toys."
The film, which will be released later this year, will include "interviews with former Kenner employees, experts, authors, and collectors, it looks at the toys' history, their influence, and the fond and fervent feelings they elicit today," according to the website.
The toys themselves "transformed both the toy and movie industries," it says.
Enjoy the trailer, and check the link for more information.
There's a lesson in social media here too. The movie is using Kickstarter to raise funds, and both Facebook and Twitter to inform and keep track of Star Wars toy fans -- obvious potential customers when the film is ready for sale.
]]>