China's appliances and electronics manufacturers have been ordered to pay a recycling fee on their products, according to new regulations that just took effect on Jan. 1.

In turn, recyclers of appliances and electronics waste will receive a subsidy for the recycling service.

Leading appliances makers like Haier, TCL, and Changhong are building or expanding their recycling operations.

Publicly listed recycler Shenzhen GEM High-tech Co. Ltd. is seeing a boost of its stock price, thanks to positive feedback from the investment community on the new policy.

In addition to the recycling of e-waste and batteries, GEM also runs three wood plastic composite factories in Southeast China.

Analysts said the recycling fee, unspecified by the government, will likely be passed onto consumers, considering the already thin margin of the appliances industry.

The new policy also aims to tighten up imports of appliances and electronics waste and establish an accreditation system for recyclers.

Here are the top 10 stories on the English-language PN China Web site in the past year, based on story clicks. Interestingly, all of them were published in the first quarter - before the very successful Chinaplas and K show coverage. The results might have been affected by factors like the time duration of a story being available online.

• No. 1: Sunningdale reports profit thanks to geographical diversity

This story marks the first time in PN China history when the annual top story features something other than China. A straight forward report on the publicly listed Singapore molder returning to profits, it quoted the company's comments on the regions and sectors that offset the drop in sales from the North American auto industry.


• No. 2: Klöckner Pentaplast invests in Asia and US

The German company added film production capacity in Rayong, Thailand and Rural Retreat, Va.


• No. 3: Taiwan backs plastics research initiatives

During the Taipei Plas Show, our Asia Bureau Chief Steve Toloken interviewed the Taiwan Plastics Industry Development Center, which aims to help plastics firms in higher growth areas like green energy and medical manufacturing.


• No. 4: Chinese PP recycler filing IPO in Australia

While the new ChiNext -- the start-up board modeled after the Nasdaq -- enables more and more plastics companies to go public in China, recycler Novarise Renewable Resources International Ltd. decided to issue an initial public offering on the Australian Securities Exchange to fund its expansion of production and research in China.


• No. 5: Firms find higher-than-expected costs in China's interior

Foreign manufacturers in China are building factories in interior regions as a lower-cost escape from established coastal cities. But some found themselves disappointed with unexpected high labor rates or more supply chain or logistics difficulty.


• No. 6: U.S. moldmakers see China factory as way into local market

China has become more than just the world's low-cost factory, especially since the global financial crisis. The healthy growth and enormous potential of China's domestic market attract foreign companies that hope to grab their share.


• No. 7: Synventive adding second China factory

The Peabody, Mass.-based manufacturer of hot runners and components hoped to double its capacity within two years. Mark Moss, who returned to the U.S. headquarters after his four-plus-year term as Synventive Asia President, spoke exclusively to Plastics News about the details of the expansion.


• No. 8: China's BYD targets North American auto market

The Warren Buffet favorite electric car maker announced plans to launch sales of its all-electric E6 sedan in the U.S. by the end of 2010 and build a U.S. research and development and production facility "soon after that."


• No. 9: Asia alliance aids Thermoforming Systems' global sales

American plastic equipment maker Thermoforming Systems LLC credited its manufacturing partnership with Hong Kong-based Sunwell Machines Co. Ltd. for its success entry to emerging markets like Brazil and India.


• No. 10: Hong Kong toy show exhibit results in yo-yo logo tiff

At Asia's largest toy exhibition, American plastic yoyo maker Duncan Toys found a Chinese competitor with products it believed violated Duncan trademarks. Duncan filed a complaint with the show organizers, but the work to protect its products didn't stop there.

Click here to check out the 10 most-read stories on the Chinese-language PN China Web site.

Beyond this list, please share in the comment what you think were the most significant news events for the plastics industry in 2010.

Industrial robot manufacturer Shanghai-Fanuc Robotics Co. Ltd. has launched a new plant in Shanghai's Baoshan district. Fanuc claims to be the only company that uses robots to make robots.

The new plant sits on a campus of 37,900 square meters and touts an investment of US$16.8 million.

Construction started in November 2009 [as we reported here], and was completed by November 2010.

The Sino-Japanese JV said the new facility has designed annual capacity to make 3,800 sets of robot systems, 1,400 injection molding machines as well as CNC machines.

Annual sales are forecasted to reach 1 billion yuan (US$151 million).

SGM-Dongyue Auto, a joint venture unit of Shanghai General Motors, announced plans to purchase 250 robots at Fanuc's opening ceremony last month.

Just like how Americans go cruising in the Caribbean in the winter, the Chinese flock to the southernmost province in the country, Hainan province. Among them, 1,000+ are employees of injection press giant Haitian Group.

Haitian is spending more than 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) on company-sponsored, all-inclusive vacation packages for its 6,000 workers, according to the Zhejiang Daily.

Employees and their families are able to choose from six popular tourism destinations in the country. The company flew the first group to Hainan Island, the hottest pick, for a 6-day vacation in two chartered planes on January 5.

Haitian's annual output topped 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) in 2010, the report said. Despite busy production schedules, executives decided to reward the staff for their hard work in the past year with group vacations around the upcoming Chinese New Year/Spring Festival, which starts Feb 3 this year.

That reminds me of the type of all-inclusive, stress-free family vacations my parents' companies used to organize. I always tagged along and had fun playing with all the other children whose parents worked with my parents.

I used to think it was a benefit exclusive to state-owned enterprises and government employees in the old days. But it's more of a Chinese cultural event. Nowadays, privately owned companies and even foreign-invested firms continue to organize these group retreats, where you and your family go site-seeing with all your coworkers and their families.

The time spent together during those trips made me so familiar with some of the families that many years later, I still remember trivial things such as Amy didn't like to brush teeth in the morning, so to speak.

As attractive as an employer-paid vacation sounds, somehow, it's a little hard for me to picture the family-friendly week-long group tour in the American corporate setting. Would you go if offered?

While emerging markets like China fueled the recovery and growth for Western plastics machinery makers in 2010, their Chinese counterparts also claimed an unprecedentedly successful year.

Latest stats show that the output of the Chinese plastics machinery industry reached 30 billion yuan () in the first three quarters of 2010, up 73 percent from a year ago. During the same period, the overall industrial machinery industry in China only grew 35 percent.

In fact, 2010 is the best year in history for plastics machinery, according to Su Dongping, general secretary of the China Plastics Machinery Industry Association. She was quoted in China Industry News.

In the meantime, China has greatly reduced its dependency on imported high-end plastics equipment. Imported plastics machinery accounted for more than 50 percent of China's market in 2008, Su said, but that percentage has dropped to 29 percent in the first three quarters of 2010.

Take injection molding machines for auto parts as an example. Su said Chinese auto suppliers used to import machines from Japan. In 2009, Japan exported 2,000 mid-to-large tonnage presses to China, 80 percent of which for the auto industry. But the situation is changing, Su noted, as upgraded Chinese machines rapidly replace the share of imported machines.

The report didn't specify on the role of plastics machines assembled by Japanese and Western transplants in China, which could a factor in the reduction of imported machines.

With the real estate boom and rising labor cost in coastal metropolis Shanghai, some companies are transferring their operations to more affordable regions. They are not necessarily moving to inland provinces, as Shanghai's neighboring coastal provinces still offer cost-reduction potential, while providing logistical convenience and a skilled labor pool that interior regions lack.

Shanghai Bestway Plastics Industry Co. Ltd. is one of them. The export-oriented manufacturer of inflatable plastic leisure goods is expanding its production base in Rugao, Jiangsu province, and just launched a 20,000-square-meter injection molding shop. The company plans to increase the number of injection molding presses from 41 to 80, according to local news reports.

Bestway also plans to move its headquarters from Shanghai to Rugao within the next five years, company executive Zhang Yong was quoted as saying.

In a similar case, precision molder Shanghai Cepreh Electronic Co. Ltd. opened its new 30,000-square-meter facility in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, on January 1. The company announced plans to move its current manufacturing operation in Shanghai to Huai'an after the Chinese New Year.

Cepreh supplies electronic connectors to major brands such as Sony, Panasonic and Haier. It estimates that the annual sales of the Huai'an operation will reach 350 million yuan.

In addition to lower wages and land cost, local governments in less developed regions could also offer discounted utilities, tax breaks and other benefits to attract investment and grow local economy and employment.

Not all plastics bag bans are the same. Uttar Pradesh, a northern state in India, has decided to ban the sale of plastics bags near bodies of water.

The new ordinance also bans the disposal of plastics waste - including biodegradable plastic - in the Ganga River, according to a report from the Indian Express.

I can see the intent of preserving the environment, especially scarce water resources in India. But the policy seems to be based on the assumption that people dispose of plastic bags at the same spot or near where they purchase bags.

I'm also curious how the ban will be enforced. How will they define and mark "the vicinity" of a water body? If plastics bags can't be sold by shops in the area, can retailers give them away for free? What if people bring plastics bags from other areas?

China may remove anti-dumping duties on polybutylene terephthalate resins that originate in Japan and Taiwan, unless industry representatives or a government agency requests for a reinvestigation soon, according to a Jan.22 announcement by the Ministry of Commerce.

Chinese PBT suppliers can choose to file a request for a probe no later than 60 days before the current five-year term expires on July 22.

The current antidumping tariffs are 17.31 percent for PBT originated in Japan, 6.24 percent for Taiwan's Chang Chun Plastics Co. Ltd., and 17.31 percent for all other manufacturers in Taiwan.

The dialogue between President Obama and China's President Hu Jintao this week in Washington covered many issues. Most relevant to our industry are the economy and trade, on which they said:

Obama: "We discussed China's progress in moving toward a more market-oriented economy and how we can ensure a strong and balanced global economic recovery. We agreed that in China, this means boosting domestic demand; here in the United States, it means spending less and exporting more."

Hu: "We will continue to appropriately resolve (disagreements in the economic and trade areas) according to the principle of mutual respect and consultation on an equal footing ... We champion free trade and oppose protectionism...."

These are the principles, and specific deals and polices are expected to follow through in the coming months and years.

In a gesture to support the consensus on trade balance, China brought its checkbook, inking deals for aircraft, heavy machinery, agricultural products and software that could be worth $45 billion for U.S. companies and support some 235,000 American jobs.

China also pledged to give U.S. companies more equal treatment, delink its innovation policies from its government procurement preferences, and do more to protect their intellectual property.

It seems to me that this round of talks put a high priority on China allowing U.S. firms that export to China -- and U.S. firms already in China -- to benefit more from the booming Chinese domestic market. There was less emphasis on long-standing and unsolved trade issues like the undervalued Chinese currency.

That's the message for everyone: Try to grab a piece of the Chinese market as quickly as possible. If you can't beat them, join them.

China's environmental tax plan has been submitted to the State Council, according to media reports. If passed, the tax may have an impact on China's manufacturing costs and competitiveness.

The news came from a spokesman for the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association, according to a Reuters report.

The tax is likely to be levied on emission of carbon dioxide, waste water, solid waste and sulfur dioxide, Chinese media reported.

Three Chinese ministries have been leading the initiative, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Administration of Taxation. But other agencies, such as the Ministry of Water Resources, also are involved.

Presently, China levies a pollutant discharge fee. But the public has grown increasingly concerned with the rapid environmental degradation and over-exploitation of natural resources.