US toolmakers create solutions for new era

By Rhoda Miel
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
Times have changed for toolmakers. To succeed today, toolmakers are looking beyond the walls of their own shops, and opening doors they might not have even recognized 10 years ago.

      Revitalized Mexico attracting business

By Don Loepp
PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
China may be the land of double-digit plastics growth, but Mexico offers an attractive market too, right in the backyard of U.S. and Canadian suppliers and processors. The recent Plastimagen trade show in Mexico City even attracted a large contingent of exhibitors from China — about 50 companies, not including firms from Taiwan.

      Industry needs clout to get message out

By Donald Loepp
PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
The industry’s defenders have been fighting fires for a long time, but not doing enough to prevent blazes from breaking out in the first place. I think the plastics industry does have effective leaders, but they don’t have the clout to fight in the arenas where the battles are taking place.

      Bag recycling issues offer others a lesson

PLASTICS NEWS OPINION
Plastic bag recycling is growing rapidly, but it’s coming up from a level so low, the industry can’t really brag about the improvement. That is a problem other sectors within the plastics industry should be watching — and learning from the bag sector’s mistakes.

Perspective

How to submit a Perspective

      Plastics groups need full industry involvement

Serge Lavoie - Canadian Plastics Industry Association
While industry deals with fact, science and well-reasoned arguments, our detractors routinely use factoids, pseudo-science and fear mongering, all of which are easier to report and to understand for the lay person.

      Designers must address global regulatory issues

Craig Messerknecht - D-M-E Co.
Two electronics directives implemented by the European Union, RoHS and WEEE, drastically changed the way manufacturers make products and even how they work with one another. Because of this, designers and manufacturers need to pay attention to regulatory considerations in this global market.

      Emerging economies offer plum markets

By David Hemmings - Pacific Rim Alliance Ltd.
More and more, we see businesses focusing on China and India as marketplaces in which to sell their technologies or products that are manufactured locally and sold locally. Businesses following this strategy must have something right, because now the prime minister of India and China’s president have been meeting to discuss direct-trade collaboration between the nations.

      China showing signs of slowing

Steve Toloken - PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
If you want an intriguing snapshot of the state of China’s injection molding industry, look at the earnings of one of the country’s largest press makers, Chen Hsong Holdings Ltd.

      Climate change rules matter

Kenneth Markowitz and Charles Franklin - Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Climate change leapt to the forefront of the domestic policy agenda during 2007, fueled by lawsuits and legislative proposals to regulate carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. This increased legal and policy activity, at the federal and state level, should serve as a wakeup call for the plastics industry.

Mailbag

How to submit a letter to the editor

      No one providing facts in media hype of BPA

Allan Griff - Bethesda, Md.
Regarding your report on Wal-Mart and others yanking PC baby bottles and sippy-cups, please stop using the phrase “containing BPA” as if bisphenol A were an additive.

      CIPAD staff addition has global benefits

Vijay Merchant - Plastindia Foundation
I wish to compliment the Society of the Plastics Industry and Bill Carteaux for being gracious and showing foresight beyond SPI’s own national base, to offer to have a full-time secretary for the Council of International Plastics Association Directors, known as CIPAD.

      Speaker’s concepts don’t go far enough

Tom Wilson - Blue Water Automotive Systems Inc.
Innovation is something every company not only wants but needs. It is a key strategy for survival, not only in the plastics industry but for every organization, regardless of business sector.

      Recycler: be cautious with biodegradables

Steve Anderson - APC Recycling LLC
I would urge the industry to take environmental responsibility for our products. Figure out ways to use recycled product in your merchandise. It is being done, but needs to be more commonplace, right here in the U.S.

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