Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
March 08, 1999 01:00 AM

MAILBAG

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Blue PET argument lacks conviction

    Imagine my surprise when I read that Robin Cotchan of the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers considers Coca-Cola's blue-tinted water bottle to be ``not as valuable'' as clear PET, and a problem for recyclers [``Beer bottle recycling discussed,'' March 1]. This despite the fact that my company, and others like mine, like to buy large quantities of blue PET because it provides excellent anti-yellowing properties when blended with clear recycled PET.

    Now imagine my further surprise when the next sentence told me that the Grass Roots Recycling Network (I'm not sure who these folks are, or how much recycling they actually perform) said that the Coke water bottle ``places marketing before recycling.'' I guess I am surprised because that order of priority seems about right. Would the Grass Roots folks want recycling to come before marketing? I don't see how that would work. Don't you have to market something before you can recycle it?

    But wait! I'm not done being surprised yet! Both of these odd comments were tacked on to the tail end of an article about plastic beer bottle recycling. It seems to me that if the Coke water bottle didn't even rate its own article, then maybe you were just filling space with something that isn't news.

    Don Hayward

    Phoenix Technologies LP

    Bowling Green, Ohio

    SPI, APC unification best serves industry

    As chairman of SPI's team for the most recent merger talks between the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. and the American Plastics Council, I have received numerous expressions of concern from members of the plastics industry about how this matter is progressing. Clearly, there is a strong feeling among a wide range of industry leaders that certain resin producers are engaged in a misguided attempt to drive APC into a competitive position with the SPI as a so-called ``full-service trade association.''

    I am convinced by my own experience and the thoughtful views of my colleagues that unification and coordination, not balkanization and unproductive competition, best serve this industry. The long-established partnership between processors, resin suppliers and equipment manufacturers that is the bedrock of SPI is extremely valuable. If we lose this important working relationship after nurturing it for more than 60 years, we will surely regret it.

    With this in mind, what follows is an attempt to summarize and express some of the views and questions that my colleagues have shared with me in recent weeks.

    The philosophy of these thoughtful industry leaders is summed up by this quote by Renoir: ``The saddest thing in life is the fact that every man has his reasons.'' Unfortunately, there is a widespread lack of understanding as to why an industry so universally committed to the ideal of unified representation is now faced with the prospect of two separate and competing trade associations. Perhaps this is because no one can comprehend the reasons behind the APC's current course of action.

    The value of presenting a united front must be universal, because even in these contentious times it is cited by nearly everyone as an important industry goal. It defies reason to accept the notion that an industry is better served if it presents conflicting views or duplicates efforts.

    SPI has a strong record in preserving and opening markets for plastics, and it is held in high regard by the industry, government agencies and global partners. The APC has had great success to date with its highly focused mission to improve the public perception of plastics. Given this, why is APC so ready to broaden its jurisdiction and pursue a separate association where the views of machinery and equipment manufacturers, processors and even nonresin material suppliers are not welcome or valued?

    Why are the CEOs who sit on APC's board taking this action to the great dismay of their many ``sweat equity'' staffers who are deeply involved, and, in many cases, hold leadership positions in SPI's important programs and business units? Why are those five resin companies who have left SPI reportedly pressuring their APC colleagues to do the same? Business must be good if they can afford to ignore the recommendations of their staff ``on the ground'' and take such a cavalier attitude toward the needs of their own customers.

    Why not instead pursue a peaceful coexistence where resin and monomer suppliers continue to meet their objectives by supporting both organizations to the fullest extent — or by pursing a reasonable proposal that would give all members of the industry an equal voice in a unified trade association?

    Much has been made of the need to reduce costs associated with trade association participation. Membership in APC is believed to cost members $2 million to $4 million a year, while SPI's maximum dues rate for resin suppliers is $164,000. Why compete with SPI when supporting its existing, very successful activities provides such high value at such a bargain price? Why attempt to destroy an organization whose credibility and long-standing relationships with key government agencies and other stakeholders are second-to-none?

    And why put these decisions in the hands of CEOs who are not familiar with SPI and its work? We've heard a good deal lately about the ``golden rule'' —he who has the gold makes the rules. But if APC companies want to make the rules — or change them — the right way to do it is to stay in SPI and make a cogent case before the whole industry. Instead, it seems that politics and egotism, rather than the best interests of the plastics industry, are driving the debate.

    I sat down to talk about a merger with my colleagues from SPI and APC with a charge from SPI's board to enter into these discussions in good faith, without precondition, and with a goal of achieving a unified plastics industry association. It soon became clear to me that the APC members of the team were prepared to talk only about the ``Twin Towers Plus'' proposal, and were not able or willing either to consider modifications to that proposal or to engage in meaningful dialogue about other merger options that would be acceptable to the SPI membership.

    I have also spent the better part of a year helping to create a restructuring plan for SPI that was unanimously accepted by the SPI board and that creates plenty of latitude for APC and its programs to continue to operate with autonomy within the context of a broad-based plastics industry association. There appears to be agreement among those I have heard from that this plan could serve as a starting point for a unified organization. Likewise, if aspects of the APC's ``Twin Towers'' proposal can be modified so that they would be palatable to the rest of the industry, that would be another plan worth considering.

    And if the time is not right for a merger, let's accept that and move on in a mutually cooperative way, rather than moving toward an acrimonious and pointless battle that will polarize the industry, engender ill will and damage the industry's credibility and effectiveness.

    We — and by that I mean every plastics company: machinery manufacturer, mold maker, material supplier, processor, members and nonmembers of both SPI and APC — make up one of the world's most successful and forward-thinking manufacturing industries. Let's put the interests of that industry first.

    Sid Rains

    Van Dorn Demag

    Strongsville, Ohio

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Hillenbrand cites recycling as 'strategic growth' area with Herbold acquisition
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    California passes strictest plastics law in US, with EPR and recycling targets
    2
    PS prices jump in June, more increases on horizon
    3
    Hillenbrand makes another deal in plastics machinery
    4
    IRS provides guidance for how excise taxes will impact resin pricing
    5
    Eastman eyes ‘several options' for chemical recycling plant sites
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
        • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified