Arizona joins states with energy codes ARLINGTON, VA. — Arizona plans to develop a new energy-efficiency code that a plastics industry lobbyist says will be good for processors in the home-building industry, including foam insulation and vinyl window makers.
Arizona Gov. Jane Hull signed legislation April 28 that calls for the state to use the International Energy Conservation Code as the basis for its own model energy code. Arizona currently does not have a code.
State agencies have until the end of the year to develop the code, said Shari Jackson, associate director of state and local public affairs for the American Plastics Council in Arlington.
Most model energy codes are written for cold-weather climates, but APC had been looking for a warm-weather state to adopt such a code, Jackson said.
APC is part of a coalition that is laying the groundwork to get Colorado to adopt an energy-efficiency code next year, she said. The coalition includes the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association, other insulation and architecture trade groups and companies such as CertainTeed Corp., Owens Corning and Pactiv Corp.
Pennsylvania and New York are rewriting their codes to comply with international codes, and the New Jersey government recently did a study that encourages adoption of a model energy code.
Ackley takes over as SPI chairman
WASHINGTON — Robert Ackley was named the new chairman of the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. on May 11, succeeding Harry Ussery, whose term ended.
Ackley, president of Davis-Standard Corp. in Pawcatuck, Conn., will serve through May 31, 2001. Ackley was elected at SPI's executive board meeting in Boca Raton, Fla.
Garth Henry, executive vice president of worldwide plastics for M.A. Hanna Corp. in Cleveland, is the new vice chairman. R. Jay Finch, vice president of specialty plastics for Ferro Corp. in Cleveland, is SPI's secretary.
Paul Appelblom, president of Jatco Inc., in Union City, Calif., was named treasurer. Ussery, president of UTI Group in Greenville, S.C., will remain on SPI's board as immediate past chairman.
Three new members were elected to the board of Washington-based SPI: Harold Faig, group vice president of plastics technology with Milacron Inc. in Cincinnati; Roger Klouda, president of MSI Mold Builders in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and David Weil, chairman of the board of Ampacet Corp. in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Ore. recyclers want limits on plastic
SALEM, ORE. — The Association of Oregon Recyclers, concerned that plastic is replacing glass and aluminum containers, wants the state government to require at least 25 percent recycled content in beverage bottles sold on state property.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber recently issued an executive order requiring the state government to reduce waste and encourage sustainable practices through its purchasing policies. The provision did not include specifics about plastic, but Charlotte Becker, AOE resource director, said recycled-content provisions should be added.
The Salem-based AOR wrote Kitzhaber's administration that "beverage companies, especially with vending-machine accounts, are switching from aluminum cans and glass bottles with post-consumer recycled content of 25-50 percent, to plastic bottles that do not contain any post-consumer recycled content, or at best a token amount of 5 percent.
"There are no technical reasons for not incorporating recycled content into this packaging," AOR wrote in the April 25 letter.
Congressmen back computer recycling
WASHINGTON — Three members of Congress want the United States to stop opposing a European Union proposal on recycling computers, arguing that it would phase out toxic chemicals in computers.
Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., and Reps. George Miller, D.-Calif., and Bernard Sanders, I.-Vt., urged Vice President Gore in a May 16 letter to tell U.S. government agencies not to oppose the proposal.
The letter noted that in 1998 Gore took similar action and stopped the U.S. Trade Representative from blocking EU restrictions on phthalates in PVC toys. Miller's office said Gore has not responded.
Officials with USTR could not be reached for comment. Miller's letter says USTR feels the proposal may be a barrier to trade.
About 90 percent of computers could be recycled, but only about 6 percent are, according to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, in San Jose, Calif.
The EU proposal would require manufacturers to take back computers, and it would also partially phase out brominated flame retardants from being added to plastic components, said Michael Bender, a policy consultant to the coalition.
Earlier versions of the EU proposal called for 5 percent recycled-content plastic in computers, but that was dropped, Bender said. The final version of the plan is expected soon, he said.
SPI units donate to learning network
WASHINGTON — Two units of the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. have contributed $20,000 each to SPI's new satellite-based training program, the Plastics Learning Network.
SPI's Moldmakers Division and Machinery Division each agreed to contribute to the program, which is a partnership of Washington-based SPI, South Carolina Educational Television and Charlotte, N.C.-based Polymers Center of Excellence.
The donations came as a surprise, and will help with program development, said Rick Sturgis, director of SPI's Southern Regional Office, which has been developing the program.
The PLN program also recently added two courses, Preparation for Injection Molding Certification and Preparation for Extrusion Certification. The courses, which will be added in September, are designed for machine operators, first-line supervisors and production personnel.
