January: Clorox Co. buys First Brands Corp., the maker of Glad products, for about $2 billion, then closes First Brands' headquarters in Danbury, Conn.
February: DuPont and Tokyo's Teijin Ltd. agree to form a venture in polyester films that will have annual sales of about $1.4 billion - more than one-quarter of the global market. Combined film capacity will be more than 660 million pounds a year.
February: Merger talks between the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. and the American Plastics Council stall after SPI leaders give a cool reception to an APC proposal to give resin firms 50 percent of the voting power to hire and fire the president of any merged group.
March: Alltrista Corp. becomes North America's largest industrial thermoformer by acquiring Triangle Plastics Inc. The deal boosts Alltrista's industrial thermoforming sales to about $153 million a year.
April: Tyco International Ltd. acquires injection molder Batts Inc. in a move that swallows the competition for plastic garment hangers.
May: Suiza Foods Corp. agrees to combine its U.S. plastics packaging operations with those of Reid Plastics Inc. The deal creates the second-largest blow molder in North America.
June: Dow Chemical Co. and Exxon Chemical Co. settle a legal dispute involving metallocene technology used to make enhanced plastic resins. With the lawsuits out of the way, many predict increased commercial success for metallocene-based materials.
July: Eagle Pacific Industries Inc. announces it will purchase Pacific Western Extruded Plastics Co. for $80 million, creating what it touts as the second-largest PVC pipe producer in the United States.
September: Larry Thomas announces he will step down as head of SPI, ending an 11-year tenure.
October: Automotive supplier Lear Corp. forces its toolmakers to give back a lump-sum price rebate for projects both already completed and in progress, handing Lear millions in extra income.
November: The European Com- mission decides to ban phthalates in some toys and products for children under age 3.
December: Huntsman Packaging Corp.'s Jon Huntsman announces plans to sell his share of the firm and use proceeds to boosts his charitable activities.
