Two hot videos

Here are a couple of fresh videos that folks in the plastics industry should watch today. The first is from NBC's Today show, which yet again tackled the issue of BPA safety. This time Matt Lauer interviewed Sharon Kneiss of the American Chemistry Council and Frederick vom Saal, the University of Missouri professor who has taken a leading role in efforts to restrict BPA. Watch the video and judge for yourself how they did. Neither is really a TV personality (but I'm not pretending that I could do better). They both had a lot to say and little time to make their points. I don't think Kneiss helped her case near the end of the interview, where she tried to squeeze in some information that didn't really fit in with the topic. "Let's look at the benefits that BPA-containing products afford. ... Safety in bicycle helmets, children's seats for the back of your car. There are a lot of good, important benefits that BPA affords," Kneiss said. Yes, that's true -- but this debate is about the safety of polycarbonate water and baby bottles, not durable goods. Perhaps this will be Today's final word on BPA. I wonder how much typical viewers have been paying attention, and what impression they've come away with of BPA, polycarbonate, and plastics packaging in general. The second video is from the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc., and the topic is related (although it doesn't directly come out and say so). The video is narrated by Bill Carteaux, SPI's president and chief executive officer, and it explains the "chasing arrows" resin identification symbols on plastic containers. SPI released the video "to clarify the intended purpose of the resin identification codes." "The resin codes do not signify whether or not our local towns will recycle those containers. They do not indicate the safe or intended use of a bottle or container, and they should not be used for that purpose," Carteaux says. "Furthermore, the resin codes do not provide guidance on the safe or intended use of a product inside the container." He also clarifies that the No. 7 recycling code applies to all non-PET, HDPE, LDPE, PVC, PS and PP containers -- not just polycarbonate, as many recent news reports have implied.