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
    • 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
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • 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
    • 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
News
June 16, 2008 02:00 AM

Summit tackles numerous sustainability issues

Dan Hockensmith
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Ohio's plastics industry - the third-largest in the nation based on 2006 exports worth $26 billion - is trying to cope with changes associated with sustainability along with the rest of the nation.

    Sustainability was the main theme of the Ohio Polymer Summit, held June 3 in Columbus. PolymerOhio Inc. organized the event, which drew 220 and included breakout sessions on industrywide biomaterials and recycling trends, as well as state business development initiatives.

    ``The world of polymers is changing,'' PolymerOhio President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Early said in opening remarks. ``Our goal is to help [processors] learn about some of those changes so [they] might take advantage of them, rather than be a victim to them.''

    In a biomaterials session, officials from several prominent companies and research centers said the biggest challenge facing the industry is the low volume of bioresins being produced.

    ``There's been a lot of excitement about bio-based materials. But in many ... cases, there really hasn't been anything to back up the excitement, particularly in terms in having the volumes of materials you can use, whether for development or testing,'' said Stephen Myers, director of the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center at Ohio State University in Columbus.

    Higher prices for bioresins and lack of knowledge about them also limit their use, said Jim Gray, director of business development at Avon Lake, Ohio-based compounder PolyOne Corp.

    ``We're finding that we're currently relegated to niche-type applications that can afford or are willing to pay the premium, but we also see that we'll expand and will break into larger applications,'' he said.

    PolyOne has developed color and performance additives for polylactic acid, he said.

    Development of biofibers for resin filler and structural support will help broaden bioplastics' appeal, said Prabhat Krishnaswamy, president of Natural Fiber Composite Corp. in Mount Vernon, Ohio. His company in 2006 was awarded a $1.5 million Innovation Ohio Loan, over seven years, to aid its efforts.

    Krishnaswamy acknowledged the most popular plants used for biofibers - flax, hemp and jute - are grown in tropical climates. But there are opportunities in biofibers in the U.S.

    ``There is increasing drive toward using locally available materials everywhere in the world,'' Krishnaswamy said. So, if technology can be developed here that uses local materials, that technology can be adapted and exported, to be used with local materials elsewhere, he said.

    Closer to home, Dublin, Ohio-based Ashland Inc. is using organic feedstocks provided by DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products in some of its Envirez-brand renewable-resource resins. Ashland recently announced it also will use Susterra-brand propanediol, which is made from corn sugar at a DuPont plant in Loudon, Tenn.

    David Jones, Ashland's bioproducts director, said Envirez uses have grown beyond tractor body panels to general-purpose infusion resins for tubs and showers and boat hulls.

    ``For every 38,000-pound batch we make, we're saving approximately 10 barrels of crude oil,'' Jones said.

    About 50 people attended a summit session on recycling trends in automotive and packaging markets.

    Scott Melton, president of American Commodities Inc., a Flint, Mich.-based recycler of plastic auto body parts, said original equipment manufacturers have accepted the concept of sustainability and know enough about recycling now that they can provide specs.

    In addition, slow sales and downsizing in the industry have made OEMs rethink their positions. Five years ago, many were unwilling to use recycled materials without realizing massive cost savings. Now they're submitting specs for parts containing recycled content when the run only saves them a few thousand dollars, Melton said.

    ``With the price of plastics going up, recycling is going to have a greater future for that, because there's more value in it to take out of it later on,'' he said.

    Cost drives the PET recycling business at Bowling Green, Ohio-based Phoenix Technologies International LLC, which recently introduced a recycled PET pellet that can be processed like powder and used in bottles, sheet and food-grade applications.

    Phoenix President and CEO Bob Deardurff said his plant produces 70 million pounds per year of recycled PET at 10 percent less cost than virgin resin. He said a challenge for PET recycling will be additional handling time and expense caused by changes in the packaging industry. ``The transition is going to smaller packages and lighter and lighter weights.''

    Tom Brady, president of Phoenix's parent, Plastics Technologies Inc. of Holland, Ohio, said end users of PET bottles can make a difference nationally.

    ``If they were smart enough to support deposit legislation - where 80 percent of the stuff comes back - so that there was an oversupply of PET, [Deardurff] could make that material probably 15 percent less than virgin and sell it back. So the economics of recycling and collecting, ... mechanically, is pretty good. It's a supply and demand question.''

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    SK Capital buys additives maker Valtris Specialty
    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
    20/20 adds Southern exposure with Vantage acquisition
    2
    Sustainable Plastics Live - June 2022
    3
    Mitsubishi Chemical closes Michigan compounding plant
    4
    Shell nearing completion of Pennsylvania PE facility
    5
    Berry pledges to further cut greenhouse gas emissions
    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
      • 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
      • 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
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified