Plastics News by the year: 2000

As Plastics News marks its 25th year of publication, we take a year-by-year look back at some of the events, people and curious coincidences that have shown up its its pages. Check back through the end of the year (not including holidays) to follow along. This year: 2000.

January

Fortune magazine names Lego toys the play product of the century because of their influence on people's lives.

International Packaging Corp. has stopped making commodity PS CD jewel boxes because it cannot compete with low-cost offshore production.

February

Donald Duncan is named the new president of SPI. He's previously served and president and CEO of DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC. He will start his new post dealing with the fallout of SPI's recent fights with APC and failed consolidation talks.

After years of development, the first thermoset truck beds hit the market, although in limited size and scope. Ford's new offshoot, the Explorer Sport Trac, feature a 4-foot composite bed.

March

TRW Inc. signals the auto industry's push to move more production to Tier 2 suppliers at the annual SAE conference in Detroit. “We just make too much stuff,” says TRW President David Cote.

Plastics News' tongue-in-cheek prediction for the plastics industry in 2014? “Out of sheer boredom, Exxon Mobil Phillips Chevron Corp. and Dow Union Carbide-Lyondell Oxy LLC — the megafirms that control 97 percent of the North American resin market — swap their massive petrochemical holdings in a one-year contest to see who can post higher returns.” (At least a couple of those names are still in plastics, though not necessarily in that configuration. Not a word, by the way, about shale gas and oil.)

April

A mold maker gets a sense of what the future holds when he takes part in a trade visit to China to see what Chinese toolmakers are doing. Stopping at one shop, a toolmaker recognizes a job under way. “I bid on that,” he says

Five of the world's largest resin companies — BASF, Bayer, Dow, DuPont and Ticona/Celanese — sign an agreement to develop a coordinated central online hub where injection molders can buy resins.

The Bad Boys are getting into plastics. Two of them, anyway. Two members of the world championship Detroit Pistons basketball team — Vinnie Johnson and Joe Dumars — announce plans to launch joint ventures to produce parts for the auto industry. They join former Piston Dave Bing, who ran a handful of Tier 2 suppliers prior to his stint as Detroit's mayor.

May

Bottler makers and beverage companies contribute thousands of dollars to sink Kentucky's proposed bottle bill.

PET container recycling falls for the fifth straight year, dropping to 23.7 percent in 1999. Recyclers blame a lack of strong collection systems. (No indication if the recyclers complaining about a lack of collection contributed to the anti-bottling bill in Kentucky.)

June

Don't think it's just the U.S. plastics industry going e-commerce crazy. Two Irish entrepreneurs announce the formation of Allplastx.com Ltd., which aims to serve the industry in Europe.

After 30 years as an injection molder, Berry Plastics is launching thermoforming with a new plant in Evansville, Ind. “We felt it was a logical business for us to get into,” says CEO Martin Imbler.

July

Ford's former parts unit finally flies the nest. Visteon Corp. is now an independent company, and looking for acquisitions that will allow it to grow in Europe and Asia.

Thermoforming equipment giants Lyle Industries Inc. and Brown Machine LLC abruptly cancel merger plans, citing personal and business reasons.

Lance Armstrong's Tour de France wins are bringing more business to composites with the makers of his carbon fiber bike seeing a big increase in sales. (Remember when Lance Armstrong was a good name for business?)

August

Plastics News buys trade shows and conferences from Advanstar Communications and renames the former Plastics Fairs Plastics Encounter.

September

Members of the family owning Crane Plastics Holding Co. of Columbus, Ohio, are the owners of the NHL's new professional hockey team the Blue Jackets. (What, The Thermoformers or the Mighty Injection Molders wasn't available?)

The Vinyl Institute launches “Vinyl By Design,” to promote the use of vinyl siding in home construction.

BMW AG shows off its Z22 concept vehicle which would be made of structural carbon fiber and use the composite for body panels. “This is going to be quite viable in some years,” a spokesman says. (It'll only take until 2013 for the first of BMW's carbon fiber bodied i3 cars to hit the market.)

October

The 2000 Olympics in Sydney is using plastics in everything from the running track to the passes allowing access to athletes and watchers alike. (Just as track star Carl Lewis about the importance of that pass. He was denied access to a practice when he forgot his.)

Visteon Corp. announces it will begin thermoforming fuel tanks, rather than blow molding them. (The effort never pans out, despite an investment in production. Processes that worked well in small scale didn't quite work for large scale molding.)

November

A new study concludes that bisphenol A does not interfere with human health. I'm sure that's the last we'll hear about BPA, right?

December

Siemens AG is selling its Mannesmann Plastics Machinery AG as a united group, rather than splitting up the six name brand companies.

In what may be one of the oddest stories — and clearest reasons why you should always check references — American Louver Co. is surprised when its newly-hired vice president of operations doesn't return from a requested leave of absence on time. Turns out Wally Mohammed is busy serving an 18-month prison sentence for defrauding a previous employer.