Workplace safety is the theme of the week! In our special report, panelists at the recent 2023 Environmental Health and Safety Summit stressed a culture of safety from management down and shared tips to keep workers motivated on safety protocols.
From the cover:
Barbie might have hit the $1 billion-mark at the box office this weekend, but the doll spurred a fake campaign ad by actress Daryl Hannah. The actress was interviewed by Plastics News on her fake campaign — complete with fake quotes from Mattel — and it's aim at fossil fuel-based plastics.
A new localized effort in Alaska recycles post-consumer plastic, marine debris and industrial plastic waste into lumber that could be used for infrastructure or industrial work. Read the full story by Sarah Kominek later this week.
Plastic pollution shareholder resolutions got less support this year at major public companies like Amazon and ExxonMobil, a development that green investors say reflects rising anti-ESG sentiment around plastics issues. Read more about the plastics votes by Steve Toloken.
Don't forget to check out this week's Material Insights! Also, our Women Breaking the Mold 2023 are still making the rounds in our daily newsletter.
Elsewhere in this issue:
- Famed storage container maker Tupperware is restructuring its debt and buying itself time in the process as the company hopes to avoid closing down.
- Ficosa North America Corp. is closing a Kentucky plant and layoff off 143 employees.
- Closure injection molder Novembal USA Inc. is permanently closing two manufacturing sites in the US and a third in Canada. More than 100 employees will be laid off.
- Kraft Heinz Co., home to some of the most well-known names in food products, wants to dramatically cut its use of virgin plastic in packaging.
- Vantage Plastics is investing $31 million to remodel a plant in Michigan to meet increased demand.
- The Republican-led House of Representatives EPA budget is backing chemical recycling, bioplastics and reuse.
- Federal policy is needed to help build the infrastructure to scale up reusable packaging, including as a part of a national bottle bill, witnesses told a Senate environment subcommittee hearing on July 27.
- Rotational molder Myers Industries Inc. has consolidated two plants into one in northern Indiana.
- Plastics companies and investors are not fully considering long-term financial risks from reputational damage and regulations impacting the sector, including new rules that could come from a global plastics treaty, according to a new report.
