Kickstart: All the data you need, just in time for Christmas

Santa's elves — actually the Plastics News editorial staff — have an early Christmas present for PN subscribers.

You can now download the digital edition of The Book, the year-end compilation of processor rankings, directories and other key data published throughout the past 12 months. (No, it's not as exciting as a new bicycle or iPhone, but The Book is still very useful.) The regular print issue of The Book will be delivered starting Dec. 25.

(Note: Our web publishing system isn't behaving, so if you're having problems accessing The Book, click here for another link.)

Our head elf (aka Hollee Keller, editorial research coordinator) updates each rankings list as new information comes in, so The Book will be current as of early December to reflect needed changes.

PN staff will be off all next week, returning on Jan. 2. We will, however, keep an eye out for any big news in the plastics industry and update plasticsnews.com as needed during that time.

Some news from 2023 will extend into 2024 obviously. A big item hanging in the air for the plastics industry is the "open-ended talks" that are continuing involving Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and its proposal to take over German chemical giant Covestro AG.

PN's Frank Esposito wrote in September that Covestro had agreed to discussions with ADNOC, saying that the United Arab Emirates-based energy company's interest "underlines our strong position as one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials."

Reuters reported Dec. 21 those talks reflect ADNOC's proposal to increase its offer for Covestro to a value of about $12.4 billion, according to its sources. The non-binding offer also includes job guarantees.

ADNOC has been working to diversify its operations and develop downstream and renewable energy offerings.

In addition to its interest in Covestro, ADNOC also has offered to buy a controlling share in the parent company of resin supplier Braskem. Novonor is a Brazilian conglomerate previously known as Odebrecht.

Ghosts of a recent past are playing havoc with planning for medical emergencies.

The Associated Press reports that individual states from across the U.S. are debating what to do with millions of pieces of personal protective equipment — such as masks, gowns and face shields — purchased in bulk following shortages early in the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem is, some of those items have an expiration date due to concerns that materials could degrade and the PPE won't function as needed.

The plastics industry stepped up to convert production to items such as gowns, masks, and shields. But the investments quickly died off. Honeywell International Inc., for instance, added equipment to make N95 masks at plants in Arizona and Rhode Island in 2020. It auctioned off that equipment in early 2022 as demand dropped.

States contacted by the Associated Press said they have attempted to distribute or donate aging items, but in the end more than 18 million masks, 22 million gowns and 500,000 gowns ended up in the trash.

Rhode Island told the AP it shredded and recycled 829 tons of PPE. Some states have already begun the process of buying replacement PPE.