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August 01, 2022 08:20 AM

Kickstart: Betting on chips

Rhoda Miel
Managing Editor
Plastics News Staff
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    Betting on chips

    Everyone now knows that the U.S. economy has suffered because of a lack of one very small type of item:  computer microchips.

    Manufacturing of everything from cars to electronic toys has slowed because interruptions caused by COVID-19 showed just how reliant U.S. firms were on chips made elsewhere, typically in Asia.

    So the news that the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America fund passed both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives with bipartisan support has industry representatives cheering.

    "For decades, the United States failed to nurture its own industrial capabilities. Critical production went overseas, leading to the loss of both middle-class jobs and the knowledge needed for advanced manufacturing," Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said when the CHIPS and Science Act passed the Senate.

    The bill will provide $280 billion to subsidize domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

    Companies have been lining up with plans to make semiconductors in the U.S., with facilities already planned in Ohio, Arizona and Texas.

    But the AAM cautioned that more work must be done to protect U.S. manufacturing even as companies break ground on new plants.

    "Now, this won't cause the semiconductor shortage to disappear overnight, and several caveats go along with receiving the money to establish facilities here in the U.S., but this is undoubtedly a huge step in the right direction," added Carla Bailo, president and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research, in an email following the House vote.

     

    New plans for PVB site

    The site of a former Eastman Chemical Co. plant making polyvinyl butyral (PVB) resin in Trenton, Mich., has been sold to developers who plan to create an industrial park.

    St. Louis-based Commercial Development Co. "anticipates liquidating the Solutia plant's machinery and equipment through an affiliate, Industrial Asset Recovery Group, before working to bring new industrial uses to the 149-acre site," our sister paper Crain's Detroit Business writes.

    The plant was used by Eastman's Solutia division, producing PVB used as film inner layers in automotive windshields. Eastman announced the closure in November 2020, citing lower demand.

    'Carbon jargon'

    As we've mentioned previously, there's a new push beyond the circular plastics economy to one that is carbon neutral. Previews for October's K show in Düsseldorf, Germany, included commitments from materials and machinery suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint.

    But what exactly does that mean?

    Karen Laird tackles the big questions of carbon in the new issue of Sustainable Plastics. (You can download a free digital copy here).

    "Carbon jargon permeates the news releases from companies across the plastics industry," Karen writes. "Carbon accounting and greenhouse gas reporting are emerging as main topics of interest [and] terms like scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions are common knowledge. Developments in alternative feedstocks, needed for the production of 'low-carbon' plastics have skyrocketed."

    Educating yourself on carbon neutrality now will help you decode messages at K later.

     

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