Kickstart: A closer look at the 2022 POY award winners

You've read a few things already about the 2022 Processor of the Year, Teel Plastics Inc., and its fellow finalists as well as Hoffer Plastics Corp., the Sustained Excellence winner.

Today you finally get a chance to look into the details behind what makes those companies stand out.

Editor Don Loepp has written profiles of each company that you can read in this week's print edition of Plastics News or online at plasticsnews.com. You can also see web-exclusive videos and interviews here.

One unifying theme for every company, as you'd expect, is its emphasis on employees. As Tom Thompson, president of Teel, notes in a video, workers are key to pushing new ideas forward. And a good company also gives its staff the ability to try new things without worrying about what will happen to their career if those new things don't quite work out as expected.

"We have a lot of people that are really … innovative," Thompson said. "They're not afraid to fail either."

Sometimes, national news strikes close to home.

PN's Frank Esposito is the latest example of that. You've probably read his coverage for Plastics News of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that led to leading vinyl chloride monomer and a decision to burn off the PVC feedstock to avoid a possible explosion.

But in those first days after the Feb. 3 accident, Frank didn't need to read press releases from state and corporate leaders. Instead, he could follow what it meant to family members living just outside the evacuation zone. They're all doing fine, he writes in a new blog, but the sudden spotlight on the small Ohio town has been a surprise.

"Honestly, I don't think I'd ever heard anyone outside of my family ever mention East Palestine, and now it's been on national news almost every day for more than a month," he writes.

Volkswagen AG is touting its use of recycled plastics in its electric vehicle line — sold under the ID name — with a special focus on the ID Buzz, an EV version of its iconic microbus.

To be clear, using recycled PET water bottles for textiles used on seats and other interior surfaces isn't exactly new for the auto industry. Automakers have long marketed their sustainability credentials by bragging about how many water bottles it took to make its seats (63 bottles for the Buzz interior, including seats and carpet).

Instead, what caught my eye is VW's statement that it has done away with chrome surfaces on decorative plastic trim. The ability to replicate the look of chrome by metalizing injection molded plastic parts has given some companies a competitive edge. That may change, though, with VW noting that it will use innovations developed for the Buzz to other vehicles in its ID line.

"Production of chrome harms the environment," VW said in a news release. "The chrome has been replaced by a liquid paint with a chrome look that has a bio-based binder."