Kickstart: More sustainable solutions

Sustainability is not simple.

"We're never going to get to a point where we say we've reached 'sustainability' and we're done," says Scott Trenor, technical director of the Association of Plastic Recyclers. It requires, he added, continuous improvement.

Sustainability also needs champions who are in positions to drive those improvements. This week's print issue of Plastics News includes our second annual Notable Leaders in Sustainability special report. It features people from packaging companies, from trade groups and from injection molders. There are people who came to the role after an earlier career in plastics and executives with a background in environmental studies.

Despite what industry critics may say, the plastics industry is not in opposition to sustainability. Plastics help automakers improve fuel performance, reduce food waste and protect lives. But that doesn't mean the industry can avoid future questions.

"If you are capable of making something better, I think you should. Even if you didn't cause the problem in the first place," says Patrick Krieger, vice president of sustainability for the Plastics Industry Association. "And to be frank, there are many challenges that exist to make plastics more sustainable."

To continue to grow, the plastics industry must become more aware and responsive to environmental challenges.

You can find all of this year's Notable Leaders here.

Another reason to embrace sustainability in plastics? To attract a future workforce.

Plastics News' Jim Johnson writes that top plastics engineering colleges are struggling to recruit students.

"It could become a crisis," Brad Johnson, a lecturer at Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pa., said.

A societal anti-plastics sentiment is part of a "perfect storm" affecting enrollment, said Tom Van Pernis from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. The COVID-19 pandemic, a negative image of manufacturing careers and alternative education programs at community colleges also play a part, he said, but the anti-plastics sentiment is at the forefront.

It's important that individuals and companies alike continue to advocate for a career in plastics, they said. And it's important to tell potential students that their work can help them become part of the solution, said Shawn Gross, CEO of Viking Plastics.

"Even for those that have concerns about microplastics and pollution, the narrative is [that] you can be a solutions provider," he said.

Another way to reach out to the community? Libraries.

That's possible through Ohio's Cuyahoga County Public Library system, which is about to open its ninth "maker space" innovation center. The 1,350-square-foot expansion at its Solon branch will include 3D printers, laser cutting equipment and the district's first vacuum forming machine.

"I think it's going to be particularly useful to people who are prototyping," Rebecca Ranallo, the district's literacy and learning director, told our sister paper Crain's Cleveland Business.

Industrial equipment company Swagelok is providing $500,000 toward the center.