Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Kickstart
February 16, 2023 07:45 AM

Kickstart: Big stories can lead to big confusion

Rhoda Miel
Managing Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Get a quick snapshot of all things plastics to your inbox every morning, for free! Sign up here for daily Kickstart emails.
    Ohio State Police
    Ohio State Police and National Guard troops aid in evacuating East Palestine, Ohio, after a train derailment.
    Big stories can lead to big confusion

    When big news breaks, it's easy for rumors to get ahead of information. We should all know that by now, but it still happens. Sometimes innocent speculation steamrolls into conspiracy theories. Sometimes one side of the political spectrum attempts to score points. Sometimes coincidental events are misconstrued as being caused by whatever event happened.

    The derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3 has been the latest example.

    That's not to downplay the extreme impact of the derailment that involved tanker cars of vinyl chloride monomer, a PVC feedstock, and a later decision to release and burn off the VCM. Environmental experts confirm that 3,500 fish died in local waters as a result of toxic exposure.

    At a Feb. 14 news conference, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the decision to release the VCM was made by state officials in Ohio and Pennsylvania to avoid something even worse, PN's Frank Esposito writes.

    "We were faced with two bad outcomes," DeWine said. "We could do nothing and wait for a car to explode … and it would have been a catastrophic explosion sending shrapnel up to a mile. … We also looked at the effects of a controlled release and made the decision to go ahead."

    State and local leaders maintain there were no "non-aquatic" deaths, but rumors continue. The Intelligencer in Wheeling, W.Va., reports that the Columbiana County Humane Society has been getting calls from local pet owners. Executive Director Teresa McGuire told The Intelligencer that the sick pets are "suspect," but East Palestine is a rural area, so it is "not uncommon for animals to get into things they shouldn't, but this is an abundance of cases."

    The group will collect and share information with railroad company Norfolk Southern and "try to get something done for the animal owners," McGuire told the paper.

    For our part, PN will continue monitoring the story and share confirmed information as it is available.

     

    Growing in Canada

    Aluminum battery enclosures and electronics may be the focus of auto supplier Magna International Inc.'s newest expansion announcements, but the investments worth more than $450 million in Ontario will also include some plastics.

    In a Feb. 14 news release, Aurora, Ontario-based Magna said the expansions in Brampton, Guelph, Belleville, Newmarket, Windsor and Penetanguishene will also cover molding at its Guelph exteriors plant while projects involving lighting, vehicle closures and tailgates likely will tap into its plastics.

    Magna spoke with PN last year about how it intends to integrate electronics and autonomous driving systems with its expertise in plastic exterior components for EVs.

     

    Big parts, big hearts

    Infiltrator Water Technologies LLC uses some very big injection molding presses to make very big parts for water and wastewater systems that are not connected to municipal lines.

    It also makes some very big contributions to helping people own their own homes.

    Since 2017, Infiltrator, based in Old Saybrook, Conn., has donated more than $543,000 worth of products for septic systems to 139 Habitat for Humanity organizations. It said in a Feb. 15 news release that it has renewed its sponsorship to supply another $100,000 worth of products.

    "In addition to Infiltrator's product donations, our employees have given their time to volunteer with Habitat and provide installation and design support," said Roy Moore, executive vice president.

    Rhoda Miel

    Kickstart is a daily email from Managing Editor Rhoda Miel that injects a quick snapshot of the plastics industry straight to your inbox, for free. 

    News tips? Ideas? Let Rhoda know at [email protected] or on Twitter @PNRhodaMiel.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Kickstart: Artificial? Yes. Intelligence? Not so much.
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    2
    Nova declares force majeure for PE made at Ontario site
    3
    Engineering resin prices close the first quarter with a drop
    4
    Entek picks Terre Haute, Ind., for $1.5B battery separator plant
    5
    Polymer Points Live March 2023: Commodity resin prices rising, but engineering resins see drops
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified