Kickstart: Sustainability, economics and Switzerland

When the financial and political world converges on Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, you can expect sustainability will be high on the agenda.

The agenda for the forum, Jan. 15-19, lists plastics specifically a couple of times on the schedule, but materials and the circular economy are frequent topics.

A Jan. 16 discussion will highlight startup businesses focused on sustainability, or "ecopreneurs," and how venture capital can support them. The global plastics treaty takes center stage on Jan. 17.

You can find coverage of treaty talks from Plastics News' Steve Toloken by searching plasticsnews.com/public-policy or go directly to an overview of November's negotiations in Kenya here.

Global security, job growth and artificial intelligence also are main topics at Davos.

In case you missed it during the holiday weekend, Plastics News has named three finalists for its Processor of the Year Award for 2023: custom molder PTI Engineered Plastics of Macomb, Mich., blow molder and injection molder Radius Packaging of New Berlin, Wis., and rotomolder Redline Plastics LLC of Manitowoc, Wis.

All three companies have been a finalist in the past, Editor Don Loepp writes. The company that takes home the 2023 trophy will be the 29th winner in the award's history. The Processor of the Year is the highest award Plastics News presents each year.

Mack Molding Co. of Arlington, Vt., was named the 2006 Processor of the Year. This year it will receive PN's Sustained Excellence Award, presented to past winners that have upheld the same standards since winning the honor.

The 2023 Processor of the Year will be named at the Plastics News Executive Forum in Clearwater Beach, Fla., March 11-13. Mack will also be honored at the event.

Can a return to January return the North American International Auto Show to its former glory?

Personally, I'm not sure what could bring auto shows back to what they once were, but in 2025 the Detroit event will shake up the calendar to move it back to the start of the year.

The Detroit Auto Dealers Association, the group that puts on the show, has confirmed the 2025 event will take place Jan. 10-20. The show had traditionally taken place in January, but the last time NAIAS was in January was 2019.

In the pre-pandemic era, organizers had hoped a move to September and its better weather would boost attendance. COVID-19 halted the show in 2020 and 2021. When it returned in September for 2022 and 2023, it was a very different event with smaller crowds and very few new vehicle introductions.

As things shift for 2024, there will be no Detroit auto show in 2024.

DADA executives told our sister paper Crain's Detroit Business that the "primary goal" to the date change for 2025 is to "create an impactful auto show" that will showcase the city and auto industry.