Social media is vast, and time is limited. Outside of friends, family and business connections, what are some of the interesting accounts worth following in the plastics industry?
Here's a roundup of a few worth adding to your feed, whether you prefer LinkedIn, podcasts, Instagram or newsletters.
The 2024 plastics industry accounts you should be following
George Huber
Huber
George Huber, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is interested in a lot of different topics in the plastics industry. Following his feed on X, formerly known as Twitter, you could spot an enthusiastic video of container blow molding from the show floor at NPE2024 — "I could watch these machines for hours," he noted — along with chemical recycling or new announcements about bio-based plastics.
When The New York Times wanted to explain compostable plastics, he was among the experts it contacted.
His social media feed isn't just about his own research. He gives his take on industry news and trends, posts about his students' research and comments on just how effective some sustainability efforts are. The San Francisco airport's decision to ban PET water bottles? "They have increased CO2 consumption and produced more wastes," he noted in one post. "Sustainability really needs to use quantitative data to make informed decisions."
Calvin Lakhan
Lakhan
Calvin Lakhan is part of the Environment and Urban Change faculty at Ontario's York University and a co-investigator of its Waste Wiki, a team of waste system experts who can provide input on the life cycle of packaging, producer responsibility and household purchasing habits that affect the waste stream.
He is, a nominator said, "probably one of North America's leading experts on the waste management system and plastics impact to our overall ecology, human life and environment."
In one recent LinkedIn post, Lakhan called for organizations and companies to think carefully before publicly setting sustainability goals.
"Aspirational goals are dangerous and subsequently lead to the public's distrust and skepticism when goals are not met," he wrote. "Failing to meet an aspirational target undermines what achievements are made, as people fixate on why you didn't do what you promised, as opposed to the progress you made."
Global EPS Sustainability Alliance (GESA)
Not all uses of social media are aimed at the general public. The expanded polystyrene industry launched a private, curated LinkedIn discussion group on public policy in April, with the goal of creating dialogue around environmental issues and EPS.
The Global EPS Sustainability Alliance (GESA), which includes the Crofton, Md.-based EPS Industry Alliance, started the LinkedIn group ahead of the most recent round of plastics treaty talks in Canada in late April.
The treaty was top of mind for GESA. The online forum launched with the hope that it would be a "robust forum" for EPS treaty issues and lead brand owners, journalists, advocates and others to "meaningful discussions on sustainability and innovation at an international level."
In the few weeks since launch, the content is largely industry folks talking about recycling-related efforts, with a little more than 120 people on the thread. GESA says the forum is also open to those who question EPS.
Several U.S. states have banned EPS takeout food packaging in recent years, and more than 50 members of Congress signed onto a bill last year calling for a national ban.
Tony Maiorana
Tony Maiorana is a polymer chemist who writes about topics related to plastics and sustainability on his newsletter on Substack, The Polymerist.
"Modern life is dependent on the advances that chemistry has provided, but many of us also know that doing business as usual is unsustainable. Making chemistry suit our needs is relatively easy to do in the lab, but it's difficult to achieve at scale," he noted in one post.
"I'm not sure the people who run the chemical industry know 100 percent why things happen the way they do, but I'm here to try and figure it out, explain what I think is happening and provide some insights on how to be better."
In his Substack, Maiorana covers topics like whether bioplastics can compete with conventional resins and the influence of private equity ownership on the industry, noting that PE companies cannot expect polymer companies to generate above-market returns unless they "develop a new game."
His posts are free and publish every Tuesday.
John Richardson and Thomas Kevin Swift
Access to the context and analysis from ICIS staff typically requires a subscription. But many of the key staff members tracking regional and international events affecting the petrochemicals and plastics industries are active on LinkedIn, providing at least a glimpse into trends they see.
John Richardson, senior consultant, Asia, recently noted global trends that he expects will see demand for resins climb to more than 500 million metric tons per year, up from just 79 million tonnes in 1992. "The question … is how we meet this demand in as sustainable a fashion as possible."
Meanwhile, Thomas Kevin Swift, senior economist for global chemicals at ICIS, recently posted about home construction, packaging, consumer spending and retail sales and what those statistics mean to the plastics industry.
"From the latest ICIS research, on average, every U.S. single-family house constructed in 2023 consisted of 6,689 pounds of plastics, nearly 8 percent of the total weight of the materials of construction," he noted in early May.
Paul Hodges, chairman of New Normal Consulting, often appears on ICIS' Think Tank podcast. He also uses both LinkedIn and the New Normal newsletter to talk about big-picture issues and global trends affecting plastics and chemicals.
"Markets are having to relearn how to live with levels of international tension last seen during the dark days of the Cold War," Hodges wrote in his newsletter, going on to look at the implications of three possible scenarios: business as usual with continued instability; growing disruption with a move to more protectionist trade policies; and an "all-out trade war" that would severely disrupt global supply chains.
Engineers, researchers and others in the STEM fields may know a lot, but they're not always great at communicating that information to the general public, or even their bosses and peers.
Neil Thompson, himself an engineer, says he understands "the challenges that technical professionals face when it comes to delivering effective technical presentations."
"Many struggle with conveying complex information in a way that engages and resonates with their audience, especially if the audience in a nontechnical one," he said on LinkedIn.
So, his Teach the Geek podcast focuses on ways of getting people with STEM backgrounds to be better public speakers.
You can catch his podcast on most platforms.
Harris and Griffin Duininck
In 2023, the company sent them on a road trip to find out more about what the company — and pipes in general — can do and created a series of videos on YouTube to share with a wider audience.
Social media, especially video, was a great way to reach more people, Betsy Bonnema, marketing director at Prinsco, told Plastics News in 2023.
"The idea is to have them take this road trip and document how they learn about all of the plastic products that Prinsco makes, how they're used in different applications," she said. "Getting people really interested in the plastics industry, the drainage industry, in a new way that's not just technical."
The "On the Road" YouTube series was accompanied by social media posts on Instagram and an ongoing podcast, The Water Table, which marked its 100th episode in April.
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