Phil Karig: "China's ban is likely to set off a game of musical chairs as everyone scrambles to make up for reduced demand [of PE] in the world's premier resin consuming country."

A Mississippi plastics executive, Tom Nathanson, is hopeful hiring former inmates can both help his company, Summit Plastics, find employees, and help the released prisoners get back into society. He said he was motivated by a North Carolina plastics firm that's been doing something similar for years.

A Mississippi plastics executive, Tom Nathanson, is hopeful hiring former inmates can both help his company, Summit Plastics, find employees, and help the released prisoners get back into society. He said he was motivated by a North Carolina plastics firm that's been doing something similar for years.

The massive Chinaplas trade fair is moving its 2021 edition to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, saying it offered more space for growth. The move also avoids a potential schedule overlap with NPE2021 in Orlando, Fla.

Several senior executives at the Plastics Industry Association are gone, including Chief Operating Officer Patty Long, as the group's new CEO puts it through a restructuring.

Starbucks Corp. wants to move away from single-use packaging, including plastics, by 2030. Its CEO compared it to the coffeehouse giant's two-decade effort around sustainable coffee production and said it would work on changing consumer behavior.

Arguing that it can both boost recycling rates and improve the financial stability of the system, California lawmakers are debating a plan to make industry responsible for operating container deposit recycling programs.

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a replacement for the NAFTA trade pact on Jan. 16, setting up the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to move to President Donald Trump for his signature.

An Ohio vinyl flooring maker, Nox U.S. LLC, faces fines of $317,000 after an employee lost part of an arm and several fingers in an accident, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a Jan. 15 news release. The company was also cited by OHSA after two workers were injured in similar incidents in 2017.

The U.S. and China signed an interim trade pact Jan. 15 at the White House, with President Trump saying that if the two countries can negotiate a so-called phase two deal, he would drop the tariffs on Chinese imports.

A Jan. 15 lawsuit in federal court in Washington seeks to block the U.S. government approval of Formosa's planned $9.4 billion petrochemical complex in Louisiana.

Concours Mold Inc., one of the largest mold makers in North America, is buying Valiant Tool and Mold Inc., its first acquisition since it was purchased by private equity firm Crestview Partners last year.

New Jersey lawmakers almost passed a statewide ban on single-use plastic and paper bags, as well EPS food packaging, in the closing moments of the state legislative session Jan. 13. Supporters of the measure say they plan to bring it back.

Film and sheet manufacturer Raven Industries Inc. is expanding its operation to the U.S. Eastern seaboard, opening a facility in Waynesboro, Va.

New limits from China's government on imported recycled plastic pellets could be difficult to comply with and force Chinese manufacturers to make another change to their supply chain.