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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPI'S CARTEAUX URGES GLOBAL COOPERATION

STOCKHOLM (August 26, 2005) - SPI President Bill Carteaux urged the world's plastic industries to work more closely together to coordinate responses to environmental and other challenges that are becoming increasingly global.

At the annual meeting of the Council of Plastic Industry Association Directors (CIPAD) in Stockholm, Sweden, Carteaux said it was essential that industry associations keep each other "in the loop" on environmental, energy and other developments, initiatives and regulations at the national or regional level that could quickly cross national borders.

"We need to keep each other informed on a time-sensitive basis about external developments that may impact our industries, whether they originate with government agencies or NGOs - and on appropriate industry responses," Carteaux said.

"In short, as associations, we need to communicate more effectively with each other in the future than we have in the past. We need to better understand what the challenges are, how serious they are, and what options are available to us at the industry level. We need to be on the alert for all such developments and be willing to share our knowledge and coordinate our strategies."

Carteaux stressed that this was not a matter of pricing or product competitiveness, but of cooperation on policy developments that pose threats to the entire industry, such as the REACH proposals of the European Union. "These proposals are now being promoted in Canada, in Japan and at the state level in various parts of the United States," he said. "It is important that we understand their likely impact on all of our countries - and what we can do together to ameliorate these impacts and educate our legislators, our customers and the public."

Carteaux noted that the cost to industry of the REACH proposals, if adopted, would be in the billions of dollars. One company alone had estimated the cost of complying with the REACH testing requirements at $750 million. "This is not just a problem for one country or one region, but for industry as a whole," Carteaux said. "It is a good example of what can happen when we do not work together."

Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.4 million workers and provides nearly $310 billion in annual shipments. For more information, visit SPI on the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org.

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