• Advocacy

      PLASTICS Research Working Group: Finding Meaning in the Literature

      September 10, 2021 Earlier this year, I proposed to form an internal working group at PLASTICS to review a wide variety of literature on plastics research and create a catalog of objective and positive plastics research in response to the onslaught of biased criticisms against a material that has made tremendous positive contributions to society.

    • Future Leaders

      Glad She Signed Up for Plastics

      September 8, 2021 It seems that plastic is always on Mollie Hoffman’s mind, in one way or another. “At my last job, we primarily made drink cups,” she recalled. “So, whenever we would go out, we’d always check to see if the restaurant was using our cups! It’s become a habit now to analyze the plastic packaging I’m buying to determine how it was made and what company made it.”

    • Sustainability

      Guest Blogger: Kyla Fisher, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

      August 30, 2021 As a judge for the Re|focus Sustainability Awards, seeing how businesses are rising to the challenge to ensure we can still retain the value of plastics while working to reduce their negative externalities is a reminder why innovation is a key strategy towards a sustainable solution.

    • Sustainability

      Wish-Cycling? Recyclers Wish You Wouldn’t.

      August 20, 2021 “Wish-cycling” describes when a well-intentioned person puts an item that “seems recyclable”, into the recycling bin—with the hope or wish that it will be recycled—when they really have no idea whether or not their local recycler accepts such items. It’s a “feel good” sustainability gesture that often ends up defeating the purpose of recycling. According to Waste Management, about 25% of all goods sent to U.S. recycling facilities in 2018 ended up in a landfill due to contamination from non-recyclable materials in the recycling bin.

    • Industry News

      Mind the gap: Increased productivity key to U.S. economic recovery

      August 16, 2021 The COVID-19 recession was the shortest in U.S. history.[i] It started in February and ended in April last year. While the recession was short, it stopped our economy in its tracks. The recession caused a contraction of 5.1% in Q1 2020 and a contraction of 31.2% in Q2 2020 measured by real gross domestic product (GDP) on an annualized basis. Thereafter, real GDP growth bounced back at 33.8% in Q3 2020 and 4.5% in Q4 2020. In the first and second quarters this year, real GDP increased 6.3% and 6.5%, respectively.

    • Industry News

      PLASTICS Awards Donna Davis an Honorary Lifetime Membership

      July 30, 2021 The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), has awarded an honorary lifetime membership to Donna Davis, former ExxonMobil executive and member of the Plastics Hall of Fame. Davis expressed her great pleasure in receiving the honor, saying, “I am delighted to stay engaged in this organization which provides overarching insight to the industry and a voice for that industry to the public.” 
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