1

By Don Loepp
People notice bad news. Stories about plant closures, layoffs and bankruptcies tend to stick in your head. Maybe that’s because the headlines seem so urgent. Or perhaps people are more likely to read stories about somebody else’s misfortune.
Don’t feel guilty: It’s human nature. Drivers tend to slow down and look at the car [...]

By Steve Toloken
HONG KONG (Jan. 27, 1:45 p.m. ET) — Chinese toy makers should not compromise product safety amid tough economic times, as governments around the world continue tightening safety rules, said government regulators and toy industry officials at a recent Hong Kong trade fair.
Next month marks the first deadlines restricting phthalates in plastic toys [...]

By Mike Verespej
WALTHAM, MASS. (Updated Jan. 30, 9:30 p.m. ET) — Spearheaded by Recycline Inc., a consumer products manufacturer that makes its products out of 100 percent recycled polypropylene, a limited nationwide program to collect and recycle PP food containers is underway at 65 Whole Foods Market locations in 13 states.
Eleven Whole Foods stores in [...]

By Mike Verespej
GAINESVILLE, GA. (Jan. 28, 1:10 p.m. ET) — Industrial polypropylene recycler Sundance Products Group LLC has shut down operations at its three plants, is selling off its inventory of raw materials and finished pellets, and is looking for an investor or a buyer for the business.
Sundance, which has three plants in Georgia, was [...]

AKRON, OHIO (Jan. 29, 11:40 a.m. ET) — Tight credit, canceled orders, roller-coaster resin prices, supply-chain distress and unprecedented financial demands from suppliers and customers. Welcome to the wonderful world of plastics product manufacturing, circa 2009.
There is no way to completely fireproof yourself or your company from the current economic fallout, but there certainly are [...]

David Eldridge
Prices for plastics scrap material have plummeted in recent months, but industry executives say the downturn should not be allowed to jeopardise the success shown in UK plastics recycling growth.
The plastics recycling industry and supply chain needs to keep a steady nerve, according to Chris Dow, md of Closed Loop Recycling. Speaking to PRW, [...]

Anthony Clark
Coca-Cola has officially opened what it claims is the world’s largest bottle-to-bottle recycling plant, in South Carolina. The US facility, which was built by United Resource Recovery, will annually produce 100 million pounds of recycled plastic for reuse as bottles when at full capacity.
The 30-acre plant, which has been running at low volumes since [...]

By Lauren Hilgers
SHANGHAI (Feb. 3, 7 p.m. ET) — As the tremors of the financial crisis continue to shake factories throughout China, the future looks rocky for plastics manufacturers in the country. Exports are down and domestic consumption is slowing. Some companies, however, are looking to find a silver lining in China’s economic stimulus plan.
As [...]