T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
WPA TODAY
T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E W E S T E R N P L A S T I C S A S S O C I AT I O N
W W W. W E S T E R N P L A S T I C S . O R G
J U N E 2 016
P R E S I D E N T ’ S R E P O RT:
A N I N D U S T R Y B U I LT O N
R E L AT I O N S H I P S
met, and realize that relationship
is the glue that often defines our
humanity. I often think, but seldom
write, about issues beyond the
plastic industry in this column
and I’m often asked why I have
spent the last 5 years as President of this group with no monetary reward or personal gain.
But this industry is built on rela-
A young friend passed away
recently. Rodrigo was a humble,
principled 24 year old who
worked at a coffee shop I often
visit. It was difficult to embrace
his dad, who works in the
kitchen, unable to fathom his
loss but aware that life would
never be the same. I think of my
own dad, who many of you have
John Picciuto, President
of the Western Plastics
Association
IN THIS ISSUE:
President’s Report
1
WPA Conference Agenda
2
Bags
5
Greenhouse Gas
12
Recycling
17
Marine Debris
30
Legislation
37
Member News
49
Regulations
61
tionships more than it is oil or
natural gas. This position has
given me the chance to build
these relationship in an industry
that has provided so much for me
and my family. So this President’s
message is a note of thanks to
each of you for your continued
support.
•
W PA A n n u a l C o n fe re n c e
J U N E 21 – 23 , 2016
H YAT T N E W P O R T B E A C H
Great Opportunity to Learn the Latest:
New Technology • Resin Updates
Latest on Flexible Packaging • Pouch Issues
Cal-Recycle Manufacturers Challenge
Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Avoid the Carbon Taxes
Post Consumer Mandates – Learn to Use PCR
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1
W PA C O N F E R E N C E A G E N D A
H YAT T R E G E N C Y N E W P O R T B E A C H
J U N E 21– 2 3 , 2 016
TUESDAY, JUNE 21
6:00 PM
Kick Off Reception – Pacific Room Patio
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22
8:00 AM
Networking Breakfast – Pacific Room
8:30 AM
Welcome, Introductions – Pacific Room
John Picciuto, President, Western Plastics Association
8:45 AM
Latest in Extrusion & Presses
Nick Nigro, Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corporation
Michael Reinhardt, Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corporation
9:45 AM
Growth of Flexible Packaging – Peal/Seal, Stand Up Pouches
Andy Vocaire, Entec Polymers
Lamy Chopin III, DOW Specialty Packaging Development
10:30 AM
BREAK
10:45 AM
Industry Financial Update
Tom Blaige, Blaige & Company
11:45 AM
NETWORKING LUNCH – Pacific Room Patio
1:30 PM
Post Consumer Supply, Customer Demand & Use
Roxanne Vaughan, Roplast – Moderator
Sandi Childs, Association of Plastic Suppliers
Aviv Halimi, Encore
Wil Hodge, Colortech
Jon Stephens, Avangard Innovative
3:00 PM
Customer Perspectives on Packaging Choices
Lee Anderson, General Mills
4:00 PM
Total Rewards – What to do with Sales Compensation
Tim Silvera, VP Ultimate Rewards Consulting, HUB International, Inc.
5:30 PM
COCKTAIL RECEPTION
6:30 PM
DINNER & LUAU ON THE GOLF COURSE
Putting Contests and Prizes!
2
THURSDAY, JUNE 23
7:30 AM
Networking Breakfast – Pacific Room Patio
8:00 AM
Greetings – Pacific Room
John Picciuto, WPA President
8:10 AM
How Will YOU Reduce Costs When Cap & Trade Taxes Kick In?
Can the Plastics Industry Meet Mandated Reduction Numbers?
Anoosheh Mostafaei, Ship & Shore Environmental – Moderator
Andrea Marr, Regatta Solutions
Dominic Barnes, PCMC
9:30 AM
Advancements in Technology
Todd Somers, Emerald Packaging
Miguel Salva, Comexi
Jonathan Graunke, INX International
Brian Sullivan, ESI
10:45 AM
New Resin Products – Success for Bioplastic in the Marketplace
Koen Bastiaens, NatureWorks
Chris Mitchell, Innovia
Tom Pitzi, BASF
11:45 AM
Resin Update
Samantha Hartke, Petrochem Wire
12:30 PM
Wrap-Up
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ANTITRUST STATEMENT
As participants in this meeting, we need to be mindful of the constraints of Antitrust laws. There shall be no discussions of agreements
or concerted actions that may restrain competition. This prohibition includes the exchange of information concerning individual prices,
rates, market practices, claims settlement practices, or any other competitive aspect of an individual company’s operation. Each
participant is obligated to speak up immediately for the purpose of preventing any discussion falling outside these bounds.
3
4
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
BAGS:
A P B A S U B M I T S S I G N AT U R E S T O
Q U A L I F Y E N V I R O N M E N TA L F E E
P R O T E C T I O N A C T I N I T I AT I V E
B Y A N D R E A C H AV E Z , A P B A
S TAT E W I D E B A L L O T
MEASURE WILL
REDIRECT BAG
FEES FROM
GROCERS TO
E N V I R O N M E N TA L
FUND.
voters approve SB 270, the
Environmental Fee Protection Act
initiative provides them a choice
to decide where the bag fees
mandated under the law go—
either to increase grocers’ profits
or to help fund worthy environmental causes.”
The American Progressive Bag
Alliance (APBA) announced today
it will submit approximately
600,000 signatures to California
county registrars’ offices by May
20 to qualify an initiative for the
November 2016 ballot. The initiative, titled the “Environmental
Fee Protection Act,” would direct
all money generated or collected
under a state law that mandates
consumer charges for carryout
bags to an environmental fund,
rather than to grocers’ profits. It
also provides local governments
the option to direct local bag fees
to the environmental fund. Senate
Bill 270 was passed in 2014 to
ban plastic retail bags and mandate grocers charge—and keep—
10 cents for each paper and
thicker plastic bags provided to
their customers.
According to recent survey data,
84 percent of California voters—
across the political spectrum—
are united in the opinion that any
bag fees imposed by state or
local government should go to
a public purpose, instead of
increasing grocer profit margins.
“By qualifying the Environmental
Fee Protection Act initiative, the
APBA is drawing a clear line of
separation for voters between
the issue of whether or not to
ban plastic bags and the issue
of where bag fees are directed,”
said Phil Rozenski, Policy Chair
of the APBA. “Regardless of how
voters feel about banning plastic
bags, a YES vote on this initiative
will ensure any state-mandated
sales charges on carryout bags
will fund environmental efforts,
rather than being retained by
grocers. And we know this is an
easy choice for California voters.”
“SB 270 passed the Legislature
despite being a flawed, job-killing
bill designed to funnel hundreds
of millions of dollars in bag fees
to grocers without any money
going to benefit the environment,”
said Lee Califf, Executive Director
of the APBA. “The APBA stayed
implementation of this terrible
law by qualifying a referendum
for the 2016 ballot so California
voters have the opportunity to
repeal it—and we have confidence they will. However, should
By submitting approximately
600,000 signatures with a
validation rate 75%, the APBA
is confident it will qualify the
5
Environmental Fee Protection
Act initiative through a random
sample check before the June 30
deadline. The APBA supports
both the SB 270 referendum
and Environmental Fee Protection Act initiative and is committed to making sure California
voters are well-informed of the
impact of these ballot measure
before voting in November.
Environmental Fee Protection
Act summary and title
The Attorney General of California has prepared the following
title and summary of the chief
purpose and points of the proposed measure:
CARRY-OUT BAGS. CHARGES.
INITIATIVE STATUTE. Redirects
money collected by grocery and
certain other retail stores
through sale of carry-out bags,
whenever any state law bans free
distribution of a particular kind
of carry-out bag and mandates
the sale of any other kind of
carry-out bag. Requires stores to
deposit bag sale proceeds into a
special fund administered by the
Wildlife Conservation Board to
support specified categories of
environmental projects. Provides
for Board to develop regulations
implementing law. Summary of
estimate by Legislative Analyst
(Continued, see Ballot, page 6)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
BALLOT MEASURE WILL REDIRECT BAG FEES [CONT’D]
and Director of Finance of fiscal
impact on state and local government: If voters uphold the
state’s current carryout bag law,
redirected revenues from retailers
to the state, potentially in the
several tens of millions of dollars
annually.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN
PROGRESSIVE BAG
ALLIANCE (APBA)
Revenues would be used for
grants for certain environmental
and natural resources purposes.
If voters reject the state’s current
carryout bag law, likely minor
fiscal effects. (15-0074.) The American Progressive Bag
Alliance was founded in 2005 to
represent the United States’ plastic bag manufacturing and recycling sector, employing 30,800
employees in 349 communities
across the nation. APBA pro-
motes the responsible use,
reuse, recycling and disposal of
plastic bags and advocates for
American-made plastic products
as the best environmental choice
at check out—for both retailers
and consumers.
•
Reprinted from APBA press
release, May, 19, 2016.
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T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
BAGS:
‘ WA R O N PA C K A G I N G ’ E M E R G E S
A S A D I P L O M AT I C E F F O R T W I T H
INDUSTRY
BY DAN HAAR, THE HAAR REPORT
“I’m not really married to any one
particular strategy,” Kennedy
said. “I’m very interested in
learning what the industry comes
up with.”
It’s been called the War on Packaging. But two new measures
introduced by state Sen. Ted
Kennedy Jr. are shaping up more
like an aggressive diplomatic
effort than a battle against
the bags.
R AT H E R T H A N
BAN PLASTIC
BAGS AND
PA C K A G I N G
M AT E R I A L S , A
COUPLE OF BILLS
PUSHED BY TED
KENNEDY JR AIM
TO WORK.
The bag bill Kennedy is rolling
out would require all single-use
retail bags to be recyclable and
made of at least 80 percent recycled material by 2020. It would
also encourage stores to sell lowcost recyclable bags, and would
call for a memorandum of understanding with food retailers,
similar to one that worked well
in Massachusetts in 2009, to
keep more plastic bags out of
regular trash.
The Branford Democrat and cochairman of the legislature’s
environment committee is
deploying careful tactics with
long-term goals, rather than
bombing the industries that
make plastic retail bags and
packaging materials.
It just might work. A national
industry group says it’s ready to
listen and maybe even join in, at
least on the plastic bags front.
All of that is a far different strategy than Kennedy’s proposal last
year, which started as a ban. It
never came up for a vote even
after Kennedy reached a compromise with food retailers, allowing
for the sale of plastic bags.
The packaging bill, new this year,
would require the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to amend its solid
waste plan by the middle of 2017
to set a goal of eliminating half
of all packaging from the trash
stream by 2024. It would also
look at the viability of requiring
an industry-financed stewardship
program, something like what
the state has for paint, mattresses
and electronic equipment.
This time around, Kennedy was
inspired when he saw the 10-cent
bags made of recycled material
sold at Stop & Shop. “We want to
make this the standard. They’re
already in use, we’re not making
this up,” he said.
The Connecticut Food Association, which represents retailers,
is “willing and able and ready” to
talk about a store-led program to
reduce plastic bag use, said
Wayne Pesce, president of the
group. “We don’t want to go
“Consumer packaging is the
single largest component of our
solid waste stream,” Kennedy
said. It makes up a quarter to
one-third of municipal trash by
weight and probably more than
that by volume.
7
kicking and screaming, we want
to lead.”
As it happens, the industry that
makes 102 billion plastic bags
handed out by retailers every
year—that’s 800 bags a year for
every household, if you're counting—has been working on efforts
to use more “post-consumer”
recycled material in the bags it
ships out to stores.
“I think he’s got something good
going on there. We’d like to learn
more about it,” said Phil Rozenski, policy chairman for the American Progressive Bag Alliance and
a sustainability executive for a
large manufacturer, Novolex.
“The industry is looking forward
to working with him.”
The question is cost. Rozenski
said he’s not aware of any other
state proposals to require that
bags be made of recycled
material.
Both bills are scheduled for a
public hearing Friday at 12:30
p.m. at the Legislative Office
Building in Hartford, along with
other environment bills, including one to add batteries to the
list of items designated for recycling by cities and towns.
All of these bills play into an
ongoing state effort to increase
the amount of recycled material
from just over one-third of the
(Continued, see Diplomacy, page 8)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
D I P L O M A C Y T O WA R D P L A S T I C S I N D U S T R Y [ C O N T ’ D ]
3.6-million-ton annual waste
stream in Connecticut, to 60
percent by 2024. This includes
diverting all kinds of refuse that
ends up being burned at one of
the five trash-to-energy plants,
from toxic materials to yard
cuttings to food waste.
solid waste. “We’ve highlighted
consumer packaging as a main
focus of our strategy.”
of which we don’t need. And it
doesn’t include paper bags,
which are friendlier to throw
away but apparently use more
energy to produce than plastic.
No one in this conversation is
laying responsibility where it
belongs: with us, the consumers.
Retailers can’t slam their customers, state officials can’t slam
taxpayers and politicians certainly can't slam voters.
As for recycling, we could probably hit the 60 percent figure just
by tossing fruit and vegetable
scraps in the compost pile, using
separate bags for yard debris
and reusing packing materials.
Plastic bags are not typically
recycled through municipal
collection but may be returned
to stores.
One issue with the packaging
bill is that we don’t necessarily
measure consumer packaging.
Eric Brown, associate counsel at
the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, is concerned
that the packaging bill, which
Kennedy talked about right
before Christmas, makes too
many assumptions. “We need to
get a handle on the nature of the
problem,” he said.
But the outrage starts with American households. Seriously, we’re
using up 800 polyethylene bags
a year per household, folks. And
that accounts for just one-sixth
of all polyethylene that’s used,
before we even touch other
forms of plastic for wrapping,
packing and carrying stuff, much
DEEP is gathering public comments on its plan through April
22. The agency can’t say yet
whether it supports the packaging bill as it’s worded. “We agree
with the goals of the bill and we
are energized that the committee
is focusing on this,” said Lee
Sawyer, DEEP project manager in
The wild card in that bill is the
industry stewardship piece,
known in the trade as “extended
producer responsibility.” Basically, it means manufacturers pay
a small fee up front for collection
and disposal at the back end.
Connecticut has been in the forefront of this with paint and mat-
8
tresses, but other states have
joined in, said Sawyer and Chris
Nelson, a supervising environmental analyst at DEEP. “The
states do talk to each other,”
Nelson said.
We all know Connecticut is on
the national watch list when it
comes to increasing business
costs. These bills shouldn’t be
lumped into that category because they should help business.
And if we all took an active role in
our own trash lives, we wouldn’t
need the bills at all.
•
Reprinted from Hartford Courant,
www.courant.com, February 29,
2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
BAGS:
MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL
APPROVES PLASTIC BAG BAN
B Y W C C O , C B S M I N N E S O TA
The Minneapolis City Council has
passed an ordinance that will
change the way businesses bag
customer purchases.
The ordinance bans the use of
plastic bags and charges a fee
for paper bags.
THE ORDINANCE
BANS THE USE
OF PLASTIC BAGS
AND CHARGES
A F E E F O R PA P E R
BAGS.
City councilors Cam Gordon and
Abdi Warsame first proposed the
ordinance to reduce litter and
waste in the city.
and paper bags will also have
restrictions. The paper would
have to be made of recyclable
material and customers who
choose paper bags would be
charged at least a 5-cent fee.
Councilwoman Barbara Johnson
voted against the ordinance. She
said ultimately it will raise the
cost of groceries in Minneapolis
and force people to shop elsewhere.
On the flip side, shoppers who
take their own reusable bags to
the grocery store would get at
least a 10-cent credit.
Reprinted from WCCO, CBS
Minnesota, April 1, 2016.
The Minneapolis City Council
says plastic bags used for fast
food, dry cleaning and newspapers would be a few of the
exceptions under the ordinance.
After debating the issue more
than an hour and raising more
questions than answers, it
seemed as though the council
would postpone its decision.
But eventually the ordinance
passed Friday morning.
The ordinance is set to go into
effect in April 2017, though
that could change. Several city
departments have been asked
to research ways to implement
and enforce the plastic bag ban.
Plastic bags used to pack customers’ purchases at checkout
will be banned in Minneapolis,
9
•
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
BAGS:
NEW YORK CITY APPROVES
BAG FEES
B Y E D I T O R I A L S TA F F, R E S O U R C E R E C Y C L I N G
S TA R T I N G I N
OCTOBER, NYC
SHOPPERS WILL
B E C H A R G E D AT
LEAST A NICKEL
F O R E A C H PA P E R
OR PLASTIC BAG
THEY ARE GIVEN
AT C H E C K - O U T.
After two years of intense and
heated debate, New York’s City
Council narrowly passed legislation last week to apply a minimum 5 cent fee on bags. Stores
will have the option to charge
more if they so choose and will
be able to keep the fees when
the measure goes into effect
Oct. 1.
The bill was championed by New
York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who
said in a statement the fee policy
could reduce paper and plastic
bag waste by as much as 60
percent.
“The Council’s legislation strikes
the right balance, reducing reliance on single-use bags and
incentivizing the use of reusable
bags, while safeguarding consumers with some logical exemptions to protect vulnerable New
Yorkers,” de Blasio said.
An issue for recycling facilities
Plastic bags have long been identified as a problematic material
for operators of materials recovery facilities in the U.S. The
bags can tangle in sorting equipment and cause slowdowns in
processing.
However, the plastics recycling
industry has taken steps to bolster the infrastructure of plastic
bag recycling through drop-off
locations and other approaches.
The New York Times reported the
bag-fee decision in New York was
“one of the closest votes in
years, with 28 City Council members eventually supporting the
measure—just two more than
the 26 needed for legislation
to pass. Other cities that have
passed bag-fee ordinances
include Boulder, Colo., Portland,
Maine and Washington D.C.
A number of local governments
have banned plastic shopping
bags altogether.
The New York measure, which
was opposed by the American
Progressive Bag Alliance and
other groups, will not affect
emergency food providers, such
as food pantries and soup
kitchens. Those entities will be
allowed to continue offering
bags without attaching any fee.
Plastic bags for produce will not
be subject to the fee either.
10
The legislation will require the
City to report on the impact of
the bill in a study to be completed
by 2019.
Businesses found to be violating
the ordinance will be charged
$250 for the first violation and
$500 for each subsequent
violation.
•
Reprinted from www.resourcerecycling.com, May 9, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
11
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
GREENHOUSE GAS:
LAO NUMBERS ON CAP-N-TRADE
S U R E M A K E I T F E E L L I K E A TA X
BY JOEL FOX, SMALL BUSINESS ACTION COMMITTEE
MANY OF THESE
P R O J E C T S O N LY
DEAL WITH
GREENHOUSE
GASES IN A
ROUNDABOUT
WAY.
The Legislative Analyst’s letter to Assemblyman Tom Lackey
revealing that the cap-and-trade
program’s effect on gasoline
amounts to $2 billion a year or
11-cents a gallon is no surprise to
readers of this page. Numerous
writers over the last number of
years pointed to the cost that
would make its way to consumers at the pump under capand-trade.
More to the point is the issue of
whether cap-and-trade revenue
results from a tax? While that
question is being decided by
courts of law thanks to suits
brought by the California Chamber of Commerce and others,
I think the LAO’s analysis will
convince the people of California
that they are paying a tax.
The California Air Resources
Board argues that businesses
partake in the cap-and-trade
auction voluntarily, nullifying the
argument that the revenues are
a result of a tax. But, the consumers are stuck with the bill
when it comes to gasoline. There
is nothing voluntary about the
added 11-cents a gallon. Applying
the old duck test, if it walks and
quacks like a duck it’s a tax.
The question is: to what purpose?
A number of legislators commenting on the LAO’s letter to
Assemblyman Lackey suggested
that the $2 billion that is raised
by placing cap and trade on
gasoline production should be
dedicated to the roads. Senator
Pat Bates said, “Let’s use the
$2 billion dollars that drivers are
already paying to improve our
transportation infrastructure
instead of asking them for
another tax increase.”
Governor Jerry Brown has called
on the legislature to raise taxes
for roads and transportation
infrastructure.
Cap-and-trade revenue has found
its way to a wide range of projects,
all supposedly fashioned to deal
with greenhouse gases, as the
cap-and-trade law requires. The
problem is that many of these
projects only deal with greenhouse gases in a roundabout
way. File these programs under:
The law is satisfied in the eye
of the beholder. In important
instances, that eye belongs to
the governor.
Cap-and-trade money is buttressing his high-speed-rail legacy
project. Think of those train trestles that cross a gorge with the
rickety timber creaking and
swaying as the train passes by.
The cap-and-trade money is the
12
center beam holding the unstable finance scheme together for
the moment.
While the LAO’s figure on the
price increase per gallon was on
the low end of predictions, the
figure quoted was in the range
that many experts expected. Car
drivers pumping those extra dollars into the state coffers don’t
see a direct benefit. (A few might,
according to the LAO letter, such
as those drivers who receive
rebates for electric vehicle
purchases.)
Yet, most of the programs don’t
show a nexus between the
money collected and where the
money is spent. That is an important distinction because a fee
must have a measurable link. If
cap-and-trade revenue is judged
to come from a tax, the legislation
creating cap-and-trade would
have required a two-thirds vote,
which it did not get.
Still, the first judge who heard
the case sided with the state. If
the public becomes aware of the
costs associated with cap-andtrade at the pump, I suspect the
people will agree with the Chamber’s interpretation. Higher
courts may, too.
•
Reprinted from www.foxandhoundsdaily.com, April 8, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
GREENHOUSE GAS:
L E G I S L AT U R E ’ S AT T O R N E Y S AY S
G O V B R O W N C A N ’ T S E T C L I M AT E
TA R G E T S
B Y D AV I D S I D E R S , S A C R A M E N T O B E E
Gov. Jerry Brown exceeded his
authority when he issued an
ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target for California last year,
the Legislature’s attorney has
told lawmakers.
OPINION COMES
AMID UNCERTA I N T Y A B O U T
EXTENSION OF
CAP-AND-TRADE.
In a letter to Senate Republican
Leader Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield,
the state’s legislative counsel
said Brown does not have the
authority, without legislative
approval, to extend beyond 2020
the provisions of Assembly Bill
32, California’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction law.
Brown last year issued an executive order seeking to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in
California to 40 percent below
1990 levels by 2030. But subsequent legislation stalled.
Brown, a fourth-term Democrat,
has made climate change a priority of his administration. Following setbacks in the Legislature
last year, amid resistance from
Republicans and moderate
Democrats, Brown vowed to
move forward with climate
change policies on his own.
But Legislative Counsel Diane
Boyer-Vine’s opinion, dated Tuesday, suggests the significance of
an ongoing, difficult effort by
Democratic lawmakers to extend
beyond 2020 the provisions of
Assembly Bill 32 and its signature program, cap-and-trade,
in which polluters pay to offset
carbon emissions.
The law “does not authorize the
(California Air Resources Board)
or the governor to set an emissions limit after 2020 that is
lower than” the 1990 target,
Boyer-Vine wrote.
State Sen. Jim Nielsen, a Gerber
Republican who referenced the
legislative counsel’s opinion at a
committee hearing Thursday,
said, “Can the cap-and-trade
program be applied or used
beyond December 31, 2020?
Answer: No.”
Stanley Young, a spokesman for
the ARB, said in an email that the
administration does not agree
with the legislative counsel’s
legal assessment.
13
“While the 2020 limit is an important first step in measuring
progress, climate change will not
end in 2020 and AB 32 explicitly
states the intent to ‘maintain and
continue reductions in emissions
of greenhouse gases beyond
2020,’” he said.
The hearing came as Brown left
the state for the United Nations
in New York to participate in
events Friday related to the
global climate agreement
reached last year in Paris.
•
Reprinted from www.sacbee.com,
April 21, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
GREENHOUSE GAS:
C A L I F O R N I A’ S C H A N G I N G C L I M AT E
B Y S T E P H E N O R AVA A N D C L I N T O N L O N G , K I N G & S PA L D I N G U S A
T H E C A P WA S
SET IN 2013 AND
REDUCES BY 2–3
PERCENT EACH
YEAR TO 2020.
As the eighth largest economy in
the world, the US state of California has emerged as an important
laboratory for the development
of climate change laws and regulations. The foundation for California’s legal and regulatory
framework is Assembly Bill32
(AB 32), the “California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006.”
The implementation of AB 32
requires California to balance the
objective of reducing greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions with the
statutory requirement to minimise the risk of carbon leakage.
CO2 and carbon leakage in the
cement industry
This balance is particularly important to the cement industry.
Cement has the highest ca rbon
intensity of virtually any product
and the chemical reaction from
cement production itself results
in C02 emissions. These socalled ‘process emissions’ represent over 50 per cent of a cement
plant’s direct GHG emissions.
Unless there is a fundamental
technological breakthrough,
these cannot be reduced in any
meaningful way. Moreover, every
cement facility has substantial
economic incentives to reduce
energy use for combustion. Thus,
most cement plants have already
implemented the most energyefficient technologies available
and have no readily available options to make further reductions.
As a result, the cement industry
faces the high and often increasing cost of carbon under climate
change regulations.
Importantly, cement is a commodity product that is sold on
the basis of price, and it is highly
interchangeable regardless of
source. Thus, in the face of competition from unregulated
sources, the cement industry
cannot pass on its climate
change compliance costs. As a
result, the cement industry faces
an extreme risk of ‘leakage,’
which occurs when consumption
shifts from one source (such as
California) that is subject to effective climate change reduction
measures to another source
(such as imports from countries
with lower emissions standards).
The consequences of leakage are
higher global GHG emissions,
and substantial harm and disinvestment in the cement sector
that faces climate change regulations.
California's regulatory approach
Under AB 32, the California Air
Resources Board (ARB) is required to reduce GHG emissions
to the levels in 1990 by 2020 and
to adopt regulations to achieve
the maximum technologicallyfeasible and cost-effective GHG
emission reductions. In developing GHG reduction measures, including any market-based
mechanisms, ARB was required
to minimise costs and maximise
total benefits to California, consider cost-effectiveness, and
minimise leakage.
AB 32 provides that ARB must
issue a ‘Scoping Plan’ every five
years setting out how it will meet
its objectives under AB 32. In
December 2008 ARB approved
its initial Scoping Plan, which
included, among many other
measures, the implementation of
an economy-wide ‘cap-and-trade’
programme. Through subsequent
regulations, ARB established a
limit on emissions from sources
that account for 85 percent of
California’s GHG emissions.
The cap was set in 2013 and it
reduces by 2–3 percent each
year from 2014 to 2020. In very
general terms, ARB issues
‘allowances’ (or GHG emissions
‘permits’) for each compliance
period through auctions, direct
allocation, or other mechanisms,
with the number of available allowances reducing over time to
correspond to the declining cap.
To minimise leakage, ARB regulations provide for the free allocation of allowances for certain
industrial sectors that are particularly susceptible to leakage. By
providing a portion of allowances
for free, ARB intends to limit
compliance costs and thus mitigate the risk that consumption in
California will shift to sources
outside the state that are not
subject to effective climate
change measures. The.number of
free allowances provided to a
covered entity is calculated by
multiplying its output by the
applicable industry ‘carbon intensity’ benchmark, by the ‘assistance factor’ (which corresponds
to that sector’s leakage risk), and
by the ‘cap adjustment factor’
(Continued, see Blocks, page 15)
14
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
B U I L D I N G B L O C K S F O R G H G C O O P E R AT I O N [ C O N T ’ D ]
(which declines over time consistent with the overall fall in the
economy-wide cap).
ARB established the industry’s
benchmark using emissions of
the ‘best-in-class’ facility and
because of the high risk of leakage in the cement industry,
adopted an assistance factor of
100 percent through 2020. To
account for the industry’s inability to reduce over half of its emissions (ie, its process emissions),
ARB halved the cap adjustment
factor to lessen the overall decline in free allowances over
time. Even with these measures,
however, the cement industry
remains exposed to leakage
because its fungible product was
still exposed to compliance costs
based on the requirement to purchase the incremental number
of allowances necessary to fulfil
each company’s total compliance
obligation. The leakage risk
associated with these costs will
increase over time as the number
of free allowances continues to
decline. Recognising this exposure and the need to evaluate
additional leakage mitigation
measures for t he cement sector,
ARB adopted a resolution calling
for the evaluation of a border
adjustment measure that would
impose similar compliance costs
on imports of cement.
California’s cap-and-trade system
is in the middle of its second
compliance period (2015–17) and
ARB is developing regulatory
amendments in advance of the
third compliance period (2018–
20). These amendments are not
expected to have a significant
impact on the cement industry,
but ARB is also preparing the
next Scoping Plan, which will
cover proposals for how ARB will
meet emissions targets for the
post-2020 period. Key elements
that ARB is considering include,
how to:
• set post–2020 caps
• allocate allowances post–2020
(including how to incorporate the
allocation for purchased/obtained electricity in the industrial
sector)
• address effectively the risk of
leakage as compliance costs
escalate (including whether to
adopt a border adjustment and/
or undertake other mitigating
measures)
• link with other cap-and-trade
programmes in other states/
provinces.
After a series of workshops in the
spring, ARB is expected to issue
its draft post–2020 Scoping Plan
in late summer or early autumn,
with presentation of the Final
Scoping Plan to ARB for approval
potentially before the end of
2016. The issuance of the Final
Scoping Plan would trigger the
regulatory development process
in 2017.
issued draft regulations proposing a cap-and-trade system that
bears many similarities to California’s system.
Notably, the Governor of California, Jerry Brown, established the
current target for emissions
reductions (40 percent below
1990 levels by 2030) in an Executive Order. However, the Executive Order and AB 32 may not
provide ARB with sufficient legal
authority to adopt and enforce
reductions below the ‘statewide
greenhouse gas emissions limit’
established for 2020. New legislation expressly authorising such
further reductions would remove
this uncertainty.
These developments are the
building blocks of what could be
additional cooperation and collaboration between large geographic regions in North America.
Such broader cooperation may
emerge from the North American
Leaders Summit in Canada this
summer, given the March 2016
commitment by Canadian Prime
Minister, Justin Trudeau, and US
President, Barack Obama, to continue collaborating on emissions
and other climate change issues,
and to work together with Mexico
on climate change mitigation.
Additional momentum to enact
and impose laws and regulations
related to climate change may be
generated on the global level in
the follow-up to the December
2015 meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change.
North American building blocks
for global cooperation
California established its climate
change regime as a cornerstone
to building broad domestic and
international cooperation. California’s cap-and-trade system is
designed to ‘link’ to similar systems implemented by other jurisdictions. As of 2014 the cap-andtrade systems of California and
Quebec are linked, which means
that parties in either location can
trade allowances and offsets and
participate in joint auctions to
purchase allowances. Other jurisdictions are also using the California cap-and-trade model as
they implement climate change
regulations. Ontario recently
15
As local, regional and global
developments continue, the
treatment of the cement industry
in California will provide important insight into the unique challenges facing this sector.
•
Reprinted with permission,
May 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
16
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
RECYCLING:
U . S . PA P E R R E C O V E R Y R AT E
INCREASED TO 66.8 PERCENT
I N 2015
B Y K AT H A R I N E E AT O N , A F & PA
The American Forest & Paper
Association (AF&PA) announced
that 66.8 percent of paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered
for recycling in 2015.
THE ANNUAL
PA P E R R E C O V E R Y
R AT E H A S N E A R L Y
DOUBLED SINCE
1990.
U.S. paper recovery rate statistics are available at www.paperrecycles.org/statistics.
“Industry efforts, the voluntary,
market-driven recovery system,
and the millions of Americans
who make the decision to recycle
every day have helped to keep
U.S. paper recovery at continuously high levels,” said AF&PA
President and CEO Donna Harman.
“Our industry will continue to
support and implement education programs and initiatives to
inform consumers about the
importance of paper recycling,
and encourage the continued
expansion of access to paper
recycling nationwide,” said AF&
PA Board Chairman and Packaging Corporation of America Chairman and CEO Mark Kowlzan.
The annual paper recovery rate
has nearly doubled since 1990
and the industry has set a goal to
exceed 70 percent paper recovery for recycling by 2020 as part
of its Better Practices, Better
Planet 2020 sustainability initiative. Paper recovery for recycling
helps extend the useful life of
paper and paper-based packaging products, making it an
integral part of the industry’s
sustainability story.
For more information about
paper recycling and AF&PA’s
commitment to sustainability,
visit www.paperrecycles.org.
ABOUT THE AF&PA
The American Forest & Paper
Association (AF&PA) serves to
advance a sustainable U.S. pulp,
paper, packaging, tissue and
wood products manufacturing
industry through fact-based public policy and marketplace advocacy. AF&PA member companies
make products essential for
everyday life from renewable
17
and recyclable resources and
are committed to continuous
improvement through the industry’s sustainability initiative—
Better Practices, Better Planet
2020. The forest products industry accounts for approximately
4 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufactures over
$200 billion in products annually,
and employs approximately
900,000 men and women. The
industry meets a payroll of
approximately $50 billion
annually and is among the top
10 manufacturing sector
employers in 47 states.
•
Press release reprinted from
American Forest & Paper
Association, May 5, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
RECYCLING:
D O W J O I N S T H E R E C YC L I N G
PA R T N E R S H I P
B Y B E C K Y Z AVA L A , T H E D O W C H E M I C A L C O M PA N Y
THE RECYCLING
PA R T N E R S H I P
CONTINUES TO
D E L I V E R TA N G I B L E
RESULTS.
In its latest move to advance
the circular economy, The Dow
Chemical Company has just
signed on as a funding sponsor
of The Recycling Partnership. The
collaboration is an important
step in Dow’s journey to reach
its 2025 Sustainability Goals,
which include turning materials
formerly considered waste into
new products.
“At Dow, we are collaborating
with other industry leaders to
harness science, industries and
the incredibly powerful Human
Element to transition to a sustainable planet and society,” said
Karen S. Carter, North America
commercial vice president, Dow
Packaging and Specialty Plastics.
“From supporting the engagement of best practices in existing
local recycling programs, to
creating new technologies for
broader material recovery, Dow
is dedicated to finding solutions
that increase recovery rates for
plastic packaging.”
The Recycling Partnership continues to deliver tangible results,
improving recovery of high quality recyclables for manufacturing
feedstock across the country. In
2015 the national nonprofit leveraged $11 million of new recycling
infrastructure that positively
impacted 1.2 million households.
In 2016, The Recycling Partnership will further transform the
secondary material landscape,
with curbside cart launches and
quality improvement programs
already slated for a number of
cities, adding to the 165,000
carts delivered last year.
“We appreciate that Dow is
actively engaging in real world
efforts to improve the sustainability and recyclability of plastic
packaging,” shared Keefe Harrison, The Recycling Partnership’s
executive director. “Dow uses
well-informed tactics and strategic partnerships to make
progress, and it topples tough
barriers with a can-do attitude.
We have that in common, and
we’re undoubtedly stronger
together.”
Dow marks the 23rd member
of The Recycling Partnership,
further expanding the group’s
resources and reach. For more on
partners, sponsors and projects,
visit www.recyclingpartnership.org.
ABOUT DOW
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the
power of science and technology
to passionately innovate what is
essential to human progress. The
Company is driving innovations
that extract value from material,
polymer, chemical and biological
science to help address many of
the world’s most challenging
problems such as the need for
clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity.
Dow’s integrated, market-driven,
industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materi18
als, agrosciences and plastics
businesses delivers a broad
range of technology-based products and solutions to customers
in approximately 180 countries
and in high-growth sectors such
as packaging, electronics, water,
coatings and agriculture. In 2015,
Dow had annual sales of nearly
$49 billion and employed approximately 49,500 people
worldwide. The Company’s more
than 6,000 product families are
manufactured at 179 sites in 35
countries across the globe. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical
Company and its consolidated
subsidiaries unless otherwise
expressly noted.
ABOUT THE RECYCLING
PARTNERSHIP
The Recycling Partnership
(www.recyclingpartnership.org)
is a dynamic industry collaboration focused on systematically
and measurably improving curbside recycling in the United
States. Working with community
and industry partners nationwide, our strength lies in our
best-in-class operational and
technical support, proven community outreach approaches,
and highly leveraged seed grants
to communities.
•
Press release reprinted from Dow
Chemical Company, April 8, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
RECYCLING:
EU VOWS TOUGH ENFORCEMENT
O F C I R C U L A R E C O N O M Y PA C K A G E
B Y J A M E S C R I S P, E D I E N E W S R O O M
The circular economy package of
waste and recycling laws will be
backed by tougher European
Commission enforcement than
seen under previous administrations, an official told plastic
industry delegates.
THE RULES ARE
A FIRST STEP TO
ADAPTING THE
ECONOMY TO
A FUTURE OF
FINITE RESOURCES.
The rules, subject to approval by
the Parliament and the Council
of Ministers, are a first step to
adapting the economy to a future
of finite resources and a booming
population
Fulvia Raffaelli, deputy head of
unit at DG Grow, the lead department on the Package, said the
current Juncker Commission was
“more committed” to policing its
rules than its predecessor, the
Barroso administration.
But the circular economy package would not be allowed to
harm the international competitiveness of European industry,
warned Giovanni La Via, chairman
of the European Parliament’s
Environment Committee.
The rules, subject to approval by
the Parliament and the Council of
Ministers, are a first step to
adapting the economy to a future
of finite resources and a booming
population by ensuring as little is
wasted as possible.
“Enforcement is crucial. In DG
Grow, and the whole Commission, we are all working very hard
on different infringement cases,”
Raffaelli said at The European
Plastic Pipes and Fittings Association (TEPPFA) Forum in Brussels. “Pragmatism, enforcement
and implementation are much
more present than before in
the discussion.” Infringement cases are legal
actions launched by the
Commission against EU member
states that fail to observe EU
law. Ultimately they can lead to
large fines.
Despite the threat of infringement cases, some EU countries
have continuously ignored
EU legislation.
In March 2015, every single member state with the sole exception
of Malta was hit by legal action
over failures to put the Energy
Efficiency Directive into place.
“We need to discuss this with
different member states and
we are working on that,” said
Raffaelli, who stressed the need
for industries to help police the
new framework by providing,
detailed technical information.
The circular economy package
was controversially withdrawn
and re-tabled by the Juncker
Commission as part of its drive
for ‘better regulation.’
Commission First Vice-President
Frans Timmermans promised
MEPs the new package would
be “more ambitious” than the
one forward by the previous
Barroso Commission.
19
But the new circular economy
package has lower 2030 targets
for recycling municipal and packaging waste. For municipal
waste, the new target is 65%,
rather than 70%, and for packaging it is 75% rather than 80%.
The Commission argues that
additional measures, such as
initiatives focusing on designing
products to make them easier
to recycle, made the new rules
more ambitious.
Raffaelli said the lower targets
were pragmatic but, combined
with this broader “vision,” were
still ambitious. Because the
targets were more realistic, she
implied, strong enforcement
would be justified.
Pragmatism, enforcement and
implementation “were really the
basis of the new proposal,” she
said, along with the business
opportunities the package
would create.
International competitiveness Concerns have been raised that
higher environmental standards
in the EU have left industries
vulnerable to being undercut
by competitors from countries
such as China, which can make
products cheaper.
But La Via, an Italian member
of the European People’s Party,
said that would not be allowed
to happen.
(Continued, see Crucial, page 20)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
ENFORCEMENT IS CRUCIAL [CONT’D]
“We don’t want to reduce European competitiveness,” he said,
“we can lead the world [in environmental legislation] but we
cannot strongly reduce the competitiveness of our industry.
The Parliament would set out
its position in November. If the
Council was ready to begin negotiations over the final text, the
package could be approved soon
after, he said.
“We well consider the environment but we have to combine
the environment and competitiveness and find a good solution,” he added.
But MEPs wanted binding and
ambitious targets that were the
same for all member states, he
said. The current Commission
proposal has tailored targets
depending on the country.
But he warned that the Parliament and the Environment Committee would carefully assess the
ambition of the package, which
includes four waste bills, to
evaluate if Timmermans had
kept his promise.
“The new proposal should not
create double-standards and
further deepen the differences
across the EU leading to two-tier
circular economy and undermining the single market,” he said.
He added it was a shame that a
year had been lost in the withdrawal and redrawing of the new
rules.
But Ferran Rosa of Zero Waste
Europe said the package could
not be pragmatic and ambitious
at the same time.
Ambitious enough?
Karl-H Foerster, executive director of PlasticsEurope, said that
the guidelines and framework of
the package was strong enough
to change industry behaviour
and investment patterns.
“It’s impossible to reach a systemic change relying on lowhanging, easily implemented
low-hanging fruits,” he said. He said the plastics industry had
begun using innovative ways to
use waste as feedstock in
production. That would only
increase as such innovations became more commercially viable
once they had been proved.
20
•
Reprinted from edie.net,
April 6, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
RECYCLING:
NEW TOOLKIT OFFERS RESOURCES
TO INCREASE RECOVERY OF
F O O D S E R V I C E PA C K A G I N G
B Y L Y N N D Y E R , F O O D S E R V I C E PA C K A G I N G I N S T I T U T E
The newly launched Foodservice
Packaging Recovery Toolkit,
found at www.recyclefsp.org,
provides free resources for recovering foodservice packaging,
thanks to a multi-year effort with
input from many stakeholders.
RESOURCES
I N C L U D E A F I R S TOF-ITS-KIND MAP
HIGHLIGHTING
RECYCLING AND
COMPOSTING
POLICIES IN
THE U.S. AND
CANADA.
“Recovering cups, containers,
boxes, bags and other foodservice packaging is a topic of
intense interest not only for consumers but also for the foodservice packaging supply chain and
those in the recycling and composting industries,” said Lynn M.
Dyer, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute. “We’ve
created this toolkit to respond to
the questions and needs of many
different stakeholders involved in
the recovery process.”
The toolkit, developed by FPI’s
Paper Recovery Alliance and
Plastics Recovery Group, is separated into different sections
based on target audiences. For
communities, material recovery
facilities and end markets, the
toolkit highlights studies done
by the PRA and PRG, maps out
potential end markets for recycled material and shares case
studies of successful foodservice
packaging recovery.
With help from the National
Restaurant Association, a section
was incorporated for foodservice
operators, which offers step-bystep guidance for implementing
an in-store recycling and/or composting program. Resources
include free downloadable and
customizable forms and templates, educational videos and a
first-of-its-kind map highlighting
recycling and composting policies
that may impact foodservice
operators in the U.S. and Canada.
An additional section, currently
under development, will be
geared toward operators of
composting and anaerobic
digestion facilities.
To showcase the new website
and toolkit, FPI is presenting a
free webinar on April 21 at 2 PM
eastern. Space is limited, and
registration is required. For more information on FPI’s
recovery efforts, contact FPI Vice
President Natha Dempsey at
[email protected].
ABOUT FPI
Founded in 1933, the Foodservice
Packaging Institute is the leading
authority for the North American
foodservice packaging industry.
FPI encourages the responsible
use of all foodservice packaging
through promotion of its benefits
and members’ products. Serving
as the voice of the industry to
educate and influence stakeholders, FPI provides a legal forum
to address the challenges and
opportunities facing the foodservice packaging industry. Members include foodservice
packaging manufacturers and
their raw material and machinery
suppliers, restaurants, grocery
and convenience stores, distributors and nearly 50 school districts, colleges and universities.
ABOUT PRA AND PRG
The Paper Recovery Alliance and
Plastics Recovery Group were
formed under the Foodservice
Packaging Institute to create voluntary, market-based solutions
for the recovery and processing
of used paper and plastic foodservice packaging, respectively.
Members include stakeholders
from throughout the packaging
and recovery value chains.
•
Press release reprinted from
Foodservice Packaging Institute,
March 23, 2016.
21
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
RECYCLING:
ACTIVISTS CALL FOR OREO,
C H I P S A H O Y PA C K A G I N G T O
BE RECYCLABLE
BY GREG TROTTER, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
IT’S ALREADY
TA K I N G O T H E R
MEASURES TO
R E D U C E WA S T E
S O T H AT L E S S
PA C K A G I N G
ENDS UP IN
THE LANDFILL.
Some Oreo and Chips Ahoy packaging isn’t recyclable and often
ends up in the ocean where it
harms marine life, according to a
shareholder activist group pushing manufacturer Mondelez International to take action and phase
out all nonrecyclable material.
Come May 18, at the company’s
annual meeting in suburban
Lincolnshire, Mondelez shareholders will vote on a proposal
introduced by As You Sow, a
California-based nonprofit that
challenges corporations on
social and environmental issues.
The group has brought similar
proposals to Mondelez investors
for the last three years, receiving
about 28 percent support
last year.
On the bright side, as the
activists see it, it received
about 28 percent support.
That’s enough to give hope that
their call to action is resonating
with some mainstream shareholders, and that the company
may respond favorably to another vote with similar or better
results. The company’s board of
directors remains opposed, saying Mondelez already has a sustainability plan in place focused
on reducing waste.
“We are sending a message here
that’s slowly catching on,” said
Conrad MacKerron, senior vice
president of As You Sow. “We’ll
see what happens.”
Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies are
“increasingly packaged in flexible film or other plastic packaging, such as pouches, that are
not recyclable,” according to
As You Sow’s proposal.
Such packaging often ends up
in waterways and is swept out
to sea, broken down into smaller
particles and ultimately consumed by bird or marine mammals that mistake it for food, the
proposal said.
As You Sow is requesting a report
that would assess the environmental impact and financial risks
of using nonrecyclable packaging
and set a timeline for phasing
out such materials.
From the Mondelez perspective,
the company already has “ambitious goals” in place on sustainability, including reducing the
overall amount of packaging
used, according to the company’s
response in a proxy statement.
From 2010 to 2014, Mondelez
eliminated more than 44,000
tons of packaging from the
supply chain, the company said.
22
In its response, Mondelez says
it’s already taking other measures to reduce waste so that less
packaging ends up in the landfill,
and ultimately, the oceans. There
are also food safety concerns
with using recycled materials
for packaging that comes into
direct contact with food, the
company said.
It remains to be seen whether
Mondelez studies recyclable
packaging further. A proposal
that gets more than 25 percent
of shareholder support “needs to
be paid attention,” particularly if
support has grown over multiple
years, said Paul DeNicola, managing director at PwC's Governance Insights Center
“Companies have to respond on
a case-by-case basis,” DeNicola
said. “There’s no one size
fits all.”
DeNicola said the shareholder
proposals on environmental,
social and governance issues
have increased in recent years,
representing about 40 percent
of all proposals over the past
three years.
(Continued, see Sow, page 23)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
A S Y O U S O W TA R G E T S O R E O PA C K A G I N G [ C O N T ’ D ]
As You Sow doesn't typically
buy shares of a given company
directly, instead partnering with
like-minded shareholders who
sign off on the group representing their interests, MacKerron
said.
In recent years, the organization
has floated similar packaging
proposals to shareholders of Dr.
Pepper Snapple Group, Kroger
and Kraft Foods, among others.
Among the recyclable packaging
successes touted by the group,
As You Sow worked with McDonald’s to phase out Styrofoam
cups in favor of recyclable cups.
“Over the years, McDonald’s has
engaged in constructive dialogue
with As You Sow on a variety of
topics, such as a multistakeholder
project to address supply chain
working conditions in Chinese
toy factories and general conversations with updates on McDonald’s packaging,” McDonald’s
spokeswoman Lisa McComb said
in an email.
This brand of shareholder
activism can be a long game
played out over numerous years,
as massive corporations weigh
the benefits of social do-gooding
against the bottom line.
The proposals are intended to
“forestall harm, create value for
the company or hopefully both,”
said Danielle Fugere, president
and chief counsel of As You Sow.
And even shareholder proposals
that receive very little support
can start a conversation within a
company.
“It’s an important process no
matter what the outcome is in a
given year,” Fugere said.
•
Reprinted from Chicago Tribune,
March 30, 2016.
23
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
RECYCLING:
PA C N E X T R E L E A S E S T O P 15
CHALLENGES FOR RECYCLING
B Y R A C H E L M O R I E R , PA C N E X T
THE REPORT
HIGHLIGHTS
CURRENT
INDUSTRY
I N I T I AT I V E S
AND RESEARCH.
current industry initiatives and
research on new sorting and
re-processing technologies. More
importantly, this report features
recommendations and best practices to help communicate what
is needed to overcome these
challenges while seizing opportunities to recover more packaging materials. PAC is proud to announce the
release of the “Top 15 Packaging
Challenges (+Recommendations)
For Recycling in a MRF” report.
This 30-page report revisits and
expands from the original “Top
10 Packaging Challenges For
Recycling in a MRF” released
in December of 2014 to include
five new packaging formats. The
project continues to be a priority
today and for the foreseeable
future because stakeholders
throughout the value chain continue to be confused about what
can and cannot be recycled. Daniel Lantz, Chief Operating
Officer at Green By Nature EPR
and PAC NEXT Co-Chair states,
“With packaging changing constantly, it can be difficult for
recycling facility operators to
maintain, or preferably increase,
recyclables recovery rates. PAC
NEXT took the initiative to develop a guide to help program
operators and packaging designers understand the opportunities
and limitations associated with
the Top 15 packaging challenges
found in the marketplace today.” With over 30 contributors across
the packaging value chain, the
report provides updated information on key developments over
the past year and also highlights
Keith Fanta, Section Head for
Packaging Sustainability at
Procter & Gamble and fellow PAC
NEXT Co-Chair states, “While the
PAC NEXT team understands that
packaging needs to be designed
to meet a host of other important
requirements, we wanted to make
sure everyone was aware of some
of the current challenges when it
comes to recycling. The end goal
is to have the right information to
help design the most sustainable
packaging possible.”
Lantz adds, “The encouraging
thing is that over the course of
developing the document, a
number of previous ‘issues’ are
now finding solutions. PAC NEXT
will continue to monitor technology developments to address the
issues and also work with packaging designers to try to ensure
that ultimately all packaging has
a next life.”
Order the report:
PAC NEXT Members: Free.
Contact [email protected] for your
promotional code.
Non-PAC NEXT Members: $49.
Click here to purchase the report.
ABOUT PAC PAC, Packaging Consortium is a
not-for-profit corporation serving
as a vital partner and catalyst
for the packaging value chain
for over 65 years. PAC advocates
for all materials and for package
neutrality through an all-inclusive, transparent and collaborative process. Over 2,200 North
American members benefit
from the vast networking opportunities through PAC’s wide
range of educational activities
and events. From the PAC NEXT
initiative with a vision of A World
Without Packaging Waste to PAC
Food Waste, PAC helps industry
on the path towards a circular
economy.
•
Press release reprinted from
www.pac.ca, April 4, 2016.
24
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
RECYCLING:
PETOSKEY PLASTICS INTRODUCES
RECYCLING SCORECARD FOR
BLOWN PLASTIC FILM
BY JASON KEISWETTER, PETOSKEY PLASTICS
TOOL TRACKS
E N V I R O N M E N TA L
I M PA C T O F
RECYCLING IN
CLOSED LOOP
SYSTEM.
Many businesses engaged in
recycling do so based on a
philosophy of care for the environment, for social responsibility
and for economics. However, it’s
been difficult to quantify the impact that their recycling practices
are actually having on the planet.
Now, that has changed with the
introduction of the Petoskey
Plastics Recycling Scorecard for
customers that purchase products made with their recycled
blown plastic film.
Working with nationally recognized sustainability consultants,
Petoskey has developed a system of calculating the impact its
closed-loop recycling partners
are having on the environment.
The company is measuring and
providing documentation, free of
charge, to their customers on
landfill diversion, carbon footprint equivalents, emission offsets, and water savings. The data
are based on the level of recycled
content supplied within film and
bags purchased from Petoskey.
“The program is a first for the
blown plastic film industry,” said
Jason Keiswetter, Petoskey Plastics Executive Director of Marketing, Research & Development.
“Sustainability scorecards are
not new, but they are typically
more focused on internal sustainability practices such as
recycling or energy-saving measures. This is the first robust,
proactive effort we have seen
that is specifically targeted at
customers purchasing products
with recycled content. Moreover,
the reporting highlights their
involvement in a closed loop
recycling program.” Petoskey is
offering the program at no cost
to its recycling partners in retail,
distribution, shipping, automotive and other sectors.
The scorecard is based on a Life
Cycle Analysis (LCA) approach to
measuring sustainable practices.
Typically, an LCA measures
energy use, raw materials consumption, air emissions, water
effluents and solid wastes along
the entire life cycle of a production system—from the initial
extraction of natural resources
to the final disposal of wastes.
The Petoskey scorecard is unique
in that it calculates pounds of
carbon emissions saved in purchasing plastic film products
with post-consumer recycled
content (PCR).
25
In one scorecard example, a
major retail chain saved close to
6 million pounds of CO2 entering
the atmosphere through its partnership in Petoskey’s closed-loop
recycling program. The scorecard
also includes information on what
that figure represents in real
terms. In this case, over 91,000
gallons of water saved and the
equivalent of over 36.6 million
miles not driven by vehicles with
internal combustion engines—
which in turn translates to over
4,000 barrels of oil, or 195,000
gallons of gas not consumed.
“This new scorecard gives our
customers and closed-loop partners the advantage of evaluating
the actual impact of their purchasing and sustainability efforts,
and communicating them in a
way that investors, employees
and their own customers can
easily understand,” added
Keiswetter. “Making a commitment to sustainable practices
requires an investment, and this
provides a quantitative evaluation of the return on that investment to the environment.”
(Continued, see Scorecard, page 26)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
SCORECARD FOR BLOWN PLASTIC FILM [CONT’D]
As the plastics industry places
greater importance on business
and consumer recycling of plastics products, everyone can benefit from measuring results,
according to Kim Holmes, Director of Recycling and Diversion at
SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade
Association. “With its pioneering
efforts in closed-loop recycling
and development of products
containing PCR, Petoskey Plastics has long been a leader in the
blown plastics film industry,”
said Holmes. “This unique scorecard once again proves Petoskey’s
leadership and can serve as a
model for others in the industry.”
ABOUT PETOSKEY PLASTICS
Petoskey Plastics is an environmentally focused recycler and
plastic film, bag and resin manu-
facturer providing superior
products and solutions. Headquartered in Petoskey, Michigan,
the company provides products
and engineered solutions for a
variety of industries including
automotive, industrial, institutional, retail, construction and
home improvement. Petoskey
Plastics has facilities in Michigan,
Indiana and Tennessee.
•
26
Press release reprinted from
www.petoskeyplastics.com,
April 18, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
RECYCLING:
CALIFORNIA “ALL IN” ON
ORGANICS RECYCLING
BY BIOCYCLE MAGAZINE
In a Q&A session, Scott Smithline, Director of CalRecycle, provides insights on why organics
recycling is critical to tackling
climate change, depleted soil,
drought and renewable energy
generation.
ORGANIC
M AT E R I A L S T I L L
MAKES UP MORE
THAN A THIRD
O F W H AT
CALIFORNIANS
T H R O W AWAY
EACH YEAR.
Scott Smithline, Director of
the California Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), is the opening
Keynote Speaker at BioCycle’s
30th Anniversary West Coast
Conference, April 4-7, 2016 in
San Diego. BioCycle editors
posed a series of questions
related to the state of organics
recycling in California to Director
Smithline. His answers provide
a preview to his anticipated
Keynote remarks on Tuesday,
April 5 in the Opening Plenary.
BioCycle: California has a long
history of environmentally progressive policies, but the state
has recently emerged as national
leader when it comes to advancing organics recycling. How did
you get to this point?
Smithline: Organics recycling is
naturally evolving. The Integrated
Waste Management Act of 1989
(AB 939) created the foundation
for recycling infrastructure in
California. California successfully
built this infrastructure and recycling programs with the partnership of the state, local governments and industry. However,
organic material still makes up
more than a third of what Californians throw away each year. We
are wasting valuable resources.
Organics recycling supports an
entire suite of environmental
goals and economic benefits
including California’s climate
change goals. Methane emissions from organic material
decomposing in landfills are
short-lived climate pollutants
with 25 times the global warming
potential of carbon dioxide. To
meet our climate change goals,
California must increase our
organics recycling. State, local
governments and industry partners recognize the opportunities
that organics recycling provides
for achieving these goals and
realizing these benefits.
BioCycle: This willingness to act
has really spanned the political
spectrum in California.
Smithline: California acknowledges that climate change is
happening. Over the past 10
years, our state’s lawmakers and
governors have enacted policies
recognizing this reality. In addition to environmental benefits,
California policymakers understand that achieving our climate
goals results in economic growth
and development. By meeting
the state’s legislatively-mandated goal to source reduce,
compost and recycle 75 percent
27
of solid waste by 2020, we estimate up to 100,000 new jobs will
be created.
BioCycle: One major piece of
legislation takes effect this year.
Can you give us a quick explanation of California’s Mandatory
Commercial Organics Recycling
law?
Smithline: The Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling law
(AB 1826) is a tool to increase
organics recycling in the state.
The new law requires businesses
such as restaurants and grocery
stores that generate a specified
amount of organic waste per
week to arrange for organics
recycling services starting in
April 2016. Currently, we anticipate that these recycling services
will be comprised primarily of
composting and in-vessel digestion (aerobic and anaerobic).
For some California businesses,
food donation may be a beneficial way to reduce a portion of
what currently is disposed but
is still edible and to comply with
the law. CalRecycle is working
closely with local governments
to address the complexities of
ensuring that there’s adequate
food rescue and organics recycling infrastructure in place so
all of this material has somewhere to go.
(Continued, see Organics, page 28)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
WHY ORGANICS RECYCLING IS CRITICAL [CONT’D]
BioCycle: In a recent report to
the Legislature, CalRecycle said
California’s current capacity for
recovering organics is less than
half of what will be needed to
achieve its organics management
goals. What’s your strategy for
adding more facilities?
Smithline: We have to work
alongside local governments,
organics processing facility operators and other stakeholders to
incentivize the expansion or creation of more organics recycling
capacity. It’s important for us to
simultaneously focus on market
development. Part of this is to
work collaboratively with other
state agencies that have partnerships with industries and businesses that can benefit from
organics recycling products.
We’re working with the California
Department of Food and Agriculture, which is developing an
incentive program for California’s
agricultural industry to take
advantage of the growing supply
of compost material. Not only
does this compost help make
our soils healthier by returning
organic matter to the ground,
compost and mulch help soils
retain more water. Reducing
water usage and irrigationrelated pumping is critical in California after four years of drought.
We’re also working with the California Energy Commission on its
transportation fuels grant program, which has provided funding for digestion projects.
There are two keys to building
this infrastructure. We need capital investments and this development needs to be done in a way
that maximizes the environmental and economic benefits to
Californians.
BioCycle: Can you elaborate?
Smithline: By infrastructure, I’m
referring to the local government
programs that collect the material, the industries and haulers
that move it, the facilities that
can process and manage it,
and the markets and customers
who use and benefit from the
processed material. Absent additional statutory mandates, each
link in this chain requires a financial and economic incentive in
order to be successful.
Furthermore, while supporting
economic development, this
materials management infrastructure must be consistent
with the state’s environmental
goals and environmental justice
principles. We are aware of the
potential negative impact facility
siting can have on disadvantaged
communities. The next generation of organics recycling facilities, regardless of their location,
must be the result of a more robust community engagement
process and meet the highest
environmental standards.
These facilities must be good
neighbors.
BioCycle: What are your thoughts
on financial incentives and other
funding opportunities that can
assist California’s infrastructure
need?
28
Smithline: One source has been
Cap and Trade revenues. CalRecycle was able to offer $25 million in grants and loans in Fiscal
Year 2014-15 to build or expand
infrastructure projects that result
in reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Of the $25 million, $15
million helped fund five organics
facilities—two composting and
three anaerobic digestion facilities. We’ve been successful at
sparking interest in new projects,
getting the money out, and getting the agreements in place.
We’re excited to see how all of
these projects progress in the
coming year. The Governor’s
proposed 2016-17 budget includes $100 million for new and
expanded infrastructure, as well
as organics management programs such as food recovery.
While Cap and Trade funding
won’t build all of the infrastructure, it is a critical component.
BioCycle: Landfill tip fees are still
relatively cheap, compared to
processing and remanufacturing
of recyclable materials. What can
you do to level the playing field
in California and make recycling
a more financially viable option?
Smithline: Right now in California, landfilling is often the cheapest option—and that does little
to drive materials to higher and
better end uses. While there are
many local variations, tipping
fees in some areas in California
are so low that they essentially
incentivize disposal. In addition,
the benefits, including the economic benefits, of compost and
mulch—such as water retention
and improved soil health—are
not well quantified in terms of
market value. These measureable benefits are essentially
treated as externalities that don’t
get built into the pricing. In turn,
this artificially limits demand.
BioCycle: What are some key
challenges the 75 percent goal
creates?
Smithline: As we move toward
our 75 percent statewide recycling goal, we expect to see a
decline in landfill disposal, which
means a drastic reduction in tipping fee revenue for both local
governments and the state. However, as organics recycling infrastructure expands, oversight
responsibilities will increase.
This will limit CalRecycle’s ability
to administer the programs that
have made California a worldwide leader in environmental
stewardship.
The funding reduction will also
make it harder for local jurisdictions to meet their statutory obligations. While increasing fees on
landfill disposal would help fill a
short-term funding gap, California can’t solely rely on landfill
fees as our primary revenue
source and must decouple funding from disposal. We’ve begun
(Continued, see Organics, page 29)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
WHY ORGANICS RECYCLING IS CRITICAL [CONT’D]
looking at sustainable fundingsource alternatives that have
worked in other states. These
options could include increased
facility fees, producer fees, or
charges on waste generators.
BioCycle: Technologies related
to composting and in-vessel
digestion (food to energy) have
really transformed the organics
recycling conversation. But at
the same time, there are those
who believe recovering food for
human consumption should be
the top priority. Can we effectively do both?
Smithline: Food recovery for
human consumption should be
the top priority and yes, we can
effectively do both.
What we’ve found, and helped
fund through our organics grant
program, is that projects can
simultaneously target and gather
edible food for at-risk populations and focus on turning the
remaining inedible food into
compost or energy. CalRecycle
included food recovery in our
2014–15 organics grant eligibility
criteria, to encourage more businesses to consider this option.
That resulted in a $2.9 million
grant award to a joint effort by
Fresno Metro Ministry and
Colony Energy Partners to
expand a food donation network
in Fresno County for recovered
edible food, with all remaining
food waste going to Colony’s new
anaerobic digestion facility to be
built in nearby Tulare County.
CalRecycle recognizes the food
waste hierarchy, which includes
waste prevention and food recovery as top priorities. As I alluded
to earlier, the Governor’s proposed 2016–17 budget includes
$10 million that would be dedicated to food waste prevention
and food recovery efforts. Ultimately, we’d like to see a link
between food recovery organizations, local governments, organic
recycling facilities, and haulers
because they all play a key role
in reducing organic waste and
achieving the highest and best
end-use for over five million tons
of food that Californians are
currently disposing annually.
•
Reprinted from Biocycle Magazine, www.biocycle.net, March/
April 2016.
www.hudsonsharp.com
29
WHILE CAP AND
TRADE FUNDING
WON’T BUILD
ALL OF THE
INFRASTRUCTURE,
IT IS A CRITICAL
C O M P O N E N T.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MARINE DEBRIS:
A M E R I C A’ S P L A S T I C S M A K E R S
CONTRIBUTE TO SOLUTIONS
ON MARINE LITTER
BY AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL
EFFECTIVE PUBLIC
POLICIES CAN
HELP PREVENT
MARINE LITTER.
Through the American Chemistry
Council (ACC), America’s plastics
makersTM in 2011 helped lead the
development of the Declaration
of the Global Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter (Global Declaration), a global
commitment to combat ocean
pollution. Sixty-four plastics
associations in 34 countries have
signed the Declaration, and as of
the last progress report (2016)
more than 260 marine litter projects are planned, underway, or
completed around the globe.
The Global Declaration obliges
signatories to commit to action
in six areas: education, research,
public policy, best practices,
recycling/recovery, and pellet
containment. Here is a snapshot
of just some of the actions completed or underway in the U.S.
Education
By raising awareness of the
problem and highlighting steps
people take to address it, this
commitment can help change the
behavior that leads to marine
litter.
• Increasing participation in recycling programs, which can help
reduce litter, by sponsoring Keep
America Beautiful’s national TV,
print, and online campaign. Since
beginning in July 2013, the campaign has received a wide variety
of donated advertising valued at
more than $115 million.
iwanttoberecycled.org
• Educating people about the
importance of recycling yearround by sponsoring Keep America Beautiful’s annual America
Recycles Day. In 2015, 2 million
people participated in 2,000
events and 45,000 pledged
to recycle more.
americarecyclesday.org
• Supporting the Rozalia Project’s
efforts to remove marine litter
from the sea floor using remotely
operated vehicles and the Project’s national educational outreach. rozaliaproject.org
• Broadening use of on-package
labeling that educates consumers about recycling flexible
plastic wraps at major grocery
and retail stores in partnership
with the Sustainable Packaging
Coalition.
how2recycle.info/store-drop-off/
• Teaching kids the importance
of protecting watersheds by
helping fund a major exhibit at
(Continued, see Makers, page 31)
A GLOBAL COMMITMENT
BY MARINE LITTER SOLUTIONS
In March 2011, leaders from
plastics associations around
the world developed and
signed The Declaration of the
Global Plastics Associations
for Solutions on Marine Litter.
As of May 2016 a total of 65
plastic associations in 34
countries have voluntarily
signed the Declaration. The
Declaration outlines a set of
clear objectives for industry
action and advocates close
cooperation with a broad
range of stakeholders to
achieve substantial progress
in reducing damage to the
marine environment.
Our Progress Report provides
an update on projects carried
out under The Declaration.
Please click here for the 2016
Progress Report Executive
Summary for highlights. And
30
click on the cover image above
to download the full report.
•
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
PLASTICS MAKERS CONTRIBUTE TO SOLUTIONS [CONT’D]
the Aquarium of the Pacific in
Long Beach, CA.
aquariumofpacific.org/exhibits/o
ur_watersheds
Research
Studies are needed to determine
the impacts of plastic marine
litter, how and why marine litter
enters the ocean, and how to
prevent it.
• Supported multinational
research on the occurrence
and impact of microplastics in
the marine environment.
gesamp.org/workprogramme/workgroups/working-group-40
• Partnered with Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance®
on research into major sources of
marine litter and how to address
them, resulting in the report:
Stemming the Tide: Land-based
Strategies for a Plastic-free
Ocean. oceanconservancy.org
• Partnered with the National
Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on research (2006
- 2007) to help researchers and
policymakers better understand
microplastic marine debris.
pmel.noaa.gov
• Partnered with Honolulu, HI,
communities on a comprehensive study of the city’s litter and
solid waste/storm water management to identify strategies for
preventing litter from reaching
the ocean.
Public Policy
Government programs and effective policies—and the way they
are or are not enforced—can
help prevent marine litter.
• Actively supported state and
federal legislation (passed into
law in 2015) that phases out tiny
plastic “microbeads” used in personal care exfoliating products,
which can make their way into
waterways.
• Supported reauthorization of
the federal Marine Debris Act
that requires NOAA to “identify,
determine sources of, assess,
prevent, reduce, and remove marine debris and address the adverse impacts of marine debris
on the economy of the United
States, marine environment, and
navigation safety.”
marinedebris.noaa.gov/aboutour-program/marine-debris-act
Best Practices
While individual projects may
vary from place to place, sharing
successes—and the knowledge
that comes with them—helps
industry, government, and others
understand what works.
• Increasing plastics recycling by
forming public-private partnerships to provide more than 700
away-from-home recycling bins
and educational signage at
popular parks and beaches
in California.
2valuable2waste.com
• Highlighting best available
technologies and best environmental technologies for waste
management to prevent marine
litter by developing a guidance
manual in partnership with the
United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP).
• Hosted a workshop for public
officials in the Philippines on
how well designed recycling and
processing systems can create
value from plastics and other
municipal solid waste. The event
was included as part of efforts at
the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to promote
“sustainable materials management” as a solution to marine
litter.
Recycling/Recovery
Capturing plastics for recycling
and conversion into fuels keeps
plastics out of the waste and litter streams, as well as reduces
energy use and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
• Helping improve community
recycling programs through education and use of larger carts by
partnering with The Recycling
Partnership, a national nonprofit
that reaches 1.4 million households in 71 communities.
recyclingpartnership.org
• Tracking access to plastics
recycling programs and the
amount of plastics recycled in
the United States, both of which
have increased every year since
tracking began.
plastics.americanchemistry.com
31
• Dramatically increasing consumer and commercial collection
of plastic film packaging for recycling through the Wrap Recycling
Action Program (WRAP) and by
partnering with The Sustainable
Packaging Coalition and state
and local governments. Recycling
of plastic film reached nearly 1.2
billion pounds in 2014, quadruple the amount in 2005 when
measuring began.
plasticfilmrecycling.org/wrap
Pellet Containment
If spilled or released into the
environment, plastic pellets can
be difficult to recapture so reducing plastics loss is critical.
• Actively promoting a set of
practices designed to prevent
plastic pellets, flakes, and powders from reaching the environment due to spills or other losses
during manufacture, distribution,
and use (Operation Clean Sweep,
now an international model).
opcleansweep.org
•
Press release reprinted from
American Chemistry Council.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MARINE DEBRIS:
GLOBAL PLASTICS INDUSTRY
ACTIVITIES TO PREVENT AND
C O M B AT M A R I N E L I T T E R U P
MORE THAN 165-PERCENT
BY GLOBAL PLASTICS INDUSTRY
T O D AY, 6 5
A S S O C I AT I O N S
IN 34 COUNTRIES
H AV E S I G N E D O N
TO THE GLOBAL
D E C L A R AT I O N .
Leaders from plastics organizations across the globe announced
that there were approximately
260 projects planned, underway
or completed as part of the
Declaration of the Global Plastics
Associations for Solutions on
Marine Litter (Global Declaration), a public commitment by
the global plastics industry to
tackle plastic in the marine environment. The announcement
came with the release of the
plastics industry’s annual
progress report, which documents the various efforts underway around the world.
“As a united, global industry,
we’ve come a long way from
where we started in 2011,”
said Callum Chen from the Asia
Plastics Forum. “Today we have
active marine litter prevention
programs occurring in all regions
of the globe and we are continually pursuing opportunities to
grow our work.”
The Global Declaration was
launched in March 2011 at the
5th International Marine Debris
Conference by 47 plastics associations from regions across the
globe. Recognizing their important role in fighting marine litter,
these plastics associations have
launched and are supporting
projects in six key areas aimed
at contributing to sustainable
solutions. The six focus areas of
the Global Declaration are education, research, public policy, sharing best practices, plastics
recycling/recovery, and plastic
pellet containment.
[Click here to read highlight of
the report in the 2016 Progress
Report Executive Summary]
“We’re very pleased with the continued growth in the work we’re
doing on marine litter,” said
Steve Russell, vice president of
plastics for the American Chemistry Council. “Since our last
report, we’ve increased the
number of industry associations
participating as part of the Global
Declaration and demonstrated
that, united, we can help make
a difference.”
“Marine litter is a complex
environmental challenge that
requires joint efforts at the local,
regional and global level,” said
Karl-H. Foerster, Executive Director of PlasticsEurope. “We look
forward to continue developing
and executing programs that address marine litter, and work with
governments, non-governmental
32
organizations, researchers, and
other stakeholders. It is critical
that we have these partnerships
and continue to bring additional
stakeholders to the table to
tackle this very serious issue.”
“Whilst the majority of consumers act responsibly, a minority who do not use or dispose of
their plastic products appropriately, causing negative impacts
such as litter,” said Dr Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary-General, Gulf Petrochemicals and
Chemicals Association (GPCA).
“That’s why raising awareness
about proper waste management
and recycling is so important
to us.”
Since initiating the Global Declaration, signatories have identified numerous specific actions
designed to fulfill these commitments across six focus areas and
have agreed to track and report
progress. In 2013 the Global
Declaration also became part of
the United Nations Environment
Programme’s Global Partnership
on Marine Litter.
Today, 65 associations in 34
countries have signed on to the
Global Declaration, and the 260
(Continued, see Combat, page 33)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
P R E V E N T A N D C O M B AT M A R I N E L I T T E R [ C O N T ’ D ]
projects underway, planned or
completed (as of December
2015), represent a nearly 165
percent increase in the number
of projects since the Global
Declaration’s announcement.
ABOUT PLASTICSEUROPE
PlasticsEurope is one of the leading European trade associations
with centres in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan and
Paris. We are networking with
European and national plastics
associations and have more than
100 member companies, producing over 90% of all polymers
across the EU28 member states
plus Norway, Switzerland and
Turkey. The European plastics
industry makes a significant contribution to the welfare in Europe
by enabling innovation, creating
quality of life to citizens and
facilitating resource efficiency
and climate protection. More
than 1.45 million people are
working in 62,000 companies
(mainly small and medium sized
companies in the converting sector) to create a turnover above
350 bn EUR per year. The plastics
industry includes polymer producers—represented by PlasticsEurope, converters—represented by EuPC, and machine
manufacturers—represented by
EUROMAP.
33
ABOUT THE AMERICAN
CHEMISTRY COUNCIL’S
PLASTICS DIVISION
ABOUT THE GULF PETROCHEMICALS AND CHEMICALS
ASSOCIATION
The American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division represents
leading companies dedicated to
providing innovative solutions
to the challenges of today and
tomorrow through plastics.
Ongoing innovations from
America’s Plastics Makers™
have led to medical advances
and safety equipment that make
our lives better, healthier and
safer every day. And advances in
plastics are helping Americans
save energy, reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and decrease
waste. Because plastics are such
a valuable resource, the Plastics
Division is leading efforts to
“reduce, reuse, recycle and
recover,” including through outreach, education and access to
advances in recycling technology.
The Gulf Petrochemicals and
Chemicals Association (GPCA)
represents the downstream hydrocarbon industry in the Arabian Gulf. Established in 2006,
the association voices the common interests of more than 250
member companies from the
chemical and allied industries,
accounting for over 95% of
chemical output in the Arabian
Gulf region. The industry makes
up the second largest manufacturing sector in the region, producing up to US$108 billion
worth of products a year.
•
Reprinted from a news release by
Plastics Europe, American Chemistry Council, Gulf Petrochemicals
and Chemicals Association, May
20, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MARINE DEBRIS:
C O U L D A N E W P L A S T I C - E AT I N G
B A C T E R I A H E L P C O M B AT T H I S
POLLUTION SCOURGE??
B Y K A R L M AT H I E S E N , T H E G U A R D I A N
Nature has begun to fight back
against the vast piles of filth
dumped into its soils, rivers and
oceans by evolving a plasticeating bacteria—the first known
to science.
O N LY A B O U T
HALF OF THE
PET PRODUCED
IS COLLECTED
FOR RECYCLING
In a report published in the journal Science, a team of Japanese
researchers described a species
of bacteria that can break the
molecular bonds of one of the
world’s most-used plastics—
polyethylene terephthalate, also
known as PET or polyester.
The Japanese research team
sifted through hundreds of samples of PET pollution before finding a colony of organisms using
the plastic as a food source.
Further tests found the bacteria
almost completely degraded lowquality plastic within six weeks.
This was voracious when compared to other biological agents,
including a related bacteria, leaf
compost and a fungus enzyme
recently found to have an
appetite for PET.
“This is the first rigorous study—
it appears to be very carefully
done—that I have seen that
shows plastic being hydrolyzed
[broken down] by bacteria,” said
Dr Tracy Mincer, a researcher
at Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution.
The molecules that form PET are
bonded very strongly, said Prof
Uwe Bornscheuer in an accompanying comment piece in Science.
“Until recently, no organisms
were known to be able to decompose it.”
In a Gaian twist, initial genetic
examination revealed the bacteria, named Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, may have evolved
enzymes specifically capable of
breaking down PET in response
to the accumulation of the plastic
in the environment in the past
70 years.
Such rapid evolution was possible, said Enzo Palombo, a professor of microbiology at Swinburne
University, given that microbes
have an extraordinary ability to
adapt to their surroundings. “If
you put a bacteria in a situation
where they’ve only got one food
source to consume, over time
they will adapt to do that,”
he said.
“I think we are seeing how nature
can surprise us and in the end
the resiliency of nature itself,”
added Mincer.
The bacteria took longer to eat
away highly crystallised PET,
which is used in plastic bottles.
That means the enzymes and
processes would need refine-
34
ment before they could be useful
for industrial recycling or pollution clean-up.
“It’s difficult to break down
highly crystallised PET,” said
Prof Kenji Miyamoto from Keio
University, one of the authors of
the study. “Our research results
are just the initiation for the
application. We have to work on
so many issues needed for various applications. It takes a long
time,” he said.
A third of all plastics end up in
the environment and 8m tonnes
end up in the ocean every year,
creating vast accumulations of
life-choking rubbish.
PET makes up almost one-sixth
of the world’s annual plastic
production of 311m tons. Despite
PET being one of the more
commonly recycled plastics, the
World Economic Forum (WEF)
reports that only just over half
is ever collected for recycling
and far less actually ends up
being reused.
Advances in biodegradable plastics and recycling offer hope for
the future, said Bornscheuer,
“but [this] does not help to get
rid of the plastics already in the
environment.”
(Continued, see Bacteria, page 35)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
P L A S T I C - E AT I N G B A C T E R I A [ C O N T ’ D ]
However the potential applications of the discovery remain unclear. The most obvious use
would be as a biological agent in
nature, said Palombo. Bacteria
could be sprayed on the huge
floating trash heaps building up
in the oceans. This method is
most notably employed to combat oil spills.
This particular bacteria would
not be useful for this process as
it only consumes PET, which is
too dense to float on water. But
Bornscheuer said the discovery
could open the door to the discovery or manufacture of biological agents able to break down
other plastics.
Palombo said the discovery suggested that other bacteria may
have already evolved to do this
job and simply needed to be
found.
“I would not be surprised if samples of ocean plastics contained
microbes that are happily growing on this material and could be
isolated in the same manner,”
he said.
But Mincer said breaking down
ocean rubbish came with dangers of its own.Plastics often
contain additives that can be
toxic when released. WEF estimates that the 150m tonnes of
plastic currently in the ocean
contain roughly 23m tonnes of
additives.
“Plastic debris may have been
less toxic in the whole unhydrolyzed form where it would ultimately have been buried in the
sediments on a geological
timescale,” said Mincer.
Beyond dealing with the plastic
already fouling up the environment, the bacteria could potentially be used in industrial
recycling processes.
But the plastics industry said the
potential for a new biological
process to replace or augment
the current mechanical recycling
process was very small.
“Certainly, the use of these microbes or enzymes could play a
role in remediation of plastic in a
controlled reactor,” said Mincer.
“PET is 100% recyclable,” said
Mike Neal, the chairman of the
Committee of PET Manufacturers
in Europe. “I expect that a biodegradation system would require
a similar engineering process to
chemical depolymerisation and
as such is unlikely to be economically viable,” he said.
Miyamoto’s team suggested that
the environmentally-benign constituents left behind by the bacteria could be the same ones
from which the plastic is formed.
If this were true and a process
could be developed to isolate
them, Bornscheuer said: “This
could provide huge savings in
the production of new polymer
without the need for petrolbased starting materials.”
According to the WEF, 6% of
global oil production is devoted
to the production of plastics.
35
•
Reprinted from The Guardian,
March 10, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
EXTRUSION | PRINTING | CONVERTING
What do you get when teams of brilliant
minds scrutinize each component of
the proven VAREX range to make it
even better? Higher output, superb
ergonomics, improved safety and a
new world of energy efficiency.
More than just a pretty face: VAREX II.
VAREX II’s modular design provides flexibility
for producing blown films from diverse resins.
With the new ENERGY MONITORING module,
you get real-time data, making it easier than ever
to identify potential savings. And that’s just the
beginning ...
Windmoeller & Hoelscher
23 New England Way · Lincoln, Rhode Island 02865-4252
Phone 800-854-8702 · [email protected] · www.whcorp.com
36
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
L E G I S L AT I O N :
COULD TWO SIMPLE FOOD LABELS
S Q U A S H C A L I F O R N I A’ S F O O D
WA S T E P R O B L E M ?
B Y VA L E N T I N A S I L VA , L O S A N G E L E S M A G A Z I N E
A S S E M B LY M A N
D AV I D C H I U H A S
INTRODUCED A
B I L L A I M E D AT
REDUCING FOOD
WA S T E .
The war effort against food waste
is ramping up. Back in February,
France became the first country
in the world to outlaw unsold
food being tossed out by supermarkets, requiring companies to
donate items to food banks and
charities or face fines. Italy is following suit: In hopes of cutting
into the estimated 550 tons of
food the country wastes annually, legislators have proposed a
law that will grant tax cuts to
grocery stores that donate their
excess stocks.
Here in California, where state
studies have found that more
than 6 million tons of food end
up in landfills every year, there’s
a new effort to stem the waste
through food labeling.
Just last month, Assemblyman
David Chiu of San Francisco, in
conjunction with Californians
Against Waste and the Natural
Resources Defense Council, introduced a bill that, according
to an issued press release, is
“aimed at reducing food waste
and consumer confusion” by
adopting two standard dated
labels: “Best if used by” and
“Expires on.” The first will tell
consumers the date that the
food’s quality will begin to
decline, and the second will
indicate when eating the food
could pose a health threat.
The proposed Food Waste Reduction and Date Labeling Act, AB
2725, is betting that clearer,
regulated labeling will help consumers make better informed
choices. According to SF Gate,
the California Department of
Health will decide which foods
will get the “Expires on” label.
Currently, it’s up to food manufacturers to decide the dates on
packaging. As a result, food
labels run the gamut, featuring
vague phrases, like “Best flavor
by” or “Enjoy by,” leading some
consumers to believe that food
is no longer edible after the proposed date even when that’s not
the case. Add to that the common “Sell by” date label, which
is really just a cut-off date for
grocery stores and not an indication of whether the food is safe
to eat, and you’ve got a recipe
for confusion.
“In a state where 6 million families are food insecure, a startling
amount of food is being wasted
every single day because of
these arbitrary date labels,” said
Assemblyman Chiu in the release.
“We as consumers want to know
what our labels mean and
whether or not our food is safe to
eat. This bill will clean up these
confusing dates and reduce
unnecessary food waste.”
37
The release points to a study by
the Harvard Food Law and Policy
Center and NRDC, that found that
40 percent of the food produced
in the U.S. never gets eaten and
that nine out of 10 Americans
have discarded unspoiled food
based on dated labels. They say
the cost to the average family is
over a thousand dollars annually,
and the environmental costs of
the water and energy wasted to
produce the food are also cited.
During a recent interview with
KPCC’s Air Talk, Dana Gunders, a
scientist from NRDC, said that
there could be some opposition
from grocery stores, who might
find following divergent state
guidelines and federal guidelines
a hassle. Arguing that congressional gridlock would make passing a nationwide law difficult,
Gunders said, “California has an
ability to set a model for the rest
of the nation.”
•
Reprinted from Los Angeles
Magazine, April 8, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
L E G I S L AT I O N :
A R A M B U L A P U S H E S A S S E M B LY
D E M S T O WA R D S U P E R M A J O R I T Y
BY JEREMY B. WHITE, SACRAMENTO BEE
Today, Assembly Democrats
get back to 51.
A TWO-THIRDS
SUPERMAJORITY
ALLOWS DEMS
TO GOVERN
WITHOUT ANY
REPUBLICAN
VOTES.
The heavily contested race to
fill the Fresno seat vacated by
former Assembly member Henry
Perea ended last week in an outright win for Democrat Joaquin
Arambula , thwarting Republican
efforts to add to their recent column of Democratic seat pickups.
Arambula, a doctor by trade, gets
sworn in this morning when session starts at 9 a.m.
Because this was a special
election, we get to do it all again
soon. Holding Arambula’s seat
will be part of Assembly Democrats’ strategy for picking up the
additional seats needed to get
back to the 54–seat, two-thirds
supermajority threshold that
essentially allows them to govern
without any Republican votes.
Overseeing the battle plan will be
new Assembly Speaker Anthony
Rendon, D-Paramount, who has
already named his top target for
a Democratic reacquisition.
A side note about Arambula: he’s
the son of former Assemblyman
Juan Arambula, so when he takes
his seat on the Assembly floor he
will be one of six serving children
of former state legislators, along
with Assembly members Ian
Calderon (son of Chuck), Chris
Holden (son of Nate), Kevin
Mullin (son of Gene), Sebastian
38
Ridley-Thomas (son of Mark)
and Autumn Burke (daughter of
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke). Add
in the Senate and you get to
eight with Anthony Cannella
(son of Sal) and Tom Berryhill
(son of Clare).
•
Reprinted from www.sacbee.com,
April 13, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
W PA B I L L WAT C H L I S T
AB 888 (Bloom D) Waste management: plastic microbeads. Current Text: Chaptered: 10/8/2015 | Introduced: 2/26/2015 | Last Amended: 9/3/2015
Status: 10/8/2015-Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 594, Statutes of 2015.
Location: 10/8/2015-A. CHAPTERED
Summary: Would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2020, a person, as defined, from selling or offering for promotional purposes in this state a
personal care product containing plastic microbeads that are used to exfoliate or cleanse in a rinse-off product, as specified. The bill would
exempt from those prohibitions the sale or promotional offer of a product containing less than 1 part per million (ppm) by weight of plastic
microbeads. This bill contains other related provisions.
AB 1005 (Gordon D) California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act: market development payments. Current Text: Amended: 1/4/2016 | Introduced: 2/26/2015 | Last Amended: 1/4/2016
Status: 2/4/2016-Referred to Com. on E.Q.
Location: 2/4/2016-S. E.Q.
Summary: Current law authorizes the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, until that authorization is repealed on January 1,
2017, to annually expend up to $10,000,000 from the fund to make market development payments to an entity certified by the department as
a recycling center, processor, or dropoff or collection program for empty plastic beverage containers that are subsequently washed and
processed into flake, pellet, or other form, and made usable for the manufacture of a plastic product, or to a product manufacturer for empty
plastic beverage containers that are subsequently washed and processed into flake, pellet, or other form, and used by that product manufacturer to manufacture a product. This bill would postpone that repeal until January 1, 2022.
AB 1063 (Williams D) Solid waste: charges. Current Text: Amended: 8/17/2015 | Introduced: 2/26/2015 | Last Amended: 8/17/2015
Status: 8/19/2015-In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Location: 8/17/2015-S. E.Q.
Summary: Would raise the fee imposed on an operator of a disposal facility to $4 per ton commencing January 1, 2017. The bill would require
a minimum of $1.50 per ton of the fee collected from each operator, until January 1, 2022, and would authorize some or all of the fee collected
thereafter, to be allocated to activities that promote recycling and the highest and best use of materials, as specified. This bill contains other
related provisions and other existing laws.
AB 1683 (Eggman D) Alternative energy financing. Current Text: Amended: 5/16/2016 | Introduced: 1/20/2016 | Last Amended: 5/16/2016
Status: 5/27/2016-Failed Deadline pursuant to Joint Rule 61(b)(8). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 5/25/2016)
Location: 5/27/2016-A. DEAD
Summary: The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act authorizes, until January 1, 2021, the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority to provide financial assistance in the form of a sales and use tax
exclusion for projects, including those that promote California-based manufacturing, California-based jobs, advanced manufacturing, the reduction of greenhouse gases, or the reduction in air and water pollution or energy consumption. The act prohibits the sales and use tax exclusions for these projects from exceeding $100,000,000 for each calendar year. This bill would specify that if less than $100,000,000 is
granted in a calendar year, the unallocated amount may roll over to the following calendar year.
(Continued, see Watch List, page 40)
39
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
W PA B I L L WAT C H L I S T [ C O N T ’ D ]
AB 1826 (Stone, Mark D) Organic products. Current Text: Amended: 4/26/2016 | Introduced: 2/8/2016 | Last Amended: 4/26/2016
Status: 6/1/2016-In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Location: 6/1/2016-S. RLS.
Summary: Would revise and recast the California Organic Products Act of 2003 as the California Organic Food and Farming Act and would set
forth the purposes of the act. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
AB 2396 (McCarty D) Solid waste: annual reports. Current Text: Amended: 4/13/2016 | Introduced: 2/18/2016 | Last Amended: 4/13/2016
Status: 5/12/2016-Referred to Com. on E.Q.
Location: 5/12/2016-S. E.Q.
Summary: The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, establishes an integrated waste management program. Current law requires each state agency to submit an annual report to the department summarizing its progress in reducing solid waste that is due on or before May 1 of each year. This bill would require each state
agency to include in that annual report a summary of the state agency's compliance with specified requirements relating to recycling commercial solid waste and organic waste.
AB 2409 (Wagner R) Water quality standards: trash: single-use carryout bags. Current Text: Introduced: 2/19/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016
Status: 4/22/2016-Failed Deadline pursuant to Joint Rule 61(b)(5). (Last location was A. E.S. & T.M. on 4/12/2016)
Location: 4/22/2016-A. DEAD
Summary: Would suspend the operation of certain amendments to water quality control plans relating to the total maximum daily load for
trash unless the provisions inoperative due to a pending referendum election become effective. This bill would require the state board to revisit and revise water quality control plans to address impaired water quality due to trash if the law pending referendum is defeated at the
November 8, 2016, statewide general election. This bill contains other existing laws.
AB 2530 (Gordon D) Recycling: beverage containers. Current Text: Amended: 6/1/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016 | Last Amended: 6/1/2016
Status: 6/2/2016-Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate.
Location: 6/2/2016-S. SENATE
Summary: Would, beginning March 1, 2018, would require a manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic beverage container to report to the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery the average percentage of postconsumer recycled content in beverage containers sold in
the state by the manufacturer in the previous year and would require a manufacturer to use one or more of several specified methods of determining the average percentage of postconsumer recycled content for making a claim about the postconsumer recycled content. This bill
contains other related provisions.
AB 2576 (Gray D) Recycling: glass container manufacturers: market development payments. Current Text: Amended: 4/11/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016 } Last Amended: 4/11/2016
Status: 5/27/2016-Failed Deadline pursuant to Joint Rule 61(b)(8). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 5/11/2016)
Location: 5/27/2016-A. DEAD
Summary: Would provide that up to $20,000,000 shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for market development payments to glass container manufacturers in an
amount of $50 per ton of state-generated cullet, as defined, utilized for manufacturing in the state to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions not otherwise required by statute or regulation.
(Continued, see Watch List, page 41)
40
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
W PA B I L L WAT C H L I S T [ C O N T ’ D ]
AB 2579 (Low D) Food service packaging products: study. Current Text: Amended: 4/13/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016 | Last Amended: 4/13/2016
Status: 6/1/2016-In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Location: 6/1/2016-S. RLS.
Summary: The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery,
regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2018, to
complete a study to establish baseline data relating to food service packaging that contains specified information, including the current and
potential markets for recycled and composted food service packaging products.
AB 2748 (Gatto D) Environmental disaster: release of claims: statute of limitations: attorneys' fees. Current Text: Amended: 6/2/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016 | Last Amended: 6/2/2016
Status: 6/2/2016-Re-referred to Com. on JUD. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 3.) (June 2). Read second
time and amended. Assembly Rule 63 suspended. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate.
Location: 6/2/2016-S. SENATE
Summary: Current law provides that an obligation is extinguished by a release given to the debtor by the creditor, upon a new consideration,
or in writing, with or without new consideration. A general release does not extend to claims the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in
his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the
debtor. Under this bill, a partial or interim payment or reimbursement, made in connection with an environmental disaster by the responsible
polluter or any agent or entity related to the responsible polluter to any recipient, would not release the polluter from liability to the recipient
for any claim related to the environmental disaster or for any future claim by the recipient against the polluter, or for both current and future
claims.
AB 2812 (Gordon D) Solid waste: recycling: state agencies and large state facilities. Current Text: Amended: 5/27/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016 | Last Amended: 5/27/2016
Status: 6/2/2016-In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Location: 6/2/2016-S. RLS.
Summary: Would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, on or before July 1, 2017, to develop guidelines for collecting
and recycling recyclable materials in office buildings of state agencies and large state facilities, except buildings and facilities of community
college districts or their campuses. The bill would require that a covered state agency and large state facility, on and after July 1, 2018, provide
adequate receptacles, signage, education, and staffing, and arrange for recycling services consistent with specified law, for each office building of the state agency or large state facility.
SB 970 (Leyva D) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: grant program: recyclable materials. Current Text: Amended: 5/10/2016 | Introduced: 2/8/2016 | Last Amended: 5/10/2016
Status: 6/1/2016-In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
Location: 6/1/2016-A. DESK
Summary: Current law requires certain moneys appropriated by the Legislature from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be used by the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for a grant program to provide financial assistance to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
promoting in-state development of infrastructure to process organic and other recyclable materials into new, value-added products. This bill
would require the department, in awarding a grant for organics composting or anaerobic digestion under the program, to consider, among
other things, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions reductions that may result from the project and the amount of organic material that
may be diverted from landfills as a result of the project.
(Continued, see Watch List, page 42)
41
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
W PA B I L L WAT C H L I S T [ C O N T ’ D ]
SB 1043 (Allen D) Biogas and biomethane. Current Text: Amended: 4/25/2016 | Introduced: 2/12/2016 | Last Amended: 4/25/2016
Status: 5/27/2016-Failed Deadline pursuant to Joint Rule 61(b)(8). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 5/23/2016)
Location: 5/27/2016-S. DEAD
Summary: Would require the State Air Resources Board to consider and, as appropriate, adopt policies to significantly increase the sustainable production and use of biogas, as defined, and, in so doing, would require the state board, among other things, to ensure the production
and use of biogas provides direct environmental benefits and identify barriers to the rapid development and use of biogas and potential
sources of funding. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 1161 (Allen D) Statutes of limitation: California Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act of 2016. Current Text: Amended: 5/10/2016 | Introduced: 2/18/2016 | Last Amended: 5/10/2016
Status: 6/2/2016-Ordered to inactive file on request of Senator Monning.
Location: 6/2/2016-S. INACTIVE FILE
Summary: Current law requires an action alleging unfair competition, as defined, to be commenced within 4 years after the cause of action
accrued. This bill would, for actions brought by the Attorney General or a district attorney, revive an action for unfair competition with respect
to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic-induced climate change that is time
barred as of January 1, 2017, and would authorize the action to be brought within 4 years of that date.
SB 1167 (Leyva D) Employment safety: indoor workers: heat regulations. Current Text: Amended: 5/31/2016 | Introduced: 2/18/2016 | Last Amended: 5/31/2016
Status: 6/2/2016-In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
Location: 6/2/2016-A. DESK
Summary: Would require the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, by July 1, 2018, to propose to the Occupational Safety and Health
Standards Board for its adoption, a heat illness and injury prevention standard applicable to indoor workers. The bill would specify that this
requirement does not prohibit the division from proposing, or the standards board from adopting, a standard that limits the application of
high heat provisions to certain industry sectors. Because this bill would expand the definition of an existing crime, it would impose a statemandated local program.
SB 1294 (Pavley D) The Community Climate and Drought Resilience Program of 2016. Current Text: Amended: 4/27/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016 | Last Amended: 4/27/2016
Status: 5/27/2016-Failed Deadline pursuant to Joint Rule 61(b)(8). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 5/9/2016)
Location: 5/27/2016-S. DEAD
Summary: Would enact the Community Climate and Drought Resilience Program of 2016 and would require CalFire to review the urban
forestry program and, if necessary, revise the program to provide funding priority to multibenefit carbon sequestration projects and to establish local or regional targets for urban tree canopy. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 1387 (De León D) Nonvehicular air pollution: market-based incentive programs: South Coast Air Quality Management District board. Current Text: Amended: 4/7/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016 | Last Amended: 4/7/2016
Status: 6/1/2016-In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
Location: 6/1/2016-A. DESK
Summary: Would require a district board to submit to the State Air Resources Board for review and approval the district's plan for attainment
or a revision to that plan, as specified. The bill also would require a district board to submit to the state board for review and approval the district's market-based incentive program and any revisions to that program, as specified. The bill would prescribe specified actions for the state
board to take if the state board determines that a plan for attainment, a revision of a plan for attainment, a market-based incentive program,
or a revision to a market-based incentive program do not comply with law.
(Continued, see Watch List, page 43)
42
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
W PA B I L L WAT C H L I S T [ C O N T ’ D ]
SB 1459 (Morrell R) Beverage container recycling: enforcement. Current Text: Introduced: 2/19/2016 | Introduced: 2/19/2016
Status: 5/6/2016-Failed Deadline pursuant to Joint Rule 61(b)(6). (Last location was RLS. on 3/10/2016)
Location: 5/6/2016-S. DEAD
Summary: Current law prohibits any person from paying, claiming, or receiving any refund value, processing payment, handling fee, or administrative fee for imported beverage container material, previously redeemed containers, rejected containers, line breakage, or other ineligible
material. Current law also prohibits any person, with intent to defraud, from redeeming or attempting to redeem those containers or materials, returning previously redeemed containers to the marketplace for redemption, or bringing those containers or materials to the marketplace for redemption, as specified. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
43
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
L E G I S L AT I O N :
TWO JOB KILLER BILLS HELD IN
A P P R O P R I AT I O N S ; E I G H T M O V E
FOR ACTION
BY CAJOBKILLERS.COM
Fifteen of the 21 job killer bills
identified by the California Chamber of Commerce this year remain
alive after Friday’s deadline for
fiscal committees to send bills
to the floor.
THE NEXT
SIGNIFICANT
DEADLINE FOR
THE JOB KILLER
BILLS IS JUNE 3.
One bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
on May 27:
AB 1882 (Williams; D-Santa
Barbara) Gas Price Increase —
Jeopardizes the production of
California-based fuel by substantially complicating the existing
permitting process for the Underground Injection Control program
by imposing duplicative requirements and requiring the Division
of Oil, Gas and Geothermal
Resources to cede aspects of
its permitting authority to the
regional water quality control
board. Assembly Appropriations
Committee, 05/27/16; Failed
Deadline.
One bill was held on the Senate
Appropriations Committee suspense file on May 27:
SB 878 (Leyva; D-Chino) Mandated Scheduling Requirement
— Eliminates worker flexibility
and exposes employers to costly
penalties, litigation, and government enforcement, by mandating
employers in the retail, grocery,
or restaurant workplace, including employers who have hybrid
operations that include a retail or
restaurant section, to provide a
21-day work schedule and then
face penalties and litigation if the
employer changes the schedule
with less than 7 days notice,
even when the change is at the
request of the employee. Senate
Appropriations Committee,
05/27/16; Failed Deadline.
Following are job killer bills that
are awaiting action this week by
the full Senate or Assembly:
Arbitration Discrimination
AB 2667 (Thurmond; D-Richmond) Arbitration Agreements
Discrimination — Unfairly discriminates against arbitration
agreements and therefore is
likely preempted by the Federal
Arbitration Act, which will lead to
confusion and litigation, by prohibiting arbitration of Unruh Civil
Rights violations made as a condition of a contract for goods or
services. Assembly Floor.
AB 2879 (M. Stone; D-Scotts
Valley) Employment Arbitration
Agreements Discrimination —
Unfairly discriminates against
arbitration agreements and is
likely preempted by the Federal
Arbitration Act, which will lead 44
to confusion and litigation, by
prohibiting an employer from
requiring an individual who is a
member of the military to sign a
mandatory arbitration agreement
as a condition of employment.
Assembly Floor.
Affordable Housing Barriers
AB 2502 (Mullin; D-South San
Francisco/Chiu; D-San Francisco)
Erodes Housing Affordability —
Increases the cost and reduces
the supply of housing by authorizing local governments as condition of development to impose a
costly and inflexible price-controlled inclusionary housing
requirement and, in doing so,
legislatively repeals an established court decision upholding
developers’ ability to set initial
rental rates for new dwelling
units. Assembly Floor.
SB 1150 (Leno; D-San Francisco)
Erodes Housing Availability —
Increases liability risk and the
cost of residential loans by allowing a party not on the mortgage
loan to interfere with appropriate
foreclosures and creates a private right of action for violations
of overly complex and burdensome requirements. Senate
Floor.
(Continued, see Killer, page 45)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
JOB KILLER BILLS REMAIN ALIVE [CONT’D]
SB 1318 (Wolk; D-Davis) Erodes
Housing Affordability — Inappropriately leverages necessary
affordable housing in order to
solve infrastructure issues with
the consequence that the housing won’t be built by imposing
requirements on water or waste
water districts to serve certain
communities first. Senate Floor.
Increased Labor Costs
SB 1166 (Jackson; D-Santa
Barbara) Imposes New Maternity
and Paternity Leave Mandate
— Unduly burdens and increases
costs of small employers with as
few as 10 employees, as well as
large employers with 50 or more
employees, by requiring 12
weeks of protected employee
leave for maternity or paternity
leave, and exposes all employers
to the threat of costly litigation.
Senate Floor.
California Oil Production Barriers
AB 2729 (Williams; D-Santa
Barbara/ Thurmond; D-Richmond) Gas Price Increase —
Jeopardizes the production of
California-based fuel supply and
increases costs to the industry by
revising the definition of an idle
well and requiring permanent
closure of 25% of California’s
long-term idle wells each year.
Assembly Floor.
The next significant deadline for
the job killer bills is June 3, the
date by which bills must pass
the house in which they were
introduced.
•
Reprinted from www.cajobkillers.com, May 2016.
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T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
L E G I S L AT I O N :
O N TA R I O E P R B I L L S E E M S
POISED TO MOVE AHEAD
B Y B O B B Y E L L I O T T, R E S O U R C E R E C Y C L I N G
A broad range of stakeholders
have recently expressed support
for the Waste Free Ontario Act,
or Bill 151, which would cover
printed paper and packaging and
replace the province’s Waste
Diversion Act (WDA) of 2002.
O N TA R I O ’ S
PROPOSED
RECYCLING
PROGRAM HAS
NOT BEEN
W I D E LY
OPPOSED.
Under the WDA, stewards are
currently required to split the
costs of recycling printed and
paper packaging (PPP) with
municipalities. Bill 151, which
passed its second reading earlier
this month in Ontario Legislature,
would make companies solely
responsible for the costs of the
program as well as programs
for electronics and household
hazardous waste.
Producer-funded recycling
systems that are mandated by
law are referred to as extended
producer responsibility (EPR).
British Columbia rolled out an
EPR system for printed paper and
packaging two years ago.
Natural maturation process
The Recycling Council of Ontario
is one group that’s pushing for
the legislation to become law.
“The WDA was a compromise
and the compromise was the first
realization and acceptance that
the private sector who puts packaging on the marketplace should
be somewhat responsible for the
cost of end-of-life management,”
Jo-Anne St. Godard, the group’s
executive director, said. “That
was, in our opinion, a compromise and a starting point for
the province.”
Godard now says full producer
responsibility is simply part of
a “natural maturation process”
in Ontario. Municipalities,
while currently seeking some
changes to the legislation,
including the creation of a
municipal waste advisory body,
seem to agree.
“Municipalities are funded for
only a portion of the costs that
they incur, so we are certainly
supportive of legislation with the
intent of moving in that direction,” said Vincent Sferrazza, a
longtime City of Toronto waste
management executive.
A representative of the Associated Municipalities of Ontario
(AMO) also indicated support
for the legislation.
“We think it’s a sound policy,”
Dave Gordon, AMO’s senior advisor for waste diversion, said.
“If you want to drive real change
in terms of the types of resources
used and the way they design
things, I think you really have to
have those end-of-life costs internalized to the producer.”
Though costs would grow for
producers under the new legislation, Bill 151 is “likely to be supported by most stewards,” the
Canadian Stewardship Services
Alliances said.
46
“Stewards tend to favor a regulatory approach that pairs any
increase in producer funding
with a commensurate increase in
control over recycling operations
(collection or processing or both)
because it enables producers to
manage outcomes and costs.
Bill 151 seems to recognize and
appropriately assign roles and
responsibilities for Ontario’s residential recycling system,” the
group stated.
Bill 151 is currently being
reviewed by the Parliament’s
Standing Committee on Social
Policy before it heads for a third
reading and a final vote by legislators. Godard from the Recycling
Council of Ontario said it’s possible the bill could be passed as
early as this spring.
•
Reprinted from www.resource-recycling.com, April 18, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
L E G I S L AT I O N :
CONVERTING FREE RIDERS
I N T O P R O D U C T S T E WA R D S
BY CARL SMITH, GREEN BIZ
CALL2RECYCLE
HAS INCREASED
RECYCLING
THROUGHOUT
NORTH AMERICA
OVER 20 YEARS.
During the last 10 years, portable
electronic devices powered by
batteries have proliferated,
changing the way we communicate and work. The explosion of
gadgets such as smartphones,
tablets, laptops and handheld
gaming systems makes product
stewardship, or managing the
lifecycle of products, even more
important.
Historically, Call2Recycle, Inc.,
North America’s leading battery
stewardship organization, has
supported voluntary extended
producer responsibility for batteries and battery-powered products. These programs are funded
by industry stewards, such as
battery and battery-powered
product manufacturers, to support collecting batteries and
gadgets at their end-life and
recycling the materials. During
more than 20 years of operations, Call2Recycle steadily has
increased collections and recycling throughout North America. However, the rapid growth of
portable electronics and batteries indicates that more must be
done to keep up with the amount
of products that enter the marketplace. Collections and recycling historically have been
supported by voluntary product
stewards; however, companies
that don’t voluntarily fund recycling programs unfairly benefit
from them. These products end
up being recycled along with
those from manufacturers who
voluntarily provide for the management of end-of-life of the
products they put into the
marketplace. Non-participants or “free riders”
threaten the financial viability of
product stewardship programs
by increasing unsupported costs.
They also create an unequal
playing field whereby responsible businesses bear the burden
that should be supported by all
businesses in the technology/
battery sectors.
Call2Recycle estimates that
about 30 percent of the waste
batteries collected in their program come from free riders and,
as the number of collections
increases, the problem grows.
Some jurisdictions have an additional challenge where certain
companies gain an exemption
for product stewardship despite
having products that require batteries. However, this is just shirking the responsibility when their
batteries still end up in the collection stream without the companies’ support. Call2Recycle regularly reaches
out to brands and invite them to
participate in product stewardship programs. However, few
states require mandatory participation, which can mean a lot of
free riders taking advantage of
the good practices funded by
other companies. 47
With these problems in mind,
Call2Recycle advocates that the
U.S. needs tougher laws to
require non-participating companies to join and financially support product stewardship
programs or face penalties. The
more batteries collected, the
more important it is to capture
free riders and get them to participate because companies
have a duty to be environmentally responsible as a part of
doing business.
Enforcement is an important part
of mandatory extended producer
responsibility requirements and
jurisdictions need the tools to
pursue compliance. This could
include taking legal action or fining non-participating companies
to recoup product stewardship
costs from collecting and recycling materials. Mandatory product stewardship
requirements are the next stage
for optimizing collections for the
future by ensuring every producer is responsible for the full
lifecycle of their products, including recycling and safe disposal
at the end of life. As more consumers recycle batteries, to keep
them out of landfills and use for
the manufacturing of new products, we need to support the
growth of these environmentally
sustainable habits.
(Continued, see Riders, page 48)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
F R E E R I D E R S M U S T B E H E L D A C C O U N TA B L E [ C O N T ’ D ]
An example of this is in Vermont,
where recently the first nationwide single-use battery law was
launched, requiring primary (single-use) battery producers must
fund and provide a take-back and
recycling program for the end-of-
life of batteries that enter the
marketplace.
Free riders abuse the good business practices of responsible
companies and must be held
accountable for their actions.
It’s no longer sustainable to let
the forward-thinking product
stewards bear all the cost and
commitment to ensure recycling
of the nation’s electronics
and batteries.
•
48
Reprinted from www.greenbiz.
com, February 23, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
W&H INTRODUCES NEW FLEXO
A N D G R AV U R E P R E S S E S
AT D R U PA 2016
Windmoeller & Hoelscher Group
will present its comprehensive
product portfolio on more than
1,000 m2 at Drupa 2016 in Dusseldorf (Hall 15, Booth A41).
W&H’S BOOTH
WILL FOCUS ON
THE MOTTO
“ PA C K A G I N G
4.0.”
A new generation of flexo and
gravure printing presses will be
premiered at the event. “As is
customary for W&H, we will unveil our newest technologies at
Drupa where visitors from all
over the world can have a closeup view,” says Dr. Jurgen Vutz,
CEO of W&H. Live machine
demonstrations will run several
times daily.
At this year’s tradeshows, W&H
will focus on the concept of Packaging 4.0, the company’s vision
of Industry 4.0 applied to the
production of packaging. “We
will show how intelligent
machines, integrated processes
and intuitive handling are
already increasing efficiency
during production and bringing
customers substantial added
value,” adds Vutz.
In addition to the booth at Drupa,
W&H will simultaneously host an
in-house expo with further machine demonstrations in its new
3000 m2 technology center in
Lengerich.
ABOUT WINDMOELLER &
HOELSCHER:
Windmoeller & Hoelscher, a
family-owned company, is world
leader for machinery and systems for the manufacturing and
converting of flexible packaging.
The product portfolio includes
high-performance machines for
film extrusion, printing and converting. As a global company
W&H offers its clients everything
from a single source: from expert
consultation and engineering to
the delivery of high quality machines and complete packaging
production lines. Approximately
2,500 employees create optimal
solutions for the individual production tasks of flexible packaging producers—bringing the
corporate philosophy “Passion
for Innovation” to life.
49
Machines from Windmoeller
& Hoelscher are in use in over
130 countries and by more than
5,000 customers. In 2015 the
Windmoeller & Hoelscher
Group with its headquarters in
Lengerich, Germany, reached
sales of approximately 720
Mio. EUR.
•
Reprinted from Windmoeller
& Hoelscher press release,
March 6, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
C A N A D A’ S F L E X S TA R PA C K A G I N G
RUNNING FIRST MIRAFLEX S
PRESS IN NORTH AMERICA
Richmond, BC-based Flexstar
Packaging has installed the first
MIRAFLEX S flexographic press
from Windmoeller & Hoelscher
(W&H) in North America.
W&H DESIGNED
THE MIRAFLEX S
T O FA C I L I TAT E
QUICK JOB
CHANGES FOR
NARROW- TO
MID-WEB JOBS.
The MIRAFLEX S has been in full
operation since November 2015.
Flexstar’s President, Marc Bray,
said, “We have wide-web presses
at FLEXSTAR. The MIRAFLEX S is
a narrow- to mid-web press that
complements the machinery we
have and is able to reliably tackle
any kind of job we need to run,
regardless of size or if the job is
a PET, OPP or thin gauge PE
application.”
Bray added that the company
is benefitting from the Flexo
ControI Insetter feature, which
has increased the productivity
on matte finish applications.
W&H designed the MIRAFLEX S
to facilitate quick job changes
for narrow- to mid-web jobs. The
trusted TURBOCLEAN wash-up
system cleans all decks within
3.5 minutes so changeovers take
just minutes. Another benefit of
the press is the reduction of
waste, with as little as 75 feet of
substrate from unwind to rewind.
Repeats range from 10¢¢ to 31.5¢¢.
The MIRAFLEX S was part of a
larger expansion undertaken by
Flexstar. The company recently
added 32,000 ft2 for increased
warehousing and specialty converting applications. The new
building will also house an Innovation Center. Other equipment
acquired by Flexstar includes a
third combi laminator, a third
pouch machine and a wide-web
laser scoring unit.
As a part of Flexstar’s commitment to long-term social responsibility, the company is working
on a regenerative thermal oxidizer to eliminate VOC emissions.
A heat exchanger will capture
energy for plant heating and
specialty lamination applications
requiring hot room curing. The
project is scheduled for completion in fall 2016, making Flexstar
the first flexible packaging converter in Western Canada with
this technology.
ABOUT FLEXSTAR
PACKAGING INC:
Flexstar manufactures custom
printed, laminated, flexible rollstock and specialty films for the
consumer and industrial markets
in North America. “We have a
clear vision, a heavy focus on
people, and are nimble so we can
quickly respond to changing customer needs. Much of our success has been based on our
team's collective experience in
the industry.”
50
ABOUT WINDMOELLER &
HOELSCHER:
Windmoeller & Hoelscher, a
family-owned company headquartered in Lengerich, Germany,
is a world leader for machinery
and systems for the manufacturing and converting of flexible
packaging. The product portfolio
includes high-performance machines for film extrusion, printing
and converting. As a global company, W&H offers its clients
everything from a single source,
from expert consultation and engineering to the delivery of high
quality machines and complete
packaging production lines.
Approximately 2,500 employees
create optimal solutions for the
individual production tasks of
flexible packaging producers—
bringing the corporate philosophy “Passion for Innovation” to
life. Machines from Windmoeller
& Hoelscher are in use in over
130 countries and by more than
5,000 customers. In 2015, the
Windmoeller & Hoelscher Group
reached sales of approximately
720 Mio. EUR.
•
Reprinted from Windmoeller &
Hoelscher press release, March
24, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
F L E X S TA R R E I N V E N T S I T S E L F
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
B Y D O N L O E P P, P L A S T I C S N E W S
Flexstar Packaging Inc.’s roots
date back to the 1970s, but the
company today looks very little
like it did 40 years ago.
T H E FA C T O R Y
H A S S TA B I L I T Y
AND A FOCUS
ON GROWING
M A R K E T S T H AT ’ S
REAPING
SIGNIFICANT
GROWTH.
The flexible packaging extrusion
and converting plant has had
eight changes in ownership since
the early days, when it made
commodity products like T-shirt
sacks and produce bags.
But under the current regime,
which started in 2005, the
factory has stability and a focus
on growing markets that’s
reaping significant growth.
“We’ve followed a very significant capitalization program
over the 11 years that we’ve
been in business, and really have
changed, dramatically changed,
the product lines that we sell our
customers today,” said President
and CEO Marc Bray.
Today the company’s focus is on
custom printed, laminated, flexible roll-stock and specialty films
for the consumer and industrial
markets. Typical products are
films and pouches used to package food.
Bray has been at the Richmond
plant since 2003—prior to Flexstar’s founding—when he was
assigned to turn around the
operation by the previous owner,
Sonoco Products Co. of Hartsville,
S.C. But he ended up leading a
group that purchased the company, with backing from Ronald
Stern, an individual investor with
a long-term strategy based in
Vancouver, British Columbia.
They felt the company could
thrive as a full-service flexible
packaging company. Bray said
customers in western North
America were underserved in
that niche, and were turning to
suppliers in the Far East, or the
eastern United States and
Canada.
The change in focus meant
investing in new technology and
equipment. Flexstar started a
graphic department in 2009. It
also added a Combi laminator—
Flexstar now has three—and
both film extrusion and printing
equipment from Windmoeller &
Hoelscher.
The latest W&H line, a Miraflex S
flexographic printing press, is the
first of its kind in North America.
“Since 2005 we’ve probably
invested $16 [million] or $17
million in the plant,” Bray said.
Flexstar is in the process of
adding 32,000 square feet of
space, for warehousing and specialty converting applications.
51
The first 16,000 square feet
opened last year, and the rest
will open in August.
The new building, which is across
a parking lot from the existing
plant, will house what the company is calling its innovation
center, which will help customers
become familiar with new types
of packaging, including stand-up
pouches.
“It’s a place where customers can
come and learn about structures
and filling technologies. We can
teach them about flexible packaging, and we’ll help them launch
new products,” Bray said.
The new building will free up
space in the 66,000-square-foot
main plant, which Bray expects
will soon be filled with additional
laminating, printing and extrusion equipment.
In addition to machinery, the
company has made substantial
changes to its service and quality
operations. That meant hiring
a team that includes Dale Ince,
vice president-technology;
Mike Aves, director of operations; and Darcy Asham, operations improvement manager.
(Continued, see Flexstar, page 52)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
F L E X S TA R R E I N V E N T S I T S E L F [ C O N T ’ D ]
An example of their work:
Flexstar put in place a new information system that allows
customers to track and quickly
access information, like inventory and shipping schedules.
technology,” Ince said. He also
talked about the commitment to
training at Flexstar, something
that was confirmed by Klaus
Kleemann, vice president of sales
at W&H’s U.S. unit in Lincoln, R.I.
“This industry is not like it used
to be, where you found 10–12
week lead times,” Bray said.
“The supply chain work that
we do, that’s a big part of
our success.”
Flexstar sent workers to W&H’s
training facilities in Germany,
where maintenance crews and
machine operators got both
classroom and hands-on instruction. Later on, they did follow-up
training, too.
Ince said Flexstar’s strength
is how it reacts to customers’
needs. Another key is the workforce. While the company is only
11 years old, some employees
have been at the plant for more
than 30 years.
“Our customers see us as [providing] good quality service,
quality print and expertise in
“During this training the operators start with an empty press
that needs to be set up completely, which gives them deep
understanding of all systems,”
Kleemann said. “From the beginning you start with a well-trained
crew and thus maximize your
productivity.”
Flexstar started with 32 employees. Now it has 122, including 50
on the plant floor. Today the
company has annual sales of
“over $35 million,” Bray said.
“We’ve doubled our revenue in
the last five years, and I expect
we can double again in the next
five years—or less,” he said.
That could mean growing through
acquisition, Bray said, but definitely expanding outside its base
in western North America.
“We’ve had a lot of our customers
ask us,” he said. “There are
always plans. We’d plan to follow
the same formula that has
worked here.”
•
Reprinted from plasticsnews.
com, April 26, 2016. Copyright
©1995-2016 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved.
52
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
S H I P & S H O R E E N V I R O N M E N TA L
ENHANCES CANADIAN MARKET
PRESENCE
SHIP & SHORE
WILL CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP
S T R AT E G I E S
C O O P E R AT I V E L Y.
Ship & Shore Environmental,
Inc., a leading global pollution
abatement service provider,
announced today a major boost
of its Canadian market presence
after expanding its existing
alliance with Webconvert, a
Toronto-based company that acts
as an agent/manufacturer’s representative for certain product
lines, including pollution control.
With this expanded agreement,
Webconvert will continue to
serve as a local liaison between
Ship & Shore and Canadian manufacturers to provide a Canadian
perspective on the market and
pollution control regulations.
“Our exciting, enhanced alliance
with Webconvert will greatly
expand our Canadian presence,”
said Anoosheh Oskouian, CEO
of Ship & Shore Environmental,
Inc., in Long Beach, Calif. “Our
primary goal with this relationship has always been to assist
Canadian companies in their
manufacturing operations by
collecting and destroying VOCs
leading to emission reductions.
Now, this new development has
meant the alliance has taken a
turn for the better.”
“We are very excited about our
expanded relationship with Ship
& Shore,” said Dirk Kroll, president at Webconvert. “We serve
Canadian customers, providing a
comprehensive line of products
from the USA and Europe. Our
mission is to add value to every
product that we represent,
through deep technical and
market knowledge. In that sense,
Webconvert and Ship & Shore
are a perfect match, because
we share similar business and
customer service objectives.”
Along those lines, Oskouian says
Ship & Shore will continue to
develop strategies cooperatively
with Webconvert clients to meet
new and more demanding
provincial and municipal government regulations pertaining to
pollution abatement.
Webconvert’s primary business is
supplying machinery for the Flexible Packaging industry including
accessories, control systems
and peripheral products for use
on printing machinery, paper
machinery, and many other
related machines such as slitters,
rewinders and laminators. It
serves the converting, printing
and flexible packaging industries
within Canada by providing excellent sales, service and technical advice for our many diverse
principals across the industry.
Ship & Shore’s professional staff
custom designs waste heat and
energy recovery systems capable
of capturing hot exhaust from
combustion produced during
various manufacturing processes
and redirects to other areas of
53
production to save and re-use
energy. Captured heat may be
used to preheat the incoming
volatile organic compound
(VOC)-laden air stream before
entering the combustion chamber with oxidizer systems. Hot
exhaust can also be passed
through a boiler to produce
steam, hot water or hot oil for
other processes heating requirements, saving wasted energy and
optimizing efficiency.
S&SE’s expertise offers a complete source for environmental
and energy solutions, featuring
both quick ROI and the aforementioned cash incentives—
adding to a company’s performance and profitability.
What industries and customers
to benefit most from this
expanded alliance?
• Printing—both wide web flexographic and gravure, and Flexible
Packaging.
• Pulp & Paper, Petrochemicals
What type of projects, solutions
are the alliance’s main targets
with Canadian customers?
• Clean Tech Regenerative
Thermal Oxidizers (RTOs)
• Low NOx burners
• Scrubbers
• Energy efficiency and heat
recovery strategies
(Continued, see Alliance, page 54)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
S H I P & S H O R E E X PA N D S A L L I A N C E [ C O N T ’ D ]
ABOUT SHIP & SHORE
ENVIRONMENTAL, INC.
Ship & Shore Environmental,
Inc. is a Long Beach, Calif.-based
woman-owned, certified business specializing in air pollution
capture and control systems for
industrial applications. Ship &
Shore helps major manufacturers
meet Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) abatement challenges by providing customized
energy-efficient air pollution
abatement systems for various
industries, resulting in improved
operational efficiency and tailored
“green” solutions. Since 2000,
Ship & Shore has been prepared
to handle and advise on the full
spectrum of environmental
needs with its complete array of
engineering and manufacturing
capabilities and multiple offices
around the U.S., Canada, Europe
and most recently, China. With
over 100 specialized professionals spread throughout the world,
the company is dedicated to
designing tailored solutions for
its energy clients.
ABOUT WEBCONVERT LTD.
Webconvert supplies machinery
for the Flexible Packaging industry including accessories, control
systems and peripheral products
for use on printing machinery,
paper machinery, and many other
related machines such as slitters,
rewinders and laminators. Webconvert is a stocking distributor,
with an inventory of spare parts
and accessories at its Toronto
Warehouse. Webconvert also
acts as an agent (manufacturer’s
representative) for certain product lines which are custom built
or made order.
Reprinted from Ship & Shore
Environmental press release.
•
Tier One Resin Distributor for
the Americas and Beyond.
Some customers believe it’s a feat of superhuman strength
when companies stand by their word for price, delivery
and service. We like to think that integrity is injection
molded into our DNA.
Whatever your needs. We’ll make it happen.
Visit Osterman Market Intelligence (OMI) on our website
for cutting edge Intel on the resin industry all in one place www.osterman-co.com/omi
Osterman-co.com • [email protected] • 800.914.4437
54
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
S H I P & S H O R E E N V I R O N M E N TA L’ S
ANOOSHEH OSKOUIAN TO
PA R T I C I PAT E I N D R U PA C U B E
CEO BRINGS
PRINTING
INDUSTRY
EXPERTISE
TO GLOBAL
I N N O VAT I O N
W O R K S H O P.
Anoosheh Oskouian, CEO at
Ship & Shore Environmental,
Inc., will be among the talented,
knowledgeable professionals
participating in the upcoming
“Innovative Approaches to New
Markets” workshop, part of
Drupa Cube 2016. Drupa Cube
is just one of the exciting experiences at the upcoming Drupa
2016 conference, the world’s
leading trade fair for print and
cross-media, set for Dusseldorf,
Germany, May 31–June 10.
“The workshop will show how
out-of-the-box thinking and ideas
actually lead to innovative technology, products and solutions,”
Oskouian says. “I am so proud to
be part of this experience.”
Ship & Shore Environmental is
a Long Beach, Calif.-based,
woman-owned certified business
specializing in air pollution capture and control systems for industrial applications, with a deep
knowledge and special expertise
gleaned through years of working with printing industry clients.
Oskouian specifically will be part
of Drupa Cube, an innovative
think tank featuring “on-demand”
coaching led by Oskouian and
several other experienced leaders in the industry. Drupa Cube is
organized and run by the Medici
Group. The six highlighted topics
of Drupa 2016 include multichannel, print, functional printing, 3D
printing, packaging production
and green printing.
Drupa Cube participants signing
up for “Innovative Approaches to
New Markets” will experience
three segments, which are designed to serve as a catalyst for
innovative thinking, technology
and solutions. The first segment
will surface a random innovative
idea from each workgroup. The
second segment will serve to
evaluate and develop the idea,
and in the third segment, the
best ideas will be presented.
Oskouian’s company has not just
been a leading environmental
pollution solutions sector problem solver for 16 years, it’s also
been a key provider in the flexographic industry for several years
as part of that history. Oskouian’s
firm blends multiple disciplines,
years of experience and knowhow and innovative thinking to
develop cost effective, successdriven environmental and operational solutions for the printing
industry.
“Visitors to Drupa 2016 will experience an exciting new interdisciplinary international approach to
innovation in print when they
stop by the Drupa Cube” says
Sabine Geldermann, director of
Drupa Cube. “This special conference and event program will feature a wide range of applications
for printed products in numerous
industries and areas of life. New
technologies like printed electronics and 3D printing, creative
multichannel applications and
55
the use of digital printing techniques in packaging and other
sectors continue to illustrate
the amazing potential of print.”
Oskouian says that is exactly
why Ship & Shore, specifically
her personal expertise, are a
great match with Drupa 2016,
especially the Drupe Cube workshop concept. Ship & Shore has
helped its clients master the
challenges in pollution control
that the print, packaging and
media sectors face in their
day-to-day operations.
For those clients (and its client
base overall), Ship & Shore’s
professional staff custom
designs waste heat and energy
recovery systems capable of
capturing hot exhaust from combustion produced during various
manufacturing processes and
redirects to other areas of production to save and re-use
energy. S&SE's expertise offers
a complete source for environmental and energy solutions,
featuring both quick ROI and the
aforementioned cash incentives—
adding to a company’s performance and profitability.
•
Reprinted from Ship & Shore
Environmental press release,
May 24, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
M A C D E R M I D PA R T N E R S W I T H
COMEXI FOR FLEXOGRAPHIC
P R I N T I N G I N N O VAT I O N
I N N O VAT I O N
THROUGH
C O L L A B O R AT I O N
I S T R U L Y W H AT
WILL MOVE
FLEXOGRAPHIC
PRINTING TO
THE NEXT LEVEL.
MacDermid Graphics Solutions
has successfully finalized a
collaborative partnership with
Comexi, a leading company specializing in machinery solutions
for the flexible packaging converting industry. The collaboration will combine the strength of
MacDermid’s plate offerings with
Comexi’s press technology solutions in order to provide quality
and productivity benefits before,
during and after print.
“Collaborative partnerships are
a foundation of our market and
innovation strategy,” said Ryan
Vest, Global Director of Innovation at MacDermid Graphics
Solutions. He continued, “We are
pleased to have a valued partner
of the caliber of Comexi to work
with towards our combined goal
of pushing the boundaries of
flexographic printing. Innovation
through collaboration is truly
what will move flexographic
printing to the next level.”
Comexi, over sixty years of
machine manufacturing for the
flexible packaging industry
Comexi’s commitment to sustainable innovation through research
and technological designs aimed
at creating machines that are efficient, reliable, and energy intelligent combined with MacDermid’s
innovative photopolymer plate
offerings will push the boundaries of flexo print capabilities.
Expanding the capabilities of
flexography is not only a function
of print quality, but also productivity—and Comexi’s innovative
technologies deliver on both
accounts.
“We are pleased to have a partner like MacDermid,” said David
Centelles, Comexi CTec and Corporate Marketing Director. He
added, “For Comexi is important
MacDermid’s trust in our experience to develop new strategies in
order to increase productivity on
flexible printing. According to our
high performance developments
linked to the 4.0 revolutionary
industry, all these synergies with
MacDermid, linked with innovative solutions, are a key point to
develop the future of the flexible
packaging.”
Flexo plate solutions
As a result of the partnership,
MacDermid and Comexi will
collaborate to:
• Develop innovative solutions
for customers around the globe
• Further thought leadership
through engaging in industry
events and publications
• Utilize the combined capabilities of both companies for expanding end-user knowledge
through training sessions and
other customer-focused events.
ABOUT COMEXI
Comexi has extensive experience
in manufacturing equipment for
the flexible packaging conversion
industry. World leader, with
56
about 500 workers and Catalan
capital, it runs five product lines,
each specialized in a different
conversion process: flexography
printing, offset printing, rotogravure printing, laminating, slitting and logistic complements.
Comexi includes the Manel Xifra
Boada Technological Center
where the company provides
support and transfers its knowledge to the various groups
involved in the flexible printing
industry process. The company
has more than 36,000 sqm distributed over three production
centers in Riudellots de la Selva
(Girona, Spain), Brazil and Italy
and utilizes its widespread sales
network extending over 100
countries to provide each client
a response to their exact needs.
ABOUT MACDERMID
GRAPHICS SOLUTIONS
MacDermid Graphics Solutions
is a leader in the manufacturing
and marketing of flexographic
printing plates used in the packaging industry. MacDermid
Graphics Solutions is a division
of MacDermid Performance Solutions, a global specialty chemicals company serving the diversified needs of the electronics,
industrial, offshore and printing
industries.
•
Reprinted from MacDermid press
release, April 12, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
C O M E X I S TA R T S T H E F L E X O GRAPHIC 70 F4 PRESS UNIT
Comexi, a specialist providing
flexible packaging industry solutions, started the 70 Comexi F4
press production this week.
Comexi F4 has been the leader in
sales success and has also been
the market benchmark since its
launch in 2010.
THIS PRESS
OFFERS SOME
UNIQUE
SOLUTIONS FOR
S H O R T- T E R M
AND MID-TERM
RUNS.
Comexi Flexo’s brand manager
Raul Elfakdi highlighted: “Comexi
F4 has become a key element for
the flexographic printing development in its six years on the
market.” Elfakdi also added:
“Comexi constantly offers innovative, competitive and efficient
solutions in order to meet market
demands.”
Raul Elfakdi also said: “Comexi
F4 was designed as a high performance printed for short and
medium runs. This is a highdemand sector which requires
continuous changes. We offer a
competitive machine in quality
and price and with the most
advanced solutions.
High performance
Comexi F4 is the most efficient
for flexographic printing shortrun solution since it is 28.3-36.2
inches wide with a 23.6-inch
maximum format. This press was
the first to incorporate FLEXOEfficiency patented concepts, with
ergonomics, accessibility and
performance and robustness,
becoming the new characteristics
for the F2 and Comexi F1 press
models.
Among other qualities, the
Comexi F4 has pipe-less magnetic blades, patented by
Comexi, allowing the printing
unit to change in less than one
minute. The press also has features with high added value and
improved printing quality provided exclusively by Comexi. The
machine also has other technical
elements to minimize strip wear.
In addition, Comexi F4 incorporates the Direct Drive system to
synchronize central drum and
mandrels. This process is possible through encoders mounted
directly on the axis, improving
the reading accuracy and print
logging. The Comexi F4 has also
been reinforced by a core anilox
of 59.8 inches in diameter.
With the Comexi F4 maintenance
is easier and more accessible.
For example, the platform incorporates an easy-opening system
to clean the central drum and it
is possible to disassemble the
drying screens from the side for
cleaning. Furthermore, the
threading material is easy and
very accessible without the need
of motorization or access stairs.
It is also a user-friendly machine
because the control panel located strategically making easier
the printing process elements
control.
57
Comexi F4 is able to print 8 colors
with different formats from 9,4 to
23.6 inches, widths up to 36.2
inches in a 984 fpm speed.
ABOUT COMEXI
Comexi has extensive experience
in manufacturing equipment for
the flexible packaging conversion
industry. World leader, it runs five
product lines, each specialised in
a different conversion process:
flexography printing, offset printing, rotogravure printing, laminating, slitting and logistic
complements.
Comexi includes the Manel Xifra
Boada Technological Centre
where the company provides
support and transfers its knowledge to the various groups involved in the flexible printing
industry process. The company
has more than 36,000 sqm.
distributed over three production
centres in Riudellots de la Selva
(Girona, Spain), Brazil and Italy.
Furthermore, its widespread
sales network extends to more
than 100 countries, providing an
answer to all its client’s needs.
•
Reprinted from Comexi press
release, May 25, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
L AY F I E L D F L E X I B L E PA C K A G I N G
A D D S S PA C E A N D E Q U I P M E N T
B Y D O N L O E P P, P L A S T I C S N E W S
A flexible packaging converter is
moving into an expanded space
with new converting equipment,
thanks in part to growth that it is
achieving by using partners in
Asia for some manufacturing.
T H E C O M PA N Y
HAS THREE
S E PA R AT E B U T
R E L AT E D P L A S T I C
FILM DIVISIONS.
The company is the Layfield Flexible Packaging unit of Layfield
Group Ltd., a company with three
separate but related plastic film
divisions: environmental containment, construction products and
flexible packaging.
The Flexible Packaging unit
moved into a newly constructed
47,000-square-foot building on
April 18. The building is adjacent
to other Layfield operations, on a
sprawling campus in an industrial
park in Richmond.
The building houses new converting equipment—but Richard
Synnott, the business unit manager, declined to provide details.
“This basically is to increase the
capacity of our flexible packaging
business unit,” Synnott said in
an interview in Richmond. “Our
business has been growing at a
double-digit annual rate.”
Layfield Flexible Packaging extrudes and converts film, mostly
polyethylene. Products include
medical overwrap, industrial
products, and consumer packaging for items including food, pet
food and hygiene products.
The company is planning an
invitation-only open house to
unveil the project on May 13,
Synnott said.
Synnott attributed the company’s
growth, in part, to what he called
a hybrid manufacturing model.
Layfield has tight partnerships
with some Asian converters—
most in China—that handle some
of Layfield’s manufacturing.
“You [the customer] go to Layfield,
and we manage everything. That
gives us scalability,” he said. The
strategy gives Layfield the ability
to handle more and larger projects.
Layfield has been following this
strategy for about five years.
“We’re not brokers. We manage
everything here. We manage
the process. It’s seamless to our
customers,” Synnott said.
Layfield Flexible Packaging’s
in-house capabilities include
blown film extrusion, flexographic and rotogravure printing,
solvent-less lamination, slitting
and bag conversion.
Layfield started as Layfield Plastics in the 1950s. When company
founder Eric Layfield retired in
1978, he sold the business to the
Rose family. Tom Rose remains
the company’s president and
CEO, and the next generation of
the family is heavily involved in
the business.
58
The company declines to provide
sales information. In addition to
Richmond, it has locations
throughout North America,
including fabrication operations
and offices in Spring Valley,
Calif.; Calgary, Alberta; Renton,
Wash.; Vaughn, Ontario; Colliers,
W. Va.; and Kingwood, Texas.
The company’s construction
products and environmental
containment units make
geomembranes and specialty
geosynthetics. While the businesses may appear to have little
in common with flexible packaging, Layfield officials say there
are advantages to having them
all under the same umbrella
organization.
“By having the strength of all
three, our buying power for resin
[and] everything just scales up.
That makes us a more potent
player for the packaging market,” Synnott said.
•
Reprinted from plasticsnews.
com, April 26, 2016. Copyright
©1995-2016 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
MEMBER NEWS:
NOVOLEX AGREES TO ACQUIRE
H E R I TA G E B A G C O M PA N Y
BY ADDING
H E R I TA G E B A G ,
NOVOLEX IS
NOW A $2.3
BILLION
C O M PA N Y
WITH OVER
6000
EMPLOYEES.
Novolex, a Wind Point Partners
and TPG Growth portfolio company and North America’s leader
in packaging and sustainability,
today announced it has agreed
to acquire Heritage Bag Company
(HBC), a premier manufacturer of
plastic can liners and other packaging products based in Dallas,
TX. The transaction is expected
to close in the second quarter.
“I believe becoming part of
Novolex will allow Heritage and
its employees to continue to
prosper and grow,” Carl Allen,
CEO of Heritage states. “It is an
ideal fit. Novolex leadership is
very much aligned with our principles at Heritage. They are committed to employees’ welfare as
well as the communities where
they live and work. That’s very
important to me and it was an
essential requirement for the
transaction.”
“We are excited about the addition of Heritage employees to the
Novolex Family,” Stan Bikulege,
Chairman and CEO of Novolex
states. “This is very important to
our future. The HBC Team and
products are a great fit for Novolex and we will soon integrate
our existing can liner business
with the HBC Team. We are bringing aboard an outstanding legacy
created by Carl Allen and his
team, one that includes nearly
800 dedicated employees and
their families as well as longterm partnerships with excellent
distribution partners and
customers.”
billion revenue company with
over 6,000 employees and 43
manufacturing locations in North
America, including two worldclass recycling facilities.
Alex Washington, a Managing
Director at Wind Point, said
“We’re very excited to welcome
Heritage Bag Company into
Novolex as well as the Wind Point
Team. I commend Carl Allen and
the entire HBC organization on
their well-deserved reputation
for quality products and outstanding service to customers,
which we plan to build upon.”
Heritage Bag Company is a second generation, privately owned
business that was founded in
1973 as a manufacturer of plastic
trash bags, can liners and food
bags sold to institutional and
commercial customers. Today, it’s
one of the leading institutional
can liner producers in North
America, has nearly 800 employees and operates six world-class
manufacturing sites, with strong,
long term relations with its distribution partners. Heritage’s products serve the health care, food
service and hospitality, industrial, education, office building,
building services and transportation markets. Bank of America
Merrill Lynch acted as Heritage
Bag Company’s exclusive financial advisor in connection with
its sale to Novolex. Haynes and
Boone, LLP acted as Heritage
Bag Company’s legal advisor
in connection with its sale
to Novolex.
HBC is Novolex’s fifth acquisition
since Wind Point Partners acquired
Novolex (formerly Hilex Poly) in
2012, in partnership with Chairman and CEO Stan Bikulege.
TPG Growth is also part of the
ownership of Novolex and made
a minority investment in the
business in November of 2015.
Previous Novolex acquisitions
include Wisconsin Film & Bag
(October 2015), Packaging Dynamics (December 2014), Duro
Bag (July 2014) and a portion of
Clondalkin Group’s North American Flexible Packaging Division
(April 2013). With the addition of
Heritage, Novolex is now a $2.3
59
ABOUT HERITAGE BAG
COMPANY
(Continued, see Heritage, page 60)
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
N O V O L E X A C Q U I R E S H E R I TA G E B A G C O M PA N Y [ C O N T ’ D ]
ABOUT NOVOLEX
Novolex™ is one of North America’s leaders in packaging choice
and sustainability serving retail,
grocery, food service, hospitality,
institutional and industrial markets. With the addition of Heritage
Bag Company, the company has
over 6,000 employees and 43
manufacturing plants in North
America, including two worldclass plastic recycling facilities.
Headquartered in Hartsville, SC,
the Company’s brands include
Hilex Poly, Fortune Plastics,
Novolex Custom Film & Bag,
Duro Bag, Bagcraft, De Luxe,
General Packaging and International Converter.
ABOUT WIND POINT
PARTNERS
Wind Point Partners is a private
equity investment firm that manages commitments of approximately $2.5 billion. Wind Point
partners with top caliber CEOs
to acquire middle market businesses where we can establish
a clear path to value creation.
ABOUT TPG GROWTH
TPG Growth is the middle market
and growth equity investment
platform of TPG, the global private investment firm. With more
than $7 billion in assets under
management and committed
capital, TPG Growth targets
investments in a broad range
of industries and geographies,
with a significant focus on the
U.S. and large, emerging markets
such as China, India, Turkey,
Brazil and Southeast Asia. TPG
Growth has the deep sector
knowledge, operational resources
and global experience to drive
value creation and help companies reach their full potential.
60
Backed by the resources of TPG,
which has over $74 billion of
assets under management, TPG
Growth leverages the firm's sector teams, portfolio companies
and network. TPG Growth has
offices in the United States,
China, India, United Kingdom,
Turkey, Brazil and Singapore.
•
Press release reprinted from
Novolex and Heritage Bag,
April 4, 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
R E G U L AT I O N S :
P O S I T I V E W O R K E R S ’ C O M P R AT E
NEWS FOR CA EMPLOYERS
B Y J E F F R E Y C . T E R R Y, H U B I N T E R N AT I O N A L I N C .
WORKERS’
C O M P R AT E
R E L I E F M AY
BE COMING
J U LY 1 .
Not to mix bad news with good
(rate decreases versus OSHA fine
increases—see page 62), but
there may be workers’ compensation premium rate relief for
plastics companies that have
operations and employees in the
state of California effective July 1,
2016.
The Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB)
recently recommended an overall
aggregate 10.4% decrease for
the rates in CA effective 7/1/16
from the 1/1/16 filed rates. The
WCIRB sent the recommendation
to the CA Department of Insurance
(DOI) for approval and the Commissioner approved the overall
recommended rate decrease.
Noted in the chart below is an
advisory rate comparison by
class code illustrating recent
rate changes for the CA Plastics
industry.
Advisory rates set by the WCIRB
are rates that the WCIRB
advises insurance carriers to
charge in a specific Workers’
Compensation class per $100
of payroll to cover the cost of
claims and claim expenses.
Insurance companies are not
mandated to use the rates established by the WCIRB. Insurance
companies are, however, required
to file rates with the state in
which they operate for approval
and use.
When carriers file rates, they will
generally evaluate the WCIRB
advisory rates, apply an expense
multiplier that includes operating
expenses, administrative costs,
etc, to promulgate a “base rate.”
That base rate then becomes the
filed rate for the class.
Insurance carrier filed rates can
wary widely from carrier to carrier
in a given class code depending
on carrier loss experience in that
class, carrier appetite, knowledge, and many factors within a
specific class/industry segment.
During the risk evaluation and
underwriting process, carriers
use an underwriting methodology that starts with the base rate
61
and payroll by class, applies an
applicable experience modification, and then may either debit or
credit the premium to arrive at a
target or desired premium they
contemplate as best needed to
adequately insure the exposure
and appropriately capture the
projected/expected losses during the term to which they are
providing coverage.
The underwriting process is part
science as well as part art. There
are nuances that can influence
overall premium pricing and ultimate individual class rates. It is
imperative for underwriters to
best understand risk, know how
exposures are controlled and
mitigated, and how safety and
risk control resources are deployed to drive favorable, sustained loss performance.
•
Reprinted from Power of Protection newsletter, by Jeffrey C. Terry,
June 2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
R E G U L AT I O N S :
OSHA FINES SET TO INCREASE
A U G U S T 1 , 2016
B Y J E F F R E Y C . T E R R Y, H U B I N T E R N AT I O N A L I N C .
OSHA is slated to increase fines
starting August 1, 2016, for workplace safety violations.
OSHA WILL BE
ALLOWED TO
INCREASE FINES
T O C AT C H U P
W I T H I N F L AT I O N .
The agency is set to increase
penalties for the first time in 25
years. OSHA will be allowed to
increase fines to “catch up” with
inflation since 1990 by issuing by
July 1, 2016, an “interim final
rule,” which is typically a rulemaking process that does not
require an agency to invite public
comment before a final decision
is made. The rule would become
effective by August 1, 2016.
Fines could increase by 80%
The resulting OSHA penalties
could exceed current penalty
amounts by more than 80%.
Assuming an 80% increase, however, maximum OSHA penalties
will increase as follows:
• Other than Serious Violation:
from $7,000 to $12,600
• Serious Violation: from $7,000
to $12,600
• Repeat Violation: from $70,000
to $126,000
• Willful Violation: from $70,000
to $126,000
Companies should be aware
of the pending OSHA changes
and familiarize themselves with
frequently cited OSHA standards.
Consult with your safety, loss
prevention and risk management
advisor for guidance and support
regarding OSHA related matters.
•
Reprinted from Power of Protection newsletter, by Jeffrey C. Terry,
June 2016.
T O P 10
CITED OSHA
S TA N D A R D S
The following is a list of the top
10 most frequently cited standards* following inspections
of worksites by federal OSHA.
OSHA publishes this list to
alert employers about these
commonly cited standards so
they can take steps to find
and fix recognized hazards
addressed in these and other
standards before OSHA shows
up. Far too many preventable
injuries and illnesses occur in
the workplace.
1. Fall Protection
2. Hazard Communication
3. Scaffolding
4. Respiratory Protection
5. Lockout/Tagout
6. Powered Industrial Trucks
7. Ladders
8. Electrical, Wiring Methods
9. Machine Guarding
10. Electrical, General Requirements.
*Fiscal 2015 (Oct. 1, 2014, to
Sept. 30, 2015).
•
62
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
R E G U L AT I O N S :
FDA TO RECONSIDER SAFETY
O F O R T H O - P H T H A L AT E S I N
F O O D PA C K A G I N G
B Y PA C K A G I N G S T R AT E G I E S M A G A Z I N E
WHILE THESE
CHEMICALS ARE
USED IN MANY
CONSUMER
PRODUCTS
OTHER THAN
FOOD, THE
PRIMARY SOURCE
OF EXPOSURE
APPEARS TO BE
FOOD.
and paperboard, and plastics
that come in contact with food.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to consider
withdrawing its approval of 30
toxic chemicals known as orthophthalates from use in food
packaging and food handling
equipment. This comes from a
request by 10 environmental, consumer and public health groups.
The decision is in response to a
food additive petition from the
Environmental Defense Fund,
Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Food
Safety, Clean Water Action,
Consumer Federation of America,
Earthjustice, Improving Kids’
Environment, and Learning Disabilities Association of America—
groups all concerned by the
adverse health effects of orthophthalates at the levels typically
seen in food.
The Chemicals Policy Director
at EDF states that the chemicals
are a serious threat to pregnant
women, their developing fetuses
and children; yet manufacturers
continue to use ortho-phthalates
—from farm to fork—even though
there are alternatives.
Ortho-phthalates are a class of
chemically and pharmacologically related substances used
as plasticizers, binders, coating
agents, defoamers, gasket closures, and slimicide agents. They
are used in cellophane, paper
Several reports have found
numerous ortho-phthalates in
everyday food. While these
chemicals are used in many consumer products other than food,
the primary source of exposure
appears to be food, presumably
from their FDA-approved use in
food packaging and handling
equipment. From lower IQ in
young children to malformation
of the male genital tract, academic
studies have linked some of
these chemicals to a variety of
reproductive, developmental and
endocrine health problems.
“We’ve known these food packaging chemicals are dangerous
for a while, but the food processing industry has not acted. They
are not protecting the public
from these toxins, so now it’s
time for FDA to do so,” says Peter
Lehner, senior attorney for the
Sustainable Food and Agriculture
Program at Earthjustice.
FDA rejected two requests in the
petition on technical grounds.
First, it rejected the NGO’s request
to ban the ortho-phthalates that
the Consumer Products Safety
Commission has proposed to ban
from children’s toys, pacifiers,
teething rings and other products.
Congress had already banned
the use of some of these orthophthalates in these products
in 2008.
63
“It doesn’t make sense to ban
some ortho-phthalates from children’s toys, and phase them out
of vinyl flooring, but still approve
them for contacting food. Orthophthalates can cause reproductive and developmental effects,”
said Lisa Lefferts, senior scientist, Center for Science in the
Public Interest.
Second, FDA declined to review
five ortho-phthalates that were
approved before 1958. In the
coming days, petitioners will use
another regulatory process—
a citizen petition—to request
action on these matters.
FDA has six months to determine
if there is a ‘reasonable certainty
of no harm’ for all 30 orthophthalates as a class. If there is
not adequate data for a particular chemical in the class, FDA
must assume that chemical also
has reproductive, developmental
and endocrine toxicity based on
its precedential decision on longchain perfluorinated compounds.
If FDA agrees with the petition, it
will issue a rule that removes its
approvals for the ortho-phthalates. Once that rule was published in the Federal Register, it
would be illegal to sell any foods
that contacted packaging or
equipment using the orthophthalates in question.
•
Reprinted from www.packagingstrategies.com, April 25,
2016.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
R E G U L AT I O N S :
U P D AT E O N T H E S A F E T Y O F
P O LY S T Y R E N E F O O D S E RV I C E
PA C K A G I N G A N D C A P R O P 6 5
BY AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL
THE “PROP 65”
L I S T C O N TA I N S
N E A R LY 9 0 0
S U B S TA N C E S ,
INCLUDING
ASPIRIN AND
C A F F E I N E , T H AT
A R E U S E D S A F E LY
E V E R Y D AY.
Polystyrene has been used in
foodservice products—foam
coffee cups, salad bar takeout
containers, hot noodle cups and
more—for more than five decades.
Polystyrene has been reviewed
by regulatory agencies, including
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that have deemed
it safe for use in contact with
food. Public health officials also
have recognized the important
sanitary benefits of these disposable foodservice products,
particularly in settings such as
hospitals, schools, nursing
homes, cafeterias and restaurants where it is critical that the
foodservice ware in contact with
food be clean and hygienic.
California added the substance
styrene on April 22, 2016. The
agency did not base this listing
on any new scientific findings on
styrene. Styrene has undergone
decades of scientific review, and
it is not categorized as a known
human carcinogen by any regulatory or scientific review agency
anywhere in the world.
Rather, California agency officials
listed styrene based on actions
by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) that in 2011 identified
styrene as “reasonably anticipated
to be a human carcinogen.”
“Prop 65” Listing of Styrene
Not Based on New Safety
Information
Proposition 65 is a California law
passed in 1986 that requires the
state to create a list of substances
that have certain toxicological
profiles. The “Prop 65” list contains nearly 900 substances,
many of which you will recognize,
that are used safely every day,
such as aspirin and caffeine. The
mere fact that substances appear
on the list is not a determination
of their safety, and it does not
mean that normal everyday exposure to these substances will
lead to health problems.
Although styrene is used to make
polystyrene, it is important to
distinguish between the two.
“Styrene should not be confused
with polystyrene (styrofoam)*.
Although styrene, a liquid, is
used to make polystyrene, which
is a solid plastic, we do not believe that people are at risk from
using polystyrene products.”
(The U.S. National Institutes of
Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS) in June 2011).
FDA Reconfirms Safety of Polystyrene Foodservice Packaging
In light of the 2011 NTP actions,
FDA scientists once again reviewed
the safety of polystyrene and
published an update in 2014
that reconfirmed the safety of
polystyrene for use in contact
with food.
64
Consumers can continue to feel
confident that their use of polystyrene foodservice packaging
is based not only on decades of
scientific research but also on
the safety approvals of FDA and
other agencies charged with the
safety of food packaging.
•
Click here for a more detailed
exploration, with additional
links, of this topic.
* Original quote used the term
“Styrofoam.” STYROFOAM™ is a
registered trademark of The Dow
Chemical Company that represents its branded building material products, including rigid
foam and structural insulated
sheathing and more. The brand
name often is misused as a
generic term for polystyrene
foam foodservice packaging.
Reprinted from www.plasticfoodservicefacts.com, April 26, 2016.
Q & A on the Safety of Polystyrene Foodservice Products.
Click here to view this additional
report online.
T H E V O I C E O F T H E P L A S T I C S I N D U S T RY I N T H E W E S T
W PA L E A D E R S H I P F O R 2 0 1 6 :
OFFICERS
JOHN PICCIUTO, PRESIDENT
H Muehlstein & Co.
K E V I N K E L L Y, V I C E P R E S I D E N T
Emerald Packaging
MICHAEL HAILFINGER, TREASURER
INX International Ink Co.
C H A N D L E R H A D R A B A , S E C R E TA R Y
Bradley Packaging Systems
WPA TODAY published by:
Western Plastics Association
1107 9th Street, Suite 930
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.930.1938 Office
[email protected]
www.westernplastics.org
Editor: Laurie Hansen
Disclaimer: Western Plastics
Association (WPA) does not
endorse or recommend other
than those officially endorsed by
WPA, any individual or company
that we mention in this newsletter.
Any business conducted is
between the member and the
individual or company. Any statements made in this newsletter are
those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of
WPA or its Board of Directors.
©2016 Western Plastics Association
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BRUCE CARTER Great American Packaging
S T E V E D E S PA I N R e i f e n h a u s e r
HARALD GOEPPERT Hudson-Sharp Machine Company
ROGER HEWSON Windmoeller & Hoelscher
RANDY HOLMES Heritage Bag
R AY H U F N A G E L P l a s t i c E x p r e s s
D AV I D M C K I N N E Y I S O P o l y F i l m s
ANNETTE SAUDER/JARED SAUDER Layfield Group
R O X A N N E VA U G H A N R o p l a s t I n d u s t r i e s