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President’sMessage

ow do you feel when you hear the word “sustainability”?

When someone mentions “sustainability” in our performance plastics industry, it brings about many different feelings, emotions, thoughts and responses. As I thought through my article for the sustainability issue of Performance Plastics magazine, I questioned the best way to write an article with so many different perspectives? Susan Avery, CEO of IAPD, suggested that I approach it from my viewpoint as a distributor, which seemed like a great idea.

Although our whole performance plastics industry has similar challenges and opportunities, it seems that distributors view sustainability a bit differently than our manufacturing partners, many of whom are further along in their journeys. After drafting a few thoughts as a distributor, I thought it would be interesting to hear from leaders of some other distribution member companies.

With that in mind, I sent a request to a number of leaders at distributors of all sizes to find out how they define sustainability and why it is important to their companies. Thank you to all who participated!

Publisher’sPerspective

his sustainability issue of the Performance Plastics magazine is truly something to celebrate. As an industry, we have come a long way since 2012, when IAPD and many of its members began capturing and reporting metrics on recycling and sustainability programs. Now, IAPD members are sharing their case studies and stories with you in this issue.

Each company has their own motivations for why they invest in sustainability strategies and programs. For some, they have figured out the business math and found costs are about equal to what they were spending to landfill materials when they start recycling materials, reducing utility costs and other cost efficiencies. Others are motivated by more altruistic aspirations — because it is the right thing to do or wanting to leave the planet better for their children and grandchildren. Many are experiencing customer demands in the form of customer ESG questionnaires, requiring them to implement not only sustainability practices, but those of social and governance systems into their companies. Additionally, they must gather and report ESG metrics to their customers and other stakeholders. But for many, they are pursuing the “carrot vs. the stick.” They know that the government is aggressively finding ways to use the “stick” on the single-use plastics industry, and they are now going after the original source — fossil fuels. They know that it is only a matter of time before performance plastics are caught up in both the regulations and legislations affecting their counterparts.

Articles reporting on plastic products are prepared from information furnished by members of the IAPD and non-member magazine advertisers. The information provided is deemed reliable but is not verified. It should not be assumed that the publisher has reviewed or tested any of the products. For more information, contact companies by visiting their websites.

Carbon fiber prepreg is a sheet form of a carbon fiber intermediate material impregnated with resin. Sports and mobility applications have been the primary use of the prepreg due to its rapid curability, heat resistance and high toughness. The BiOpreg #400 Series uses Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s proprietary material design and technology to replace the epoxy resin for impregnation with a plant-based resin, achieving up to 25% biomass content in the product. The newly developed prepreg maintains the same performance as conventional prepreg.

The reusable bottle solution utilizes Braskem’s I’m green^TM bio-based material. The material, which is made from responsibly sourced sugarcane, helps Bottle Up go beyond reducing waste. Sugarcane captures carbon from the atmosphere, helping Bottle Up to reduce the carbon footprint of their products while also reducing waste from single-use plastic bottles. Additionally, the material is 100% recyclable and requires less water to produce. www.braskem.com/utec

he Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) recently unveiled its “Recycling is Real” advocacy campaign to promote and defend plastic recycling across America. The initiative provides content to help elected officials and policymakers understand recycling’s vital role in sustainability and make informed decisions about recycling resources.

The campaign challenges false narratives claiming recycling is a “myth” pushed by anti-recycling organizations who are aiming to advance legislation imposing bans on, substitutions of and taxes on plastics.

“Plastic recycling is very real, and it happens every single day across America,” said PLASTICS’ President and CEO Matt Seaholm in a press release. “The Recycling is Real campaign allows both the public and lawmakers to see for themselves the extraordinary role recycling plays in the circular economy, making it undeniable that recycling is not only effective but is a feasible and economical way to achieve our shared sustainability goals.”

PlasticsWatch

Unlike some pipe materials, PVC contains no toxic metals like lead, chromium or cadmium that can leach into water supplies and there are no know per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) associated with PVC pipe production. Though small amounts of dioxins are produced during PVC resin manufacturing. The dioxins released are much lower than what is released when manufacturing other pipe materials, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reporting dioxin emissions released by an iron pipe foundry to be six times as high as that of a PVC resin manufacture. Additionally dioxin emissions from industrial manufacturing have dropped 90% since 1987 as while PVC manufacturing increased by over 300%.

et’s be honest, the performance plastics industry, as many other industries, has its own technical language, or “jargon,” which we all utilize to discuss our industry and plastics terminologies. It’s a language that, with time, can become second nature. Easy, right?

Not when it comes to cross-generational communication. Thanks to technological advances, the modern workplace now consists of as many as five generations working together in the same job market for the first time in history.

As more people are working past the “traditional” retirement age, many Gen Zers are entering the workforce for the first time.

ustainability is a term that can carry a variety of meanings depending on the topic at hand. In some cases, it is the conservation of economics; others, its sole focus is the environment. In the plastics industry I believe the best way to define sustainability is as the concept of meeting and maintaining the needs of current and future generations by consciously and effectively contributing to environmental, economic and social welfare. This concept encompasses the true meaning of sustainability by including all aspects of fundamental ESG initiatives with economics, in this case, being synonymous with corporate governance, such as investing.

s companies are increasingly embracing eco-friendly practices to minimize environmental impact and meet the expectations of an environmentally conscious market, various certifications have emerged to show customers that companies aren’t just talking the talk but walking the walk as well.

The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) is an organization committed to promoting sustainable practices across the printing and graphics supply chain and related industries. Through its unique certification program, SGP is empowering companies to adopt sustainable processes beyond regulatory compliances and demonstrate transparency in their practices through comprehensive data collection.

Theresa Vanna, Chair of SGP and Print Market Specialist at Primex Corporation, provides insights into SGP’s certification program and how performance plastics companies fit into the picture.

SpecialFocus

ast Nylons Ltd. has integrated environmental sustainability into its daily business practices. Over the last several years, Cast Nylons Ltd. has improved upon both safety and environmental sustainability by taking hundreds of actions toward environmental and safety improvements.

Our environmental mission statement reflects our goals and aspirations as a continued leader in the industry:

SpecialFocus

olorado Plastics, founded in 1969, is a single location small distributor and fabricator located in Louisville, Boulder County, CO USA.

Colorado Plastics has been owned since 2005 by Drew and Anita Schwartz. Drew works full-time operating the business while Anita continues her career outside the business as a full-time environmentalist. Her work focuses on convincing fossil fuel project funders that climate change is real and that they should really consider the ROI on renewable energy projects instead.

Colorado Plastics has come up with a combination of two low-cost methods for keeping our performance plastics scrap out of the landfill. The first is selling the usable scrap as remnants, the second is giving away the hard to sell scrap.

t Curbell, we celebrate Earth Month the entire month of April as a way to encourage interest and engagement across our company. It’s our opportunity to recognize the efforts of employees and branches, and to inspire others to get involved and learn more about sustainability both inside and outside the company. With locations nationwide, our Sustainability Team relies heavily on branch ambassadors to spearhead projects that resonate with their teams and are good for their local area like a coastal cleanup in San Diego, CA USA, a woodland walk in New England USA or a robotics program donation in Detroit, MI USA.

The Arlington, TX USA’s luncheon and trash pick-up April 2023.

The ultimate goal of Earth Month is education and engagement. We kickstart each day with ‘Did You Know’ emails, sharing fun facts to encourage deeper exploration. Quizzes based on this information offer employees chances to win gift cards, fostering participation and learning. Another activity is our “Healthy Earth, Healthy You” challenge encouraging employees to participate in activities that are good for the environment and themselves then submit photos. Every image submitted earns an entry to win a gift card. On Earth Day, we distribute a company-wide gift aligned with our annual theme, further helping employees with their own personal sustainability journey.

In April our Environmental Health & Safety team hosts an annual e-waste event in Orchard Park, NY, open to all employees and our local community. We partner with Sunnking to collect electronic waste to be recycled. All proceeds go to local charity ‘Camp Good Days and Special Times’ to aid families touched by cancer.

rofessional Plastics, Inc. is dedicated to creating a more sustainable future within the performance plastics industry and beyond. We are committed to repurposing all scrap and helping close the loop with all of our materials.

At the core of our program is a unique approach to landfill diversion, one that creates ongoing sustainable practices while supporting the local communities we work and live in. We are focused on developing strong relationships with community partners who benefit from using our excess and scrap materials.

One partner, in particular, has played a pivotal role in our landfill diversion efforts – the Child Creativity Lab (CCL). CCL is a California nonprofit that’s near and dear to many of our employees’ hearts. They aim to cultivate creativity and engage children with science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) programs by providing hands-on experiences. Since the organization’s early days, our team has donated excess and scrap materials, including acrylic and other plastics that are vital to their STEAM projects. Donating and repurposing these materials circumvents landfills, reduces waste and conserves resources while supporting education.

ustainability — It seems like a relatively recent concept but, in reality, sustainability has been around for a long time. The activities “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” have been used for millennia. In the plastics industry, Spartech has made it an essential part of our business in our process and our philosophy, beginning with our Royalite^® product line in the 1960s.

n eight months, Redwood Plastics and Rubber’s flagship branch in Langley, BC, Canada, transformed itself from having no recycling initiatives in place to recycling over 89,000 pounds of our most common polymers. For the success of our recycling initiatives, we were awarded the IAPD’s Environmental Excellence Silver Award, an accomplishment we credit to our employees at all levels following IAPD’s guidelines (see IAPD’s Recycling Best Practices).

We started our recycling journey with the creation of our Green Team: a collection of employees with unique skillsets from various organizational levels that would help build our recycling initiative. In order to build an effective plan that aligned with our organizational values, we first defined what “green” meant to us: reducing landfill waste, lowering our carbon footprint, promoting eco-conscious business ideas and partnering with certified green customers and vendors. With these values in mind, our Green Team created a comprehensive plan that engaged employees at all levels by establishing short-term and long-term goals, determining barriers, building a budget, identifying the necessary resources and forging partnerships with green customers and vendors.

Fabrication Services Showcase contains paid listings of companies with fabrication services, products and machinery that cater to the performance plastics distribution industry. IAPD does not endorse nor make recommendations in regard to the companies supplying their services. For details and pricing information to include your company in this Fabrication Services Showcase, contact Dave Blackhurst, IAPD’s Sales Executive, at (913) 345-1005 or email dblackhurst@iapd.org.

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