Plastics News

Plastics News is a weekly trade newspaper with a circulation of 46,000, primarily serving the North American market with global updates. Established in 1989 by Crain Communications Inc. in Akron, Ohio, it specializes in news related to the global plastics sector. In 2013, the publication moved to Crain's main office in Detroit. The focus of Plastics News is on various aspects of the plastics industry, including commercial, financial, legislative, and market trends that impact North American plastic manufacturers, their suppliers, and customers. The publication also created a website in 1996 to enhance its reach.

National, Trade/B2B

English

Newspaper

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Global

#562513

United States

#195241

Heavy Industry and Engineering/Chemical Industry

#120

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K 2025 to spotlight recycling, women leaders and smart tech

3 days ago | plasticsnews.com | Don Loepp

In today’s special Plastics News Live, Editor Don Loepp sat down with Thomas Franken, director of K at Messe Düsseldorf, to preview what’s ahead for K 2025 — the global plastics and rubber trade fair set for Oct. 8–15 in Düsseldorf, Germany. (see video below)The session highlighted this year's central themes: “The Power of Plastics! Green – Smart – Responsible,” focusing on shaping the circular economy, embracing digitalization and caring about people.
Numbers That Matter Live June 2025: Plastics industry braces for a murky slowdown

4 days ago | plasticsnews.com | Don Loepp |Bill Wood

Plastics industry economist Bill Wood doesn’t foresee a recession, but he warns that slowing growth, weak performance in key sectors and an unprecedented confluence of global and domestic factors make this one of the most difficult economic environments to interpret in decades. Recording below. “This is the fulcrum of the moment,” Wood said in the June Numbers That Matter editorial livestream.
Dow bringing new PE production in Texas online

4 days ago | plasticsnews.com | Frank Esposito

Dow Inc. is starting up a new polyethylene resin production unit in Freeport, Texas. In an email to Plastics News, a spokesperson with Dow in Midland, Mich., said the firm's Poly-7 PE project "is coming online."According to an Argus Media report, the new unit will have annual swing production capacity of about 1.3 billion pounds of high density or linear low density PE. The report added that the new unit's production will include some LLDPE octene resin.
Creative Plastics merges with Wurms Diversified

4 days ago | plasticsnews.com | Frank Esposito

Furniture supplier Wurms Diversified Solutions Inc. is merging with thermoformer Creative Plastics International Inc. The Wurm family that founded and owns Wurms Diversified has owned Creative Plastics since 2009.
Material Insights: What's driving polypropylene's surprise jump in June

5 days ago | plasticsnews.com | Don Loepp |Frank Esposito

In the latest Polymer Points Live, senior reporter Frank Esposito explains that while most resin prices remained flat in May and are expected to stay stable in June, polypropylene could see a price increase. The potential hike is driven by unexpected outages at three of the four U.S. PDH units and a slight uptick in demand.
RTI sees flat to falling resin prices as demand shifts

5 days ago | plasticsnews.com | Frank Esposito

In the resin world, buyers have to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. Michael Workman, growth director with RTI Global, compares resin buying to a game of blackjack — but one where the dealer can change the roles with each hand that's dealt, and where the player has to play with a blindfold on. "That wouldn't be a fun experience," Workman said June 18 during the 2025 Plastics News Caps + Closures online conference.
Pipe maker ADS to close Iowa recycling plant, shift capacity to Georgia

1 week ago | plasticsnews.com | Catherine Kavanaugh

Hilliard, Ohio-based Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. (ADS) is closing a recycling plant in Waterloo, Iowa, and laying off 71employees effective Aug. 17 as it moves ahead with a plan to expand capacity at its recycling facility in Cordele, Ga.State officials received notice of the pending closure June 18, according to the Iowa Workforce Development website.
Clariant offering ATO replacement options

1 week ago | plasticsnews.com | Frank Esposito

Clariant International Ltd. is the latest firm to focus on additives that can replace antimony trioxide (ATO), a flame retardant that's in short supply worldwide. "We are all painfully aware that in today's interconnected manufacturing world, supply chain disruptions can have a devastating effect on entire industries," officials with Muttenz, Switzerland-based Clariant said in a news release.
Most resin prices settle in one spot as demand slides

1 week ago | plasticsnews.com | Frank Esposito

Two commodity resins saw price drops in North America in May, with other materials in that category unchanged. PVC prices dipped an average of 1 cent per pound in May after being flat in April. Slow construction activity, due in part to high interest rates, played a role in that decline. Overall housing starts decreased 9.8 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.26 million units, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Fees, not bans, will help with plastic bag litter prevention, study says

1 week ago | plasticsnews.com | Jim Johnson

A new study suggests plastic bag fees could be more impactful than bans in limiting plastic bag litter on shorelines. And the work published in the journal Science also finds full bag bans are more effective than partial bans. A just-published article examines the impact on bans, partial bans and fees as they relate to reducing plastic bag litter along the nation's waterways. Researchers used a database of cleanup projects created by the environmental group Ocean Conservancy.