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A Chinese researcher at a state-owned energy think tank said that in the future the amount of energy it takes to produce a product will be found on product packaging. Mr. Jiang Kejun said the research institute in Beijing is working to analyze the energy consumption of products used in people's daily lives. "For example, the amount of energy used to make an A4 size sheet of paper is about 0.1 kilowatt-hours," he told a Chinese publication. Well, that energy tag may help plastic bags regain some share lost to paper bags, since the production of paper bags uses more energy than plastic bags. But, researchers, especially those who advise governments on policies, should really look at the whole picture rather than one single parameter. What about carbon footprint? What about reusability? What about recyclability? And, how much energy does it cost to produce the energy tag, starting with figuring out the amount of energy in every commodity? Will it be worthwhile?
Plastics News and its partner CBI (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. are bringing global readers the latest resin pricing intelligence in the Chinese market from on the ground. The China Price Monitor is supplied by CBI with up-to-date China market prices of polyolefin resins. It monitors supply/demand trends, imports and exports, plant closures and production outages. Readers will find the report rotate on a weekly basis between 1) high density polyethylene, 2) low density and linear low density polyethylene, and 3) polypropylene. CBI has a professional team dedicated to the report, making about 200 calls to buyers and sellers in China each week for each issue. The CBI China Price Monitor, with brief commentary in both Chinese and English, offers open access to all readers.
Take a first look at our brand new online Photo Gallery. It features eight photos on how China's plastic bag ban is enforced in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong province. Plastics News Asia bureau chief Steve Toloken and photographer Jennifer Tomlinson took the photos and provided the report.
I have one bachelor's and two master's degrees -- none is anywhere near science and technology. But converting solar energy to mechanical movement without any aid but a plastic motor sounds really awesome to me. Nanowerk LLC of Honolulu, Hawaii, described the significance of the plastic motor in a June 20 release: for the first time, researchers have succeeded in amplifying the minuscule change in structure at a molecular level caused by an external stimulus (light) to a macroscopic change through a cooperative effect of liquid crystals. The polymer used to make the photomechanical device is liquid-crystalline elastomer, combing both properties of liquid crystals and elastomers.
Heavily dependent on imported oil and petrochemical products, Vietnam is joining the club of bio-based plastics. Tien Thanh Co. Ltd. in Ho Chi Ming City is marketing plastic items made out of wheat or maize flour, a report in the Viet Nam News said. The product line seems to consist of boxes and cups that are said to decompose in wet environments in 102 days. They cost 40-50 percent more than their conventional plastic counterparts. The caveat, as I see it, is that the humid tropical nation in Southeast Asia is home to agriculture products such as rice, soybeans and sugar cane, but wheat and maize are not primary crops and the production is limited. Meantime, the soaring food prices in Vietnam will have a great impact on the supply and cost of domestic and imported wheat and corn. The domestic market size for bio-plastic products is also minimal. With the apparent roadblocks, the concept of corn-based plastic may remain more symbolic than practical for a while.
To cope with the ever-rising prices of plastic raw materials, processors are looking for ways to use less resin in the same product. Newell Rubbermaid Inc., for one, is using more additives such as calcium carbonate and tweaking product designs. "We're taking a look at our products and redesigning them," Ray Johnson, Rubbermaid's president of global manufacturing and supply chain was quoted as saying in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A picture on the AJC Web page demonstrates how drastically storage containers have been slimmed down. According to Johnson, plastic currently accounts for merely 10-12 percent of costs, compared to 25 percent prior to the changes. For a container maker, that sounds really impressive. I don't know how many consumers have noticed the thinning trend of plastic products and how they take it. I guess it's good for the environment and easy on the wallet. But as packaged water bottles turn from rigid to semi-flexible, I miss the feel of holding a solid and sturdy container of beverage. At home, I've started to pour my spring water from its soft bottle into ceramic cups. It's my little pet peeve, but I hope to make the experience of drinking water less "disposable."
The U.S. Department of Commerce has reached a decision on a dumping and subsidization investigation of laminated woven sacks from China. In a June 19 release, the International Trade Administration said the government determined that Chinese producers/exporters have sold laminated woven sacks in the United States at 64.3 to 91.7 percent less than normal value and received net countervailable subsidies ranging from 29.5 to 352.8 percent. That's preliminary success for the petitioners, the Laminated Woven Sack Committee and its individual members: Bancroft Bag Inc. (La.); Mid-America Packaging LLC (Ohio); Coating Excellence International LLC (Wis.); Polytex Fibers Corp. (Texas); and Hood Packaging Corp. (Miss.). The International Trade Administration will issue its final injury determination on or about July 31. Depending on the ITC's findings on the imports' injury to the domestic industry, the government will decide whether or not to issue anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders.
How far can tax policies go in reducing society's use of plastic shopping bags? Consumers in Ireland have a story to tell. Ireland introduced a plastic bag tax in 2002, and consumers rapidly cut their average use of plastic shopping bags from 328 to 21, according to the Independent News. The Irish government decided last year to raise the tax to further discourage shoppers from buying plastic bags. As a result, usage of plastic shopping bags declined from 120 million in 2006 to 100 million in 2007. But the government collected 22 million euros of plastic bag taxes last year, compared to 18 million euros in 2006. "The taxes end up becoming revenue-raising measures," Labour's Environment spokeswoman Joanna Tuffy was quoted in the report. Chinese consumers are also paying for their plastic shopping bags. But since they are paying retailers instead of the government, it's hard, if not impossible, to find out the nationwide spending on plastic bags. Plus, the money raised in China probably won't be used for eco-friendly purposes, unlike the Irish program. The Irish government, however, is unable to provide a specific breakdown of the use of the plastic bag tax funds because they are mixed in with funds from the landfill levy.
The sin list of plastic bags just got longer. On top of everything else, they can affect celebrity athletes' performance -- at least according to Australian soccer player, Mark Schwarzer. Schwarzer received a yellow card in the June 14 game where his team, the Socceroos, won 3-1 over Qatar in Doha for alleged time-wasting, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. But the heroic athlete said he wasn't wasting time. All he did was try to deal with a plastic bag blown into his goalmouth. "There was a big plastic bag sitting in the middle of the goal, and I asked the referee if I could move it and he said yes. As I came back and placed the ball down he gave me a yellow card," Schwarzer was quoted as saying. I wouldn't blame him if Schwarzer decided to join the anti-plastic-bag crowd now. Thanks to that plastic bag, he'll miss the World Cup qualifier against China.
My colleague Frank Esposito's column Plastics demand Rx for resin headaches highlighted a few important facts: 1) resin price spikes, 2) weaker dollar, and 3) increased exports to Asia. He rightly attributed the growing exports to the weaker dollar. And I'm here drawing an additional line between the resin price hikes and the weaker dollar. Yes, if you are looking for something to blame for the resin prices, don't forget the greenback. Fundamentally, the depreciating dollar has fueled oil and natural gas prices, which impacts the production cost of derivative plastic materials. As former Federal Reserve economist David T. King pointed out in a Wall Street Journal article: "The collapse of the dollar exchange rate, alone, explains at least half of the increase in the pump price of gas over the past five years." Of course, the other half would be the supply/demand relationship. Detailed economic analysis is available is King's column. From another perspective, based on the principles of nominal prices and relative prices, internationally traded commodities like plastic resin must reflect the value of the currency that stipulates the prices. When the dollar falls, prices -- including benchmark gold and commodities -- go up.
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Since the launch of our Plastics News China eWeekly newsletter and related Web site in June 2005, I've been receiving e-mails and phone calls from readers who would like to discuss news events and industry trends with me. This blog is to provide a platform to facilitate such communication. I invite you to come here often, read about the latest happenings and discuss with me as well as with industry friends all across the globe. I welcome your comments and opinions.
Nina Ying Sun
Plastics News Asia Specialist
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