🌱 Innovation in Bioplastics: 2025 Award Winner Announced
♻️ OCS Unveils a Fresh Look for a Bold Future
🌎 NPE2024 Honored for Green Innovation and Industry
Impact
♻️ OCS Recognizes 2025 Industry Leaders in Resin
Stewardship
🙌 Welcome New Member
📅 Mark Your Calendar
📊 Supply Chain Holds Steady Despite Tariffs
Despite this year’s tariff increases, the U.S. plastics industry supply chain remains steady, according to PLASTICS Chief Economist Dr. Perc Pineda.
“As far as the U.S. plastics industry is concerned, the shifts in U.S. tariffs and trade policy have not caused supply chain disruptions,” writes Dr. Pineda. “With the U.S. being a net exporter of plastic materials and resin, higher tariffs have not impacted the economy’s supply of plastic materials, which account for roughly half of the cost of plastics conversion.”
Resin production dipped earlier in the year but rebounded midyear — rising 7.6% in July after modest declines in May and June. Finished goods inventories also held steady, signaling that manufacturers have managed to avoid major supply chain strain despite shifting trade policies.
📈 The bottom line: The U.S. plastics industry continues to show resilience amid changing tariffs and trade dynamics.
🌱 Innovation in Bioplastics: 2025 Award Winner Announced
PLASTICS named CJ Biomaterials the winner of the 2025 Innovation in Bioplastics Award during the tenth annual Bioplastics Week.
CJ Biomaterials earned top honors for PHACT A1000P, a 100% bio-based and compostable material that combines flexibility, durability, and sustainability for use in packaging and food-service applications.
Other standouts:
🥈 Runner-Up:TotalEnergies Corbion for Luminy® L040, a renewable alternative to polypropylene.
🌊 Honorable Mentions:Sway + Charter Next Generation for TPSea Flex™, a seaweed-derived compostable film; and Syensqo for Amodel® BIOS PPA, a high-performance bio-based polymer for automotive and electronics.
These innovations highlight how bioplastics are advancing sustainable solutions across industries, from packaging to automotive.
Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS), the world’s largest industry-led stewardship program to prevent plastic resin loss, has a new brand identity that better reflects its strategic priorities, global reach, and continued innovation.
What began as a pledge to eliminate plastic resin loss has grown into a global movement, now active in more than 60 countries, offering rigorous facility verification, and expanding membership to better engage the full plastics value chain.
The refreshed brand marks a new chapter for OCS—one that reflects where the program is today and its direction for the future.
🌎 NPE2024 Honored for Green Innovation and Industry Impact
PLASTICS is proud to announce that NPE2024: The Plastics Show® earned the Grand Award for “Most Commendable Green Initiatives” and ranked as the 7th largest trade show of 2024 at the Tradeshow Executive (TSE) Gold 100 Awards & Summit.
Why it matters: The recognition highlights PLASTICS’ leadership in sustainability, showcased through the Sustainability Hub, NPE Recycling Center, and over 20 education sessions on circularity, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.
Sustainability by the numbers: ♻️ 100% diversion rate — all plastics, cardboard, and aluminum recycled. 🚫 More than 516,000 pounds of waste kept out of landfills. 🏭 30+ exhibitors featured sustainable manufacturing and recovery solutions.
PLASTICS was also a finalist for Best Strategic Partnership, underscoring NPE’s influence and innovation across the global trade show industry.
♻️ OCS Recognizes 2025 Industry Leaders in Resin Stewardship
Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS) honored five plastics industry’s champions of resin loss prevention at OCS CON 2025 in Indianapolis.
The OCS Difference Maker Awards spotlight individuals and organizations going above and beyond in their commitment to making zero resin loss a top priority. This year's recipients represent various areas of the plastics value chain, including logistics, manufacturing, operations, and more.
"The recipients ... represent the pinnacle of what our industry can achieve when resin loss prevention is embraced at every level," said Patrick Krieger, SVP of Sustainability and Policy at PLASTICS.
Headquartered in Utica, New York, Munson Machinery is a manufacturer of industrial mixers, blenders, size reduction equipment, and bulk solids handling systems. With over two centuries of engineering innovation, Munson has built a reputation for manufacturing robust, high-performance machinery used across industries - from food and pharmaceuticals to chemicals and minerals. The company’s product line includes rotary batch mixers, ribbon blenders, attrition mills, centrifugal sifters, and more, all designed to meet the rigorous demands of modern processing environments.
♻️ Plastics Sustainability Executive Forum | November 3–4 | New York, NY|
Request an invitation to join senior sustainability professionals to explore real-world solutions to today’s most pressing challenges. This fall’s forum will focus on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Learn more.
📅 Vinyl Week 2025 | December 9–12 | New Orleans, LA | This one-of-a-kind gathering brings together the Vinyl Compounders Conference and the Vinyl Sustainability Summit for four days of leadership, networking, and forward-looking insights. Register today.
🗓️ NPE2027 Space Selection & Planning Event | March 2–6, 2026 |Orlando, FL | NPE2027 exhibitors will convene to select exhibit booth space, plan for exhibit success, and explore opportunities to maximize the NPE2027 investment. Learn more.
🏛️ PLASTICS Spring Meeting and Industry Fly-In | April 13-15, 2026 |Washington, DC | Join us for the annual PLASTICS Spring Meeting and Industry Fly-In. We'll come together to share our policy and advocacy initiatives while bringing the industry to Capitol Hill, to personally advocate on behalf of your company. More details coming soon.
⛳ FlexForum | May 4-6, 2026 |Fort Myers, FL | FlexForum is the event for anyone in the flexible film and packaging space. Covering business trends, regulatory issues, and more with the incredible networking opportunities, FlexForum is a can't miss in 2026! More details coming soon.
