North American Plastics Associations Form Alliance

The three major trade associations for the plastics industry in the United States and Canada have announced plans to formalize existing collaborations on programs and initiatives that benefit the North American plastics industry.

The three associations—the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA)  and SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association—will  work on industry priorities through a virtual structure called the North American Plastics Alliance (NAPA).

The three associations say the alliance is designed to be more effective and efficient by acting in a coordinated manner on select initiatives. The initial priorities for enhanced collaboration by the Alliance will be:

• Pellet Containment: Extension of Operation Clean Sweep to broaden pellet containment efforts in the United States, Canada and elsewhere
• Energy Recovery: Promotion and facilitation of energy recovery and conversion of used plastics to complement recycling
• Plastics Favorability: Increasing the favorability of plastics with key stakeholders
• Advocacy: targeted advocacy with policy makers to support the growth of the plastics industry

A steering team with member and staff representatives from ACC, CPIA and SPI will direct NAPA’s programs and initiatives. The steering team is comprised of the following: 

• Bill Carteaux, SPI president and CEO
• Steve Russell, ACC vice president of Plastics
• Greg Wilkinson, CPIA interim president and CEO
• Paul Cohen, president, W. Ralston (Canada) Inc.; chair, CPIA board of directors
• Jay Cude, president and CEO, Coeur Inc.; vice chair, SPI board of directors
• Glenn Wright, North America Plastics commercial vice president, The Dow Chemical Co.; Chair, ACC Plastics Division Operating Committee

Wilkinson says, “This new collaboration is a logical extension of the work we do on behalf of our members and will make CPIA’s voice on behalf of the Canadian plastics industry even stronger. Many of our issues cross the Canada-U.S. border and working together with other national organizations will help us focus our resources where they can make a difference for the industry.”