SPI to host webinar on exporting scrap plastics to China

The SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, Washington, will host a webinar Sept. 4, 2014, at 2 p.m. EDT, that will provide attendees with information and news on the impact China has had on the U.S. plastics recycling industry. Additionally, webinar presenters are expected to discuss the plastics recycling industry’s changing dynamics.

The webinar, titled “Ripples Across the Pacific: How the Changing Chinese Export Market Has Shaped the U.S. Recycling Industry,” is free to all SPI members; the cost to nonmembers is $45.

The SPI notes that the U.S. recycling industry has changed significantly as a result of shifting global markets. A key factor has been the growth in China’s demand for different grades of plastic scrap.

Questions that are expected to be answered during the 60-minute program include:

• Where do we stand today on the ability to export material?
• Are Chinese import restrictions easing and are new Southeast Asian markets emerging?
• Are recyclers expanding infrastructure and capacity in the United States to create value out of material that can no longer be exported?

The webinar follows a recent SPI post on its website that explores some of the issues that have arisen following the tightened inspections subsequent to the introduction of China’s Operation Green Fence.

Webinar presenters include Xavier Cronin with PetroChem Wire; plastic recycling industry veteran David Kaplan, who worked with Maine Plastics; and Kim Holmes, SPI director of recycling and diversion.

The SPI, founded in 1937 to promote the growth in the U.S. plastics industry, provides advocacy, market research, industry promotion and the fostering of business relationships and zero waste strategies. The SPI also owns and produces the international NPE trade show.

To register for the webinar, click here.