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What a loaded question that is, sure to get a rise out of manufacturers around the world. The answer seems to be a resounding "Yes" unless you work for the Chinese government, which in all fairness is doing a bang-up job of protecting its domestic industries' growth export opportunities, or you work for the U.S. Treasury Department.

Only time will tell whether plastics pipes are chosen to replace all of the pipelines in the U.S.'s water and sewage system which need to be modernized and repaired. But as this article  in today's NY Times makes clear, the problem is reaching epic proportions in the country. Justas an example, the nation's capital suffers a water break every day, on average. According to the article, "An E.P.A.

Quoting continues to be a huge issue among moldmakers. I periodically get calls from companies wanting to know if there are any good mold-quoting software packages out there. (Yes, there are several, but I've never talked to a moldmaker yet who really liked them.) Some create their own software, thinking they can integrate everything that's needed to come up with a good number really quickly.

After two days of presentations and countless talks with people in the market, I left the Plastics Recycling 2010 conference, held March 2-3 in Austin, TX, convinced even more that plastics recycling will continue to be a major growth market in this industry.

On March 1, 10 U.S. senators sent a letter to U.S. President Obama that, among other things, acknowledged Obama's release last year of "A Framework for Revitalizing American Manufacturing," requested more information about how the administration is implementing the strategies in that Framework, said the 10 would work with Obama to promote U.S. manufacturing, and called for a multi-industry strategy to promote emerging manufacturing opportunities.

The recent exoneration of vaccinations as suspects in the spike in autism diagnoses has not made questions regarding the cause go away, it has simply shifted the focus. Now, Frank Lautenberg, Democratic senator from New Jersey is drafting legislation that would bolster the Toxic Substances Control Act, in a way that sounds a lot like Europe's REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals).

About Bisphenol A, that is. Not surprisingly, the person quoted in this Washington Post article  didn't want his name or company (a major food processor) attached to the quote. The article is on the difficulty food processors have finding an alternative to Bisphenol A (BPa) to use for lining cans.  

That's the position in which we now find ourselves, according to most reports. In an article today at NPR.org, officials at injection molder Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products (QEPP; Reading, PA) talked about their company's reactions immediately before, during and now post-recession.

An exchange of letters between an enthusiastic father and IMM’s By Design columnist and plastic part design expert Glenn Beall puts credit where it belongs.

A new exhibition at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, NY showcases a variety of products made from the seminal resin pioneered by Leo Baekeland. Working from a barn in Yonkers, the Belgian inventor perfected the formaldehyde compound in 1907, ushering in the age of plastics.