(Cracking the Code with Greg Kozera - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Over 25 years ago during my corporate life, I still recall a very memorable trip from Charleston, West Virginia, to Paintsville, Kentucky. I took U.S. 119. Back then, prior to Corridor G, most of it was two-lane.

In Kentucky, I had to stop for a man with two large paper grocery bags in his arms to cross the road in front of us. He lived in a well-kept gray, wood frame house trimmed in red on a small hill across from the creek. We watched him flip both bags into the creek. I couldn’t believe what we just witnessed. Rather than pay for trash pickup, some people used the creeks. I always wondered how disposable diapers and plastic bags got 10 feet up in trees along the creek.

To the best of my knowledge, this is a thing of the past in Kentucky. Not so in Asia. Over 90% of ocean plastic comes from nine rivers in Asia. People use them the same way the man in Kentucky did 25 years ago. Our biggest challenge with plastic is collection. If we can collect it, there are plenty of options to recycle and reuse it.

This week Lynnda and I with Shale Crescent USA, the Polymer Alliance Zone, West Virginia Development Office, Jobs Ohio, Team Pennsylvania and other local economic development organizations were in Orlando, Florida, at the National Plastics Expo (NPE). This exhibition happens every three years. Due to COVID 19 the last NPE was in 2018. Shale Crescent USA was part of the Polymer Alliance Zone booth. The expo is massive, with over 2,100 exhibitors from all phases of the plastics industry.

Exhibiting were companies like Shell who use the ethane produced from wells in the Shale Crescent USA Region to make polyethylene pellets. Compounders add special properties and colors to the pellets. Injection molders and extruders turn the pellets into products we use every day. Other companies turn petrochemicals into various films used for packaging to keep food from damage or spoiling.

Companies who make various machines and molds also were there. Automation, robotics and AI were well represented. A recent Shale Crescent USA/Jobs Ohio study showed major manufacturing costs are now energy, raw materials and transportation, NOT labor. Our region can compete with countries like China because of our abundant, economical natural gas and natural gas liquids.

The expo requires three exhibit halls, each larger than the David Lawrence convention center in Pittsburgh or the Columbus convention center. Our typical day was walking over six miles. Over 55,000 people attended. Sustainability and recycling were major focuses.

Ohio has the largest plastic industry employment of any state in the country. Many Ohio plastics companies were represented. The auto industry is a major user of plastics as are the health care and food industries. Making automobiles lightweight with plastics increases fuel efficiency and makes them rust-free and safer because plastics compress and absorb much of the force of a crash, protecting the occupants. My Disney magnets don’t stick on my rental car because most of it is plastic. In order to be lightweight, an EV contains over 90% plastic content.

Medical equipment, health care PPE and delivery of medications all require plastics. Modern packaging designs protect food damage in shipping and keep it fresher longer. The creativity in packaging is amazing. There are now more plant-based plastic products. One company uses vegetable oil to make plastic bags and plastic utensils that decompose in less than 90 days.

We still hear about the “evil” of plastics. I don’t work for the plastics industry or the oil and gas industry. The mission of Shale Crescent USA is to create high-wage manufacturing jobs by bringing manufacturing to our region. We learned during the pandemic the importance of Made in America. Cloth masks are porous and offer little to no protection against COVID. When we couldn’t get masks during COVID, Lynnda and her friends made cloth masks and added a layer of polypropylene (a plastic) that made them effective.

Like all families, my family is a large user of plastics. Lynnda, me and most of our children and grandchildren would not be alive without modern plastics. Lynnda’s insulin pump is plastic. The EpiPen my children and grandchildren use after a bee sting or food allergy is plastic. The medical equipment to detect and remove Lynnda’s breast cancer is plastic. Hospital gowns, masks, gloves, instruments and medical equipment used during our surgeries are made with plastics.

The anti-plastics folks don’t tell kids a plastics ban would mean their Xboxes and cell phones go away. It’s not what we say; it is what we do. Individuals or organizations suggesting or lobbying to ban plastics need to lead by example. They should stop using plastics themselves first. Otherwise they are hypocrites asking others to do what they refuse to do themselves. Getting rid of their computers, cell phones and cars is a good place to start.

What we can do is a better job of collecting waste plastic. There are many companies at NPE who can recycle and reuse plastic as long as they have sufficient plastic feedstock. We already have companies in our region who do this. From our meetings this week, we expect to have two more companies coming to our region to use our plastic waste, creating valuable products and good jobs.

When we were in Germany, the head of Plastics Europe told us plastic demand globally will double or triple by 2040. This is due to lightweighting of vehicles for electrification, increased global population and rising standards of living. This means, to protect the planet, we will need to find ways to do a better job of collecting used and waste plastic for recycling and teach others how to do it. It’s time to quit thinking of used plastic as waste and think of it as the valuable commodity it can be.

***

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker and author of four books and numerous published articles.