SPI Advocacy Addresses Critical Issues for US Plastics Industry

Representing every link in the US plastics industry supply chain, including brand-owners of plastics-intensive products, SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association carries out a broad variety of functions on behalf of its member companies. These include trade shows, conferences, educational activities, communications programmes, statistical reports and much more.

SPI’s ongoing legislative and regulatory advocacy on behalf of the plastics industry at all levels of government is at the heart of what the association stands for. A strong and united industry approach to legislation and regulation is increasingly critical to the success of the industry and its component businesses because government agencies are increasing in size and extending their reach. The number of regulations affecting American manufacturing, including the plastics sector, has increased steadily in the last few decades.

The food, medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors draw a significant share of the regulatory and legislative attention, much of it focused on product contact materials. Plastics increasingly are the material of choice for packaging in those sectors, thus it is essential that SPI advocates for fair, science-based treatment of our industry.

The focus on these sectors is not a new phenomenon. The SPI Food, Drug & Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee (FDCPMC) was created in 1957 and brings together industry leaders from the entire plastics supply chain. FDCPMC specialises in monitoring plastics regulatory issues and supporting the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and counterpart global agencies in the development of fair and effective rules.

FDCPMC works directly with FDA regulators and the agency counterparts to promote policies that strengthen the plastics packaging sector. FDA representatives are frequent presenters at well-attended FDCPMC meetings and conferences. This gives individual SPI member companies and the entire plastics industry numerous opportunities to help develop industry guidelines and standards that consider their interests.

FDCPMC events include the Biennial International Symposium that brings together experts in diverse disciplines from around the world to confer with SPI members. Its Semi-Annual Technical Conference brings together professionals from the entire supply chain for focused updates on issues, policies and regulations that impact the industry.

Another SPI organisation, EHS+, centres on environmental, worker health and safety and product regulatory issues for all segments of the plastics industry. EHS+ monitors activity, keeps SPI members informed, and engages on key regulatory matters across state, federal and international levels, with a focus on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). EHS+ provides industry professionals with a forum for the exchange of information and best practices, as well as opportunities to interact with representatives of government agencies and other invited meeting guests.

Currently, EHS+ topics and areas of engagement include: combustible dust, crystalline silica, hazard communication, machine safety, recordkeeping, voluntary and enforcement programmes, leading indicators of environmental and safety performance, air and water quality standards, chemical risk assessments and regulations, global chemicals management and product stewardship initiatives.

Based in Washington, DC, SPI’s staff includes specialists with broad experience in legislative advocacy. They meet frequently with senators, representatives and their staffs to discuss key issues, supply information and present the plastics industry’s positions. They also help member companies arrange meetings and plant tours with specific legislators when needed.

SPI’s Advocacy Group organises a “fly-in” once a year that brings plastics industry leaders to Washington for pre-arranged meetings with their senators, representatives and members of their staffs. In July 2013 over 90 meetings were completed in one day, and this year seven other associations participated in the event. The plastics industry professionals who attended reported that their issues were heard and discussed.

Besides bringing plastics professionals to Washington, the advocacy team arranges for federal and state legislators to visit the factories of plastics companies. This enables the legislator to see how plastics manufacturing operations are conducted, whether it is moulding, mould making, extrusion, blow moulding or making the production machinery and auxiliaries used in converting plastic materials into finished products.

The economic, trade, tax, regulatory and other issues that SPI’s advocacy team has been working on recently are numerous and varied. For example, virtually everyone agreed that the “Toxic Substances Control Act” passed in 1976, and not much changed since then, needed major reform decades ago.

SPI has long advocated for reform that would allow modern scientific and technical knowledge to be included in such regulation.

In May 2013 a bipartisan group of US Senators—a rarity in Washington these days—introduced the “Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013,” which is based on the inputs and interests of a broad spectrum of stakeholder viewpoints, including those of SPI on behalf of the plastics industry. It is currently proceeding through the lawmaking process.

Another successful example of SPI advocacy is the recent recommendation by the US General Services Administration (GSA) to the US Department of Energy (DOE) that both the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes 2010 and the US Green Building Council’s (a private organisation) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 2009 systems allow GSA to measure how federal buildings can best save energy, improve overall building performance and reduce utility costs.

Not included in GSA’s final recommendation to DOE was the as-yet unreleased LEEDv4 system. SPI, the American Chemistry Council, the Vinyl Institute, and a number of other groups previously formed the American High-Performance Buildings Coalition to, among other things, encourage GSA to avoid LEEDv4 because it awarded points for excluding specific materials already proven to improve a building’s energy efficiency.

SPI’s advocacy is also aimed at issues that, while less visible, are still important to plastics companies. For example, SPI worked with the states of Florida and California regarding the tax treatment of new equipment purchases, and both states have granted significant tax abatements.