Extrusion International 4-2023-USA

32 Extrusion International 4/2023 32 INDUSTRY NEWS Disappointment with EPA Draft Strategy on Plastic Pollution Commented The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) has submitted com- ments in response to the Environ- mental Protection Agency’s (EPA) request for public input on its Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution. “The plastic industry appreciates the opportunity to submit com- ments to the EPA, however, we are disappointed with the agency’s draft strategy,” said PLASTICS’ Presi- dent and CEO Matt Seaholm. “The EPA was directed by Congress in an overwhelmingly bi-partisan way to focus on post-consumer materials management and infrastructure, and instead the agency’s first stated objective in this strategy is to reduce the production of essential materials rather than address plastic waste.” “The strategy is not focused on im- proving infrastructure, meanwhile, the plastics industry continues to invest billions of dollars in innova- tions to expand recycling capac- ity. Understanding and addressing the essential nature of plastics and tackling environmental challenges should not be mutually exclusive.” “We don’t recycle enough, and we need to improve recycling rates in the U.S., period. PLASTICS re- mains eager to collaborate with the EPA, stakeholders and anyone who is willing to work towards our common goal of effective solutions to keep plastic waste out of the en- vironment,” concluded Seaholm. PLASTICS’ comments state that the EPA’s draft strategy should: • Recognize plastics serve a critical and sustainable role in modern life and have more than “some poten- tial benefits.” • Acknowledge that innovations in product and material design have outpaced our infrastructure, nega- tively impacting our country’s ability to recycle at acceptable levels. • Revise a draft consistent with the bipartisan legislation that directed the EPA to develop a strategy to im- prove post-consumer materials man- agement and infrastructure, not pre- production and product restrictions. • Foster circularity, not advocate production limits. • Hold all materials to the same standard and recognize that plastics often outperform other materials environmentally. • Revise the draft strategy follow- ing appropriate, thorough stake- holder engagement in a transpar- ent process to develop practicable and achievable goals, gain and le- verage greater collaboration neces- sary to achieve those goals. The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) www.plasticsindustry.org Matt Seaholm Manufacturing Base in the U.S. Expanded R+W, a global brand of precision couplings for mo- tion control and automation systems, has just opened a new US-based manufacturing facility with expanded machining capabilities and assembly operations for its precision couplings and line shafts. The company relocated into the 30,000 square foot facility in West Chicago, IL in late 2022, and is currently ramping up to produce the majority of its precision bellows couplings, elastomer couplings and line shafts for the North American market here. Significant improvements to product availability and lead times are planned, and already partially underway via a major expansion to the depth and variety of elas- tomer-jaw coupling hubs being kept on hand. Models EKH, EK7 and EK6 with fully split clamping hubs, ex- panding shaft hubs, and conical clamping ring hubs re- spectively are now being delivered within a few days of order entry, just as the classic models EKL and EK2 with clamping hubs have been for the past several years. BK2 bellows couplings now being produced at R+W America