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10 / March 2020 powderbulk.com PBE UPFRONT INDUSTRY NEWS China tightens plastic resin import restrictions According to a story in Plastics News, China's government is implementing a new policy on imported recycled plastic pellets. The new policy could tighten the country's standards for recycled pellets and cause cuts to imports. The policy, set to start in April 2020, could cause uncertainty in the market and may force Chinese manufacturers to switch to domestic or virgin materials, according to a Chinese recycling association. Steve Wong, executive president of the China Scrap Plastics Asso- ciation (CSPA), has said that the new standards could be difficult to comply with. The changes to the recycled resin pellets standard are part of a trend in China. In 2018, the country's "National Sword" policy limited the import of scrap plastic and paper, which are used to make recycled plastic pellets and flakes. As a result of the 2018 changes, many Chinese recycling compa- nies switched business models by investing in factories in other coun- tries, including Southeast Asia and the US. By owning factories outside of China, companies can process recycled plastics to create recycled pellets or flakes and then export those plastic materials to China. According to the new rules, each recycled plastic pellets ship- ment must have a consistent melt-flow index, impact strength, elongation at break, and other characteristics with less than 3 to 5 percent difference in quality. CSPA has noted that recycled resin prices have decreased because of overcapacity in the virgin mate- rials sector and a reduction in demand for single-use plastics. These market changes mean that producing recycled plastics plementary portfolios and will have global scale and leading positions in key growth categories. The two businesses have a total of about 23,000 employees, 190 manufactur- ing sites, and 130 technology and research centers. DuPont is a global company specializing in technology-based materials, ingredients, and solu- tions and headquartered in Wilmington, DE. CSB finalizes 4-hour chemical release reporting rule The US Chemical Safety and Haz- ard Investigation Board (CSB) has proposed a rule on reporting acci- dental chemical releases. The rule would require companies to notify the CSB when accidental chemical releases meet the CSB's investi- gation requirements. The rule applies to regulated substances or extremely hazardous substances released from stationary sources that result in a fatality, serious injury, or substantial property damage (damages greater than $1 million). Such incidents would trig- ger a duty for the owner or operator of the stationary sources to notify the CSB within 4 hours. According to the organization, this report- ing requirement would generate approximately 200 reports annually. The rule was officially published on December 12, 2019, and was open to comments until January 13, 2020. The proposed rule was instigated after a judge ordered the CSB to issue a final rule within 12 months. The Clean Air Act Amend- ments of 1990 both established the CSB and tasked it with crafting and implementing an accidental release reporting regulation. In the years since, some federal agencies and community groups had requested that the CSB finalize a rule on acci- dental releases. will be challenging in China and surrounding countries because many Southeast Asian countries have adopted similar policies to China's. Many consumer product companies that have pledged to use recycled plastics may have dif- ficulties sourcing enough material to fulfill their commitments. Admix CEO and founder retires, successor named Admix Inc., Londonderry, NH, has announced that its founder, Lou Beaudette, retired and that Mike Rizzo has been appointed chief executive officer as of January 2020. The company manufactures hygienic and industrial mixing equipment for the food and bever- age, chemical, industrial, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical markets. Beaudette founded the company in 1989 with the goal of helping customers make improvements to processing efficiencies using advanced mixing technologies. Rizzo has served on the board of directors at Admix since 2017 and has been instrumental in consulting with the company to develop a growth strategy plan. He has served on multiple corporate boards and held leadership posi- tions at various companies. The company plans to grow its business in sanitary and industrial markets. IFF to merge with DuPont nutrition business International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) will merge with DuPont's nutri- tion and biosciences operations. IFF CEO Andreas Fibig will head the merged company while DuPont chief executive Ed Breen will become lead independent director. IFF, a taste, scent, nutrition, and ingredients supplier based in New York, NY, will pay DuPont for the merger. The companies have com-