Trump Infrastructure Investment and EPA Pick Great for Plastics Manufacturers

The plastics manufacturing industry has great cause for celebration over the first 100 days of the Trump presidency. Trump’s anticipated infrastructure investment, along with his EPA Chief pick, could result in thousands of high paying jobs. Continue reading →

Dec 17, 2016 /prREACH/ -- There is quite a buzz in the Plastics industry this week about the proposed one trillion dollar infrastructure investment the Trump administration is promising to make in the president-elect’s first 100 days. Plastics manufacturing is the third largest manufacturing sector in the U.S., behind the automobile and aerospace industries.

Plastics can be used for not only airport reconstruction, but to replace the older, leaking sewage pipes nationwide made from cement and metal. Many multinational chemical companies see plastics as the building material of the future, and are vertically integrating their portfolios by acquiring processors of all sizes.

Grant Flaharty, an international expert in infrastructure plastics manufacturing, just spoke at the Extrusions 2016 conference of plastics manufacturers in Charlotte, NC last week. He commented, “There is an excitement for the future that hasn't been seen in years. A trillion spent in infrastructure by the Trump administration could equate to thousands of highly paid jobs in the plastics industry alone.” Plastics employ 900,000 Americans and 17,000 facilities that require a skilled, highly paid work force.

Flaharty also sees an advantage to Trump’s recent pick for the head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, as regulations imposed by the current administration have slowed American energy independence as it pertains to plastics. Flaharty foresees a loosening of the regulations, which will allow for additional significant growth in the plastics sector. “Regulations that have been put into place by the last administration need to be identified that are common sense versus the ones that are politicized to affect green policy,” says Flaharty. He recommends getting rid of regulations that do not have an effect on EPA safety but end up increasing the price of energy within the U.S.

Plastics manufacturers support a wide variety of industries, from food to transportation, but specific to construction, there could be a huge surge in jobs in this sector for 2017 and beyond.