NEWS US plastics sales grow 6%


The US-based Plastics Industry Associa- tion has launched its 2025 Size and Impact Report, the latest annual analysis of the country’s plastics industry. Highlights of the report included:


sales of almost US$551 billion in 2024 (a year-on-year increase of almost 6%); and industry employment up around 6%. The sector employs just over 1 million people – which swells to


Shibaura shows new machines


Shibaura Machine will present a new generation injection moulding machines at K2025. It says its EC-SXIII all-electric series and S-GenXt hydraulic series “set new benchmarks” in plastics manufacturing. “With these machines,


we’re redefining injection moulding,” said Shigetomo Sakamoto, president of Shibaura Machine Group. At K2025, an EC75SXIII


will make business card holders using a single- cavity rPET mould. An S-GenXt 180-7A will produce rPET food containers on a two-cavity mould that also incorpo- rates in-mould labelling. Shibaura’s AI-powered monitoring system, called Virtual Machine Expert, continuously monitors production processes to detect potential compo- nent issues in advance, while its MachiNetCloud IIoT platform will show real-time data. � https://shibaura-machine.eu


6 Niigata Machinery has opened a new headquarters and factory in Japan Niigata opens new facility in Japan


Niigata Machinery has opened its new headquar- ters and factory in Momoy- ama in Niigata City, Japan. In a launch ceremony, Jianming Zhang, chairman of Haitian International – Niigata’s owner since 2023


– said the new facility “incorporates Haitian’s concepts of global opera- tions, intelligent manufactur- ing and green production”. The new factory covers


an area of more than 9,500 sq m and stands next to an


existing 3,600 sq m facility. Niigata says it “boosts productivity while strength- ening the ability to handle multi-category and small- batch orders with speed and precision”. � https://haitianinter.com


Converters urge EU to take action


EuPC, the trade body that represents European plastics converters, says the sector is at “breaking point”. The organisation has


written to EU president Ursula von der Leyen with six recommendations to “save the industry”. It says that Europe will


lose around 1 million tonnes of plastics recycling capacity by the end of the year, as well as a drop in plastics


INJECTION WORLD | October 2025


production and a dip in global market share. It says its recommenda- tions will “foster industrial competitiveness, strengthen supply chain resilience, and secures a sustainable, circular, and innovation- driven plastics economy for Europe”. The recommendations are:


• restoring fair competition by promoting EU-made circular plastics;


• cutting energy costs; • ending loopholes in verification and enforce- ment;


• tackling fragmentation; • promoting innovation and private investment; and,


• enhancing EPR for a fair circular market. The letter is co-signed by


28 organisations including Plastics Europe and Ama- plast of Italy. �www.eupc.org


www.injectionworld.com


around 1.7m when suppliers to the plastics industry are considered. “This year’s report confirms the


resilience of the US plastics industry,” said Perc Pineda, chief economist at the association. “Its economic impact – in some respects outpacing total manufacturing – has remained positive and is unlikely to change in the future.” As measured by gross output, the


plastic products portion of the plastics industry was the eighth largest US industry in 2023 (the latest year for which information is available). Matt Seaholm, president and CEO


of the association, added: “Despite economic headwinds over the past year, the plastics industry has proven itself both resilient and steadfast.” �www.plasticsindustry.org


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IMAGE: HAITIAN INTERNATIONAL


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