Document 9JE4ZyOxeBjoJeeZKxx1kLjJR

Jfanufacturing Chemists' Association, Inc. 3- (FOUNDED 187t> 1825 Connecticut Avenue, N. W r h Washington, D. C. 20009 MINUTES OF MEETING PLASTICS COMMITTEE New York Hilton Hotel New York City November 21, 1966 PRESENT: Messrs- G. L. Pitzer (Chairman), Union Carbide Corporation G. A. Fowles (for Vice Chairman Nantz), B. F. Goodrich Chemical R. G. Askew, Phillips Petroleum Company E. S . Ebers, United States Rubber Company J. W. Ferguson, Hooker Chemical Corporation W. C. Goggin, The Dow Chemical Company G. M. Hale, Shawinigan Chemicals Limited F. M. Norton, Allied Chemical Corporation J. R. Ryan, Hercules Incorporated Harry Sutherland, Shell Chemical Company D. C. Williams, Eastman Chemical Products, Inc. John Brooks (Board Liaison), Celanese Corporation F. H. Carman (Secretary), MCA 'c - O' J,L^L- ' and F. J. Pizzitola (Guest), Celanese Corporation On opening the meeting. Chairman Pitzer welcomed Mr. John Brooks (Celanese), Board of Directors Liaison, Mr. F. J. Pizzitola (Group Vice President-Chemicals, Celanese), and Mr. G. A. Fowles (B. F. Goodrich Chemical Co., representing Mr. T. B. NantzT and invited them to participate in the discussion. For information of those present, Mr. Harry Sutherland announced that through a decision of the previous day he will take on a new assignment in London for the Shell Company and that he must, accordingly, resign from the Committee. All present were sorry to lose Mr. Sutherland from the- Committee activities and wished him every success in his new post. Following- discussion a replacement to serve out his two-year term, motion wae made: That Mr. John Kroeger, General Manager, Plastics and Resins Division, Shell Chemical Company# be invited to_. finish out! the unexpired term. ^eing duly seconded', this wa# voted1- txhairimbus-S^v CMA 078754 2 The Secretary reported that Dr. w. F. Bartoe, Chairman Liaison and Steering Committees this program, could if thStend this meeting. His report covering general status of the ?0JeC was r__e____a___d3 . (See Appendix A)/ n_____n_______________333.. -h\ Additional comments from Steering Committee members, parlarly those of Messrs. Brown (Dow), Gunst (Union Carbide), and ::Ugnch (Eastman Chemical) , reiterated several of the points covered These were: (j.) There is a new interest on the part of NBS in the program, and the project seems to have "turned the corner"; (2) The Senior Research Associate is believed to be doing work desired by the industry and has a good grasp of the objectives, but it was admitted that he is not providing the type of leader ship required; there is still question as to whether or not such leadership will be possible from the NBS, and it was stressed that a search should be made for another research associate as rapidly as possible; (3) Another commented he was not enthusiastic the project had "turned the corner" but does have a guarded hope that progress should now be possible in NBS; (4) Several were of the opinion that the industry representa tives may have been too impatient in getting the program under way and that there may have been some overdirection of the work, therefore they may have been overly critical of the project progress. A complete review of the work is planned for a December 8 reefing of all the Technical and Steering Committee representatives in the new NBS headquarters at Gaithersburg, Maryland. Report to Board of Directors The Chairman had been invited to report on Plastics Com mittee activities to the Board of Directors in its meeting at 4 p.m. November 21, 1966. A copy of his remarks was distributed to all Present in the Committee meeting and is included as Appendix B. Mgdical Problem - PVC Manufacture During a review of this problem, particularly for advice to the Secretary on methods of apportioning any research expense to CMA 078755 3 -gSted members, the Committee was advised that a task group ^ tjje occupational Health Committee was visiting the University \ jiichi9an on November 29 where such research may be conducted. Members having direct knowledge of this problem emphasized t to date the hazards seem to be concentrated in the manufacture z llsUgpension-type" resin. Accordingly, it was suggested that 3 optioning of any research costs might well be based on capacity paSsifications for this type of material and that participating j ^ers be expected to select the classification applicable to them. T',, waS also brought out that several companies have failed to find indication of terminal bone lesions in the fingers of any employ ees/ and were thus not yet sure there is really an industry-wide problem requiring research. Further investigations are under way, \nd it was a9ai-n emphasized that X-rays supplied by member companies -0uld be referred to an expert familiar with this medical problem. Discussion then centered on the over-all responsibility of chemical companies and the MCA to undertake a diligent search for -;-e cause of these effects on employees and necessary steps to elim inate or reduce such hazards. Several representatives of companies . not manufacturing PVC emphasized MCA was duty bound to do something about this problem and they would be willing to participate in the funding. The extent of research and the probable funding over any period is not yet known,and individual companies are still reviewing urns matter within their own organization. It was the general :pinion within the Committee that if cooperative research is deemed -.ecessary the MCA should take on this project and, if additional funds are required, the Plastics Committee and/or PVC producers will ;hen assist in the financing. Plastics Financial Package The report of the 5-months' operations had been circulated .'ith the agenda. it is expected that costs for the balance of the ;ear will be substantially greater than the 5-months' experience -it will still be within the budget for the fiscal year. lister Harbors Conference Total costs for this meeting September 7-10, 1966, were '19,221, with 136 member representatives participating; the allo tted cost per representative for group charges was $34.31. Registra tion at this meeting was one less than for 1965. The address by Pierre Rinfret on the general economic Picture had not been duplicated, although an October 4 story in the CMA 078756 4 jjetf speech. Dr. Rinfret was reported to have made a speech $e?pt&e t^e November 8 elections, and it was agreed the Washington $inCe ghou^ obtain a copy if possible. :flCe ^wtategory Activities The study committee appointed by the Board on this subject. '-i,used tne coara or a uenracive agreement mat une present plastics ^rivity relates to a multi-product segment of the chemical industry should be continued within the Association essentially as it now This Board committee is making studies on several other product ^ivities of the Association at this time. ********* For general information the Secretary reported that he vould be subject to retirement about December 1, 1967, in keeping with the Association's pension and insurance plan; further, that he ;-.ad indicated to General Decker a willingness to stay on for two or :r.ree years, and that this was being taken up with the Executive committee and/or the Board of Directors. Chairman Pitzer then asked Messrs. Goggin, Norton, and Askew, as an ad hoc group, to advise him on what action, if any, he should take regarding this sending retirement. The meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted. FHC/bk Attachments (2) -c; All Present Plastics Committee November 29, 1966 F. H. Carman, Secretary Plastics Committee CMA 078757 imiw--------m EXHIBIT A REPORT TO PLASTICS COMMITTEE ON STATUS OF WEATHERABILITY PROJECT Following the recommendation made by the Steering Com- (copy was sent to Plastics Committee) at their July 28 tj_ng, the Liaison Committee met with NBS officials to express -ee Jiissatisfaction with the Bureau's administration of our Dject. The previous inadequacy of administration was recognized j,oth Mr. Stern, of their office of Industrial Service, and ^ Bates, the head of the Division for Building Research in which r project is located. Dr. Bates agreed to correct the matter. ,-e also insisted that such administration had to be in full-time residence at the Bureau. On September 30, Dr. Bates designated Mr. V. Eugene Gray =3 the new administrator on a 50 per cent time basis reporting iirectly to him. Three of our Steering Committee members (Gunst, Brown, md Ingle) have visited the project since Mr. Gray's appointment. All have reported favorably on its current status, progress, and spirit. The consensus is that the project has been revitalized and mat we can expect considerable progress from now on. It also appears that we may be ready for a third, qualified Research Associate. Your Liaison Committee urges planned visitations by your technical representatives with view of further evaluating the Program and encouraging our Research Associates. Any suggestions regarding available, experienced man Power are urgently needed. er Ifl. 1966 William F. Bartoe, Chairman Steering and Liaison Committees for CMA 078758 PLASTICS COMMITTEE REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS November 21, 1966 Glenn L. Pitzer, Chairman The Plastics Committee represents 53 member companies ^ing a hroad interest in plastic materials. Members serve w0_year terms (except the chairman); and, in keeping with the rmS of Reference, the membership, now 13 in number, is rotated ia W ,l t-*h1 new appointments each year selected so that at any time the committee does not represent a dominant position in any given important plastic material. Activities that rightfully fall within -he scope of regular functional committees are referred to those respective groups, although the Plastics Committee maintains liaison with them to varying degrees. Recent examples are the plastics packaging for nitric acid - Chemical Packaging Committee, a new nuclear polymerization process - Nuclear Committee, foreign trade matters liaison - International Trade Committee and the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA), and the recent medical problem concerned with PVC manufacture Occupational Health Committee. Likewise, matters of specific interest to the plastics industry are often referred to the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) which includes many of the inter ested MCA member companies and could be more effective in handling industry-wide matters concerned with plastic end products; examples are packaging film regulations and building code problems concerned with plastic components. m 2 In a report for the Committee to this Board in November pr. William C. Goggin of Dow, who is still a member of the 196^1 plaStics Committee, touched briefly on such matters as fundamental research at MIT and Case, projects at Underwriters' Laboratories appliances and tests for smoke obscuration, the referral of -ertain building problems to SPI which resulted in formation of ^eir Plastics in Construction Council, and the initiation of a weatherability test development program at the National Bureau of Standards. The latter has been now under way for about twenty months; the budget for its current operations amounts to $77,000, chus accounting for a major portion of the total plastics budget of $105,000 for the current year. So much for a review. Since our last report to you, general building activities actually handled by the Plastics Com mittee, other than the NBS project, have been nil. However, the Committee members and other executives of the interested member companies have been participating in and/or keeping abreast of che developments in the SPI Council. I think it is important to report briefly on this because of the members' interest and intensive study of the building industry's requirements for plastics in 1960-64 which led to the aforementioned Council. Since then the Council has established four working groups, namely: (1) Research. A program is already under way at Illinois Institute of Technology in an effort to better quantify the burning characteristics of plastics in interior uses. This CMA 078760 3 r0gram is believed to be worthwhile and necessary* P aCtual tests are now scheduled for December 15. First (2) code Advisory. This is a continuation of a committee that has been active in the SPI for many years concerned with code problems mainly in light transmitting applications. (3) Education. An Opinion Research Corporation survey of architects' attitudes toward plastics has been completed - generally, the findings and steps that were proposed for the industry were similar to those outlined in an MCA study con ducted in 1962 - a brochure somewhat similar to a Sweets Catalog is now being compiled. (4) Standards and Certification. Development of performance standards with certification of plastic components was pin pointed by the MCA study as a must for a real breakthrough for plastics in building. Little progress has been made. The Weatherability Project at NBS, we hope, will develop test procedures which through short-term tests can predict outdoor weather-life with some assurance and so that the industry won't nave to wait twenty years before putting out a standard and certif ication of a building product. This project will have been operating ir two years in March 1967. Progress here also has not been all that could be desired. NBS to varying degrees has not given the technical and administrative direction of the work as should have been available and provided in their Research Associates Program. Our technical representatives CMA 078761 4 continued close liaison with the Bureau, and we believe this n^e (.ion has now been remedied. Part of the problem has been rSonnel. the move of the NBS headquarters to Gaithersburg, Maryland &oUt 15 miles to the north of Washington), and perhaps just plain 0wness in getting programs under way. The MCA technical representaeS have been requested to visit the NBS operations for an inde cent evaluation of the program and its future prospects. Then, if .granted, other locations for this work may be sought. I do not feel it appropriate to take the time for discussion ;f other less important matters considered by the Plastics Committee. -o varying degrees some of us may be disenchanted with the building program because of the slowness and in some cases little progress joth in the SPI Council and the NBS project. Perhaps we were not realistic in expecting the fabricating segment of the industry - the SPI members - to be interested and qualified to develop good reliable performance standards. Perhaps we expected too much from the staff r.ow at the NBS in the first twenty months; on this we are searching :or additional personnel. The technical people and our member com panies still don't have the answer on weatherability testing - they feel a point program is the only way to get the answer - we still insist that the objective of the work is valid and necessary in the 5est interests of the industry to provide a real breakthrough for plastics in building. CMA 078762 5 I assure you we have already done something about the rabilitY program and hope a more promising report can be on this during the coming year. If you have any questions, I will be happy to try for ,,,e answers. I CMA 078763