Plastics firms postpone production to conserve energy

A number of Ontario plastics processors report that they have pared back production and reduced their use of lighting and air conditioning help stabilize Ontario’s electricity supply. On Monday, the PCL Packaging Corp. film extrusion plant in Oakville, ON, was “only producing that which is critical to customer deliveries,” explained Tim French, president and COO. Not all extrusion lines were running and any non-essential equipment was idle. The company’s offices were running without lights and air conditioning.
Similarly, structural foam molder Horizon Plastics Ltd. of Cobourg, ON, has postponed any non-essential production. President Brian Read said the company would use the down time to perform maintenance.
Businesses, industrial operations and residents of Ontario have been asked by the provincial government to reduce electricity consumption during the week beginning August 18 because the province’s power generation capacity is somewhat reduced following the blackouts which hit Ontario and the U.S. northeast region last week.
Compared with some other industries, the plastics industry “is a low volume user of electricity,” says Faris Shammas, vice-president business and economics for the Canadian Plastics Industry Association.
Five sites of resin producer NOVA Chemicals remained closed on Monday as the company evaluated the energy supply situation, customer impact and equipment status, said Jeffrey Pina, vice-president public affairs. The power outage on Aug. 14 forced the shutdown of four of NOVA’s Ontario facilities — Corunna, Mooretown, Sarnia and St.Clair River and the Painesville, OH, site.