“We’re hoping people will effectively switch to compostable bags,” said [councillor Derek] Shaw, who proposed the idea. “At this point, the ban is effectively sending a message to the community.” Council has set no timeline for implementation.

To the residents of Greensburg, Lawrence may forever be known as the plastic tub town. Former Lawrence Mayor Marty Kennedy and his wife, Patty, this weekend delivered 500 waterproof plastic storage tubs and lids that community members donated after the Kennedys put out the call for contributions last week. “We had so many people say that they couldn’t believe that people from so far away care so much,” Patty Kennedy said. The couple distributed the 500 tubs in less than three hours. A sister-in-law who lives in rural Greensburg had told them the tubs were needed because people lacked a weatherproof place to store small items they recovered from the debris. “We just proceeded up and down the blocks, and when we saw people digging through their rubble — and trust me, that’s all that’s left out there — we would ask them if they needed plastic tubs,” Marty Kennedy said.

A decision on the sale, part of GE's strategy of divesting commodity businesses to focus on higher-growth industries is due in the next two weeks. GE declined to comment.

Researchers at Sheffield University said their creation could be a huge advantage in war zones. They say that the artificial blood is light to carry, does not need to be kept cool and can be kept for longer. The new blood is made up of plastic molecules that have an iron atom at their core, like haemoglobin, that can carry oxygen through the body. The scientists said the artificial blood could be cheap to produce and they were looking for extra funding to develop a final prototype that would be suitable for biological testing.

Management may be negotiating with private-equity investors to give UAW leaders ammunition to convince rank-and-file workers of the need for concessions, he said. Meanwhile, other potential buyers including Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. of China or Renault SA and Peugeot SA of France are biding their time, Cole added. ``They're waiting for the private equity companies to do some of the cleanup work to make Chrysler an attractive deal, where right now it probably isn't,'' Cole said.

“I don’t believe our grandfather could have ever dreamed of how dynamic and diverse the company he started in 1947 would become today,” said Tanny Crane, President and CEO of Crane Group. “The company has grown dramatically in the past decade both here in the U.S. and overseas. If we are going to double our sales by 2010, we need to provide focus for our core businesses and our investments, to insure their continued growth. I am confident we can do that by making necessary changes to our structure to ensure we remain a valued employer and strong competitor in the markets where we do business. These new subsidiaries also serve as a roadmap for our organization as we consider future acquisitions and expansion.”

Backed by Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and its managed co-investment fund, Coperion plans to expand its service business in the coming years, improve operating processes and exploit market opportunities that arise from the strong and growing demand for its products, particularly in Asia and the Middle East.

All three contenders have submitted offers and are meeting with GE executives this week to get more information on the Pittsfield, Massachusetts-based division, said the people, who declined to be identified because the process isn't public. The purchase may be announced as soon as this month.

Saudi Basic's advantage, should it make the purchase, will stem from the Middle East chemical makers' access to abundant sources of raw materials such as natural gas. Sabic uses petroleum feedstock provided by state-owned Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, putting its costs lower than U.S.- based and European chemical companies. Basell, the world's biggest maker of polypropylene, would be able to expand its lines of plastics and benefit from production volume. The Hoofddorp, Holland-based company was acquired by New York-based Access Industries Inc. two years ago.

``I am deeply saddened that I have to file a lawsuit to clear my good name and restore my reputation against a company to which I devoted 37 years of loyal service,'' Reinhard said in an e-mail statement. ``I have and will continue to categorically deny that I have been part of any secret effort to take over or acquire Dow Chemical.'' Dow's suit seeks $30.9 million from Reinhard and $20 million from Kreinberg, representing stock and cash bonuses awarded in the past three years, and an end to financial obligations to the men. The company also is seeking damages against Reinhard, 61, and Kreinberg, 56, for breach of fiduciary duties.

The plastics industry is truly global. Manufacturing and research are migrating to China and India. It is expected that by 2020, the Asian region will be the leading producer of polymers. New developments for polymers will occur at an extremely fast pace in cross-disciplinary fields such as biochemistry, electronics and communications. International corporations are expected to spend most of their R&D money in China, the U.S., and India, in that order. New centers of materials R&D are emerging in Singapore, China, South Korea and Taiwan, owing to major government funding. In 2000, 500,000 engineering degrees were awarded in China out of 1 million engineering degrees awarded globally in materials science and engineering.