Our reporting on sustainability issues, the impact of the trade war with China on the plastics industry and the technical aspects of injection molding were some of your favorite things this year, based on page views. We also had some fun: Readers made us chuckle by completing the sentence, “You know you’re a plastics engineer if . . .” and the laughter was contagious, as thousands of you tuned in to read the top 10 definitions. A lighthearted look at the history of the plastic drinking straw as communities and brands began writing its obituary also resonated widely.

So, here they are in reverse order: The top 10 stories of 2018 from PlasticsToday.

10.

A study by the Earth Engineering Center at the City College of New York found that plastics are responsible for a decline in Municipal Solid Waste generation rates, even as per-capita income and consumption rise. Who knew?

9.

This year’s Pack Expo was an extravaganza of all things packaging, including an impressively high level of plastics packaging innovation and product introductions. PlasticsToday distilled down a remarkable number of developments from retail, ecommerce, beverage, food packaging and other markets to this listing of five exemplary new products.

As iconic brands, cities and even countries joined the crusade this year to “stop sucking” and ban plastic straws, we took take a trip down memory lane to explore the evolution of the drinking straw. A considerable number of readers joined us on this journey.

Although the hardware and software technology for fully autonomous cars is ready today, the cars themselves may still be a decade or more away, vehicle experts said at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit. For fully self-driving cars to ever reach dealerships, automakers must first deal with testing, validation and societal challenges.

6.

Injection molders generally assume that the colder you run the mold coolant temperature, the faster the part will cool, and, thus, shorten the cycle time. But we need to ask ourselves: How low can you go with water temperature before it has a negative effect on part quality and cycle time?