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Longtime editor of Plastics Technology Matthew Naitove is among 18 industry giants headed to the . Naitove and the 17 others will be enshrined in a ceremony to be held Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Düsseldorf, Germany, the day before the opening of the K 2025 Show.

Naitove dedicated his entire professional career to reporting on new technology, trends and ´óÏó´«Ã½ opportunities for plastics processors. For more than 50 years, he represented Plastics Technology at trade shows, press conferences, and open houses, keeping industry professionals up to date on information they could put in place to better run their ´óÏó´«Ã½.

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A consummate journalist, Naitove served as chief editor of Plastics Technology (PT) for more than 25 years,  where he not only directed all editorial content but mentored many other reporters who went on to have long careers in plastics journalism. Among his many honors, Naitove was the recipient of the Jesse  H. Neal Award, considered the Pulitzer Prize of ´óÏó´«Ã½ journalism, in recognition of his reporting and editing excellence. 

To this day, Naitove serves as contributing editor of PT, where he focuses his reporting on blow molding.

Established in 1972, the Plastics Hall of Fame has grown to 253 members representing nine countries, including five Nobel Prize winners in chemistry. 

In addition to Naitove, others to be officially inducted in October are:

• Helmut Bacher, Helmuth Schulz and George Wendlin, founders of EREMA, a plastics recycling technology company.

• Dr. Erwin Bürkle, Krauss Maffei Technologies GmbH, former head of injection molding technology.

• Norm Fowler, Xerox Corp., Strategic Initiative Lean Six Sigma leader, and member of the Society of Plastics Engineers International Executive Committee, 1990–2000.

• Yukio Iimura, former chairman and CEO of Shibaura Machine Co. Ltd., who made groundbreaking advances in injection molding technology.

• Bill Knight, The Dow Chemical Co., a key player in recognizing and developing the Insite polyethylene technology that has defined Dow’s polyethylene ´óÏó´«Ã½.

• Dr. Robert Langer, MIT, pioneer of drug delivery and tissue engineering using biodegradable plastic scaffolds to grow transplantable tissue.

• Dr. Chul B. Caleb Park, a distinguished professor at the University of Toronto and a global leader to academia and industry in developing and applying the latest in polymer foaming technologies.

• Irene Schwarz, Engel, a leader and defining presence in the history of the injection molding machine builder.

• Charles Sewell, CKS Packaging, head of a global manufacturer of extrusion/blow and injection-molded plastic containers.

• Bill Stavropoulos, The Dow Chemical Co., former CEO who led a major restructuring, including the acquisition of Union Carbide, and advanced Dow’s polyethylene franchise.

• Peter Steinbeck, Windmöller & Hölscher, CEO of a 155-year-old German company that produces machinery for blown/cast film and printing.

• William Young, Plastipak, chairman and CEO of a global leader in the design, manufacturing and recycling of rigid plastic containers.

As part of its induction ceremony, the Plastics Hall of Fame will also enshrine three historical pioneers who passed away more than 25 years ago. These industry figures often lack champions in the election process but made vital early contributions. They are:

• Dr. Otto Röhm and Otto Haas, founders of Rohm and Haas Co., best known for PLEXIGLAS, patented in 1933 as a strong, transparent polymer. 

• Hans H. Wanders, Rawson Moulding Company,  who patented what is believed to be the first semi-automatic rotary molding press and was a charter member of the Society of Plastics Industry (now the Plastics Industry Association).