``The real reason Cavaney was chosen was to complete the separation of APC from the SPI-and that is not good,'' said Harry Ussery, who serves as a director-at-large and vice chairman of SPI's Plastics Mobilization Committee, which is charged with organizing lobbying efforts among small processors. ``I have never met Mr. Cavaney, and I will know a lot more when I meet him.''

Ussery is part owner of three plastics molding companies-Beacon Plastics Inc. of Homer, La.; Precision Southeast Inc. of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Cutec Inc. of Greer, S.C. And he, like some other small and medium-sized processor members in SPI, is concerned that the smaller entrepreneurs will lose their voice in shaping policies within APC.

Since its inception, APC, whose current membership includes only large resin suppliers, has been allied with SPI, and has mounted its recycling public-education program in conjunction with the larger group.

Others, however, are pleased with the appointment.

``APC has made an excellent choice,'' said Manly Molpus, president and chief executive officer of the Grocery Manufacturers' Association, a 140-member, Washington-based trade group that represents grocery product makers.

``He was productive and constructive in dealing with the solid waste issue in the paper industry, and in uniting a diverse industry,'' Molpus said.

GMA has been critical of APC's efforts to comply with some state recycled-content packaging laws. But Molpus said GMA had worked with Cavaney during his tenure at AFPA, with good results.

George Makrauer, president and chief executive officer of Amko Plastic Inc., a Cincinnati-based bag-maker, and also an SPI board director, pointed out the irony in the Cavaney selection.

``It's a stunning move, because he was with the paper industry when it carried out a public relations campaign on recycling and solid waste issues which often placed plastics in a very bad light.''

Nevertheless, Makrauer thinks Cavaney will be good for plastics, as he was for paper.

``This man is a pro, he's savvy, and knows the realities of all the battles,'' he said. ``When one looks at how he consolidated the paper industry into a single institution with a unified voice, that is what has been lacking in plastics.''

But that task will not be easy.

J. Winston Porter, president of Porter and Associates, a Sterling, Va., environmental research firm, said he expects Cavaney will have a more difficult time unifying the plastics industry and achieving high recycling rates than he did in the paper industry.

``I only know Red through his performance in the paper industry,'' Porter said in a Sept. 22 telephone interview. ``Plastics present a different set of problems, because of their light [weight] and relatively low cost.

``It is one thing to recycle paper-the public can see the volume of paper they put out on the curb-but it is difficult to get them to see that their yogurt cups are 30 percent lighter, or that it is much harder to recycle,'' Porter said.

But Cavaney - who by mid-October will step down as president of the American Forest and Paper Association to assume the APC post-appears to come with solid credentials.

Washingtonian Magazine this month ranked him 19th on its list of the city's 50 most influential lobbyists.

At the paper association, he has overseen 190 employees and a budget of $56 million, while coordinating the group's public policy and its communications campaign aimed at enhancing paper's image.