Films producer Klöckner Pentaplast is to increase its European production capacity for  polyester films. With support from the Welsh Assembly, the new £3 million (US$4.9m) extrusion line will be located at the company’s Crumlin facility in Wales. It is scheduled to begin production later this year.

In a statement, president Hans-Joachim Kogelnik said, “This PET expansion will enable us to continue to support our customers’ growing global demand for high-quality PET films, specifically in the UK. In addition, this new capacity will further enhance our ability to service our UK food industry customers with a highly flexible supply capability while increasing new product development resources.”

Dow Chemical is closing three plants in Louisiana, USA, as the company continues its transition from a basic chemicals producer into a manufacturer of specialty chemicals.

The restructuring plan, which is part of the company’s $1.3 billion synergy commitment related to the $16bn acquisition of Rohm & Haas, also sees the elimination of about 2,500 jobs, with around 100 of them coming from these plant closures.

The Louisiana plants make ethylene and ethylene derivatives, which are used in multiple packaging applications. Their closure will save the company more than $100 million a year, according to Dow.

These shutdowns will reduce Dow’s ethylene demand by approximately 30 per cent on the US Gulf Coast, meaning that the company expects to eliminate its purchases of ethylene from the merchant market, which are approximately three billion pounds annually. It also improves the company’s cost position while fully integrating ethylene production with internal demand in order to better meet customer needs.

30 June 2009

Huhtamäki Oyj has sold its Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) packaging business in Albury, Australia to the Australian packaging company Pact Group Pty Ltd. for €5 million (US$7.04m).

The unit, which employs 40 people and has annual net sales of €7m ($9.85m), serves the local fresh foods packaging market.

Following the divestment, which is part of Huhtamäki’s review of its strategic operations, the company has production at five sites in Australia serving the rigid plastics consumer goods market.

30 June 2009

Dow Chemical Company is building a biorefinery that it says could make a host of consumer products such as bread bags cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

The pilot-scale plant, which will be developed alongside Algenol Biofuels, Inc., will use algae to convert carbon dioxide into ethanol, producing the fuel for as little as $1 per gallon. The facility is planned to be located at Dow’s Freeport, Texas site.

Ethanol is a building block for other chemicals and is a key ingredient in polyethylene. Dow plans to develop other commercial uses for the ethanol to replace natural gas as an ingredient in products such as milk jugs.

Dow chief executive Andrew Liveris said: “This project and the technology involved offers great promise in the battle to help slow, stop and reverse the growth of greenhouse emissions.”

Algenol’s technology uses carbon dioxide, salt water, sunlight and non-arable land to produce ethanol. Algenol submitted a formal request last week to obtain a grant from the US Department of Energy for financial support to conduct the pilot.

Plastics manufacturer BASF is to close and dismantle its polystyrene plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany. Production at the facility ceased in mid-April. In a statement, the company said that it was reacting to a decrease in demand for polystyrene.

The closure will reduce BASF’s polystyrene production by around 80,000 tonnes a year to 540,000 tonnes.

Head of styrenics business Dr Joachim Streu said, “We are working intensively to restructure our styrenics business and increase its profitability. In doing so, we are investigating all options in order to strengthen the business on a sustainable basis. This also includes reducing production capacities. We nevertheless still intend to sell this business.”

US-based Plastic Technologies has formed a subsidiary company PTI Recycling Systems to globally market its LNOc rPET production process. The system has been designed to cost-effectively address increased international rPET demand for food-grade resin for blow moulding, injection moulding and thermoforming applications.

President Craig Barrow said, “Because we have had the opportunity to validate the LNOc process for several applications, we believe that this technology has the potential to become the new global standard for rPET production.”

“Our philosophy is that rPET supply is better suited to multiple, smaller, processing operations versus one or two large capacity plants. We believe in a local 'consume, collect, convert' approach. By locating rPET production in closer proximity to resin users, you improve supply times and reduce the carbon footprint,”

The equipment is said to have a footprint of less than 2,500 sq ft (232 sq metres) and is capable of producing 10 million pounds (4,500 tonnes) of rPET a year.

Solo Cup (US) is replace its current DeliGourmet range with packaging made with 20 per cent rPET.

Director of foodservice Karin Wennerstrom said, “We applied our experience with recycled PET to perfect these recycled content containers. Solo is particularly focused on continually improving the environmentally preferable alternatives available to our customers and consumers.”

At the same time, the company intends to expand its Bare by Solo range of compostable products, that it introduced earlier in the year. The range includes bowls and containers that are based on bioplastics derived from sugarcane.

UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's has started to eliminate cardboard boxes from its own-brand cereals and has begun marketing them in plastics bags. The first product to be packed in this way is Sainsbury's basics range of Rice Pops.

Cereal manufacturers such as Kellogg's are thought to be considering dropping boxes as a way of reducing packaging, but are reportedly concerned about damage to some of the more fragile varieties such as corn flakes.

The move by Sainsbury's to boxless cereal packaging follows the successful introduction of porridge oats, that are now sold in 1 kilo plastics bags by several UK supermarkets.

Premium organic dairy brand Rachel’s, is to launch the UK's first yogurt pot produced from recycled plastics. The company is currently switching from PS to PET, using 60 per cent rPET in the mix.

Marketing director Steve Clarke said, “By making the switch to r-PET we will save up to 210 tonnes of plastic per year. Better still, we are using materials that might otherwise end up in landfill.”

The switch has however highlighted a recycling problem. Although Rachel's new PET containers are fully recyclable, many municipalities do not accept yogurt pots for recycling. The company is therefore starting a 'pledge' campaign that will attempt to persuade local authorities to accept its rPET packaging.

Bioplastics supplier Biograde has rebranded its business and product range under a new name, Cardia Bioplastics. The company says that the change reflects changing technology and market direction.

Cardia Bioplastics is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia where it also has its global applications development centre. It maintains a manufacturing facility and product development centre in Nanjing, China.

India's Ministry of Commerce has recommended a six-month provisional anti-dumping duty on PP imported from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Singapore. It is recommending rates of 29.31 per cent to 243.7 per cent for PP from Oman, 5.08 per cent to 235.35 per cent from Singapore and 1.89 per cent to 185.68 per cent from Saudi Arabia. Imported PP currently attract a customs duty of 5 per cent.

The action follows and appeal by Reliance Industries and Haldia Petrochemicals who are the only producers of PP in India.

India has a PP capacity of around 2.84 million tonnes, which is thought to be adequate to meet domestic demand, but estimates suggest that up to 20 per cent of PP consumed in the country is imported.

Plastics packaging manufacturer RPC Group has reported a fiscal full-year net loss of UK£7.7 million (US$12.5m) compared to a year earlier profit of £4.4m ($7.2m). During the same period, sales increased to £769.1m ($1.3bn) from £695.2m ($1.1m) helped by currency translations.

The company is part way through a restructuring programme and has already reduced staffing levels by around five per cent to 6,400. It expects this level to be reduced below 6,000 by next year.

As part of its 'RPC 2010' plan, the company announced the closure of a minimum of eight plants, but has now suspended the process following the confirmation of five facilities that will be shut. The distribution business in Offenburg (Germany), together with satellite operations in Romania and Poland will now be saved after a review of the situation suggested that the potential sale values would not be achieved in the present market environment.

The UK Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has launched a UK£2 million (US$3.3m) capital grant competition to help build mixed plastics packaging recycling facilities. Recyclers eligible for support in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be able claim up to 30 per cent of the finance required to develop and expand their processes.

Director of market development Marcus Gover said, “The grant is designed to help stimulate the development of waste management infrastructure and boost recycling capacity by at least 40,000 tonnes per year by 2011.”

“Estimates suggest that more than over one million tonnes of non-bottle plastic packaging enter the UK waste stream each year. Plastic packaging has a value as a secondary material and it does not make economic or environmental sense to dispose of it in landfill.

“The funding and research being announced by WRAP will help to drive the creation of a world class recycling industry in the UK, diverting more waste mixed plastics packaging away from landfill and into production processes.”

Equate Petrochemical Co has announced the start-up of its PE expansion project. The expansion increases the company's overall PE capacity to 825,000 tonnes of HDPE and LLDPE resins. Equate Marketing Co (EMC) will be marketing all production and will be directing sales.

EMC president Adel Al-Munifi said, “In accordance with its strategy as a market player, the expansion is aimed at boosting Equate’s position in servicing key customers. This expansion will increase the output of Equate’s current grade slate of superior quality HDPE products.”

A clearing services for a new Mont Belvieu ethylene futures contract, launched by derivates exchange CME Group, began trading yesterday (15 June). The service hopes to provide a way by which downstream plastics buyers hedge their risks against ethylene price fluctuations.

Contracts are listed for trading by NYMEX through CME ClearPort, and are subject to NYMEX rules and regulations. No trading was reported on the first day of the service.

Natural gas liquids (NGL) contracts were introduced late last year, allowing the trading of physical futures contracts. Although this market has reported rapid growth, PP and PP contracts have not traded at all since their 2008 launch.