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Metrology manufacturer Renishaw is planning to buy a stake in Delcam, which produces CAD/CAM software with specific programmes for plastics component design. Delcam will issue new shares which Renishaw will buy for just over £6 million, and will at that point own 20 per cent of Delcam. The two companies have agreed that Renishaw should not acquire a greater shareholding for five years, nor that Delcam should reduce shares at issue to increase Renishaw's stake to 30 per cent.
Delcam says that the proceeds of the sale will be used to expand the business and develop new products.
Solvin to build a second PVDC latex plant March 31, 2007
The SolVin joint venture between Solvay (75 per cent) and BASF is planning to build a second production unit for polyvinylidene chloride latex. PVDC latex is a speciality barrier material used as coating in packaging applications where the integrity of the goods is critical, mainly in food and pharmaceuticals.
SolVin currently makes PVDC latex at Tavaux in France. The location of the new plant, which will have an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes, has not been finalised but it will possibly be located in Asia and could be on Solvay's site in Map Tha Put, Thailand. The decision is expected by the third quarter of this year.
Increased capacity planned for insulation foam March 31, 2007
Capacity for BASF's Neopor expanded polystyrene insulation material is to be increased with new plant and a switch from Styropor production. Styropor is straightforward EPS, while Neopor has graphite added to reflect heat. Two new plants will be built. Initially BASF will convert 40,000 tonnes of Styropor production at Ludwigshafen in Germany, bringing capacity there up to 100,000 tonnes by the beginning of next year. Then it will add a further 90,000 tonnes with a new plant. Further plant investment will take place in Ulsan, South Korea: material for the Asian market is currently sourced from Germany.
The improved insulation afforded by the added graphite reduces the volume of EPS needed in the Neopor compared with Styropor. BASF says that nearly a third of primary energy in Germany is used for the heating or cooling of private households. Improving insulation is a function of both new build and renovation, and BASF reckons that taking an 80 m² apartment as an example, the energy cost of making sufficient Neopor insulation foam to cut heating oil consumption to less than a third would be repaid in the first heating season.
Biesterfeld Petroplas gets Ineos agency March 31, 2007
Ineos has appointed a UK distributor for its LD and LLDPE. It has extended the arrangement it has with Biesterfeld Plastic of Germany in other European countries to Biesterfeld Petroplas, the joint venture set up by Biesterfeld and Petroplas of Reading a year ago. The Ineos agency is the second major deal struck by Biesterfeld Petroplas: at the start of this year the company took on the distribution of Santoprene TPV from ExxonMobil.
Proposed Ryton expansion gets underway March 31, 2007
Chevron Phillips is to go ahead with the additional capacity for Ryton polyphenylene sulphide at its Borger plant in Texas, USA, which it announced in 2005. The 11,000 tonnes plant will be built next to the existing plant at Borger, and will raise the plant's PPS capacity to 22,000 tonnes. Construction starts immediately and completion is anticipated early in 2009.
New technologies in EPDM are unveiled by DSM March 27, 2007
Despite being the global market leader in EPDM and second worldwide in thermoplastic rubber, DSM Elastomers has decided to re-present itself to the market, and is doing so with two emerging technologies and plans for a new plant.
DSM Elastomers has gone through a rocky patch over recent years with earnings below the levels sought by its parent company as market pressures, particularly from the automotive sector, forced cost cutting by its customers. It has undergone a restructure involving the closure of its underperforming American and Japanese plants, the building of a new plant at Geleen in Holland, and the slashing of its uneconomically comprehensive portfolio from 125 to 25 grades. Now the company is seeking to mark itself apart through emphasis on the worldwide availability of its full product range with technical support pitched at a level to replace the technical expertise lost by its customers through 'cost cut cut cutting' as the company's president Bob Hartmayer put it.
The new technologies come as a happy accident from the US closure, and as the outcome of research into polymer catalysis which has seen DSM leapfrog the metallocene era.
The closure of the US plant left DSM Elastomers without a source of the low molecular weight EPDM which it supplies as a petroleum additive. A replacement supply was found in a reactive extrusion process already developed elsewhere in DSM which enabled functional sites to be grafted into the polymer to meet the needs of the petroleum additive application. Further research showed that the reactive extrusion process could be used to add other specific functionality to the polymer. The result will be a platform of EPDM-based speciality materials which can be blended with basic grades to create tailored, enhanced property elastomers. The process is expected to go commercial at DSM's Brazilian plant in the second half of next year.
The use of new catalysts will bring another new series of EPDMs dubbed Keltan ACE - Advanced Catalysis Elastomers. The catalyst technology - involving 'second generation' single site catalysts - is being used initially for an EPDM grade with very high levels of VNB (2-vinyl-5-norbornene) as third monomer. This brings a greater affinity for peroxide, reducing the amount needed for cure and so enabling savings and with lower residual peroxide, reducing the effects of ageing. Other grades could use the same principle to lower the hydrocarbon proportion and so improve the rubber's oil resistance. Another line of research is in the development of DCPD-containing terpolymers that are unbranched, which would be useful in a variety of both sulphur and peroxide cure applications.
The catalysts have been licensed from Nova Chemicals and a plant at the Geleen site has been modified to use them. Full production of Keltan ACE is due in the first quarter of next year.
DSM says some 120 - 150,000 tonnes of EPDM is peroxide-cured annually for applications including window gaskets and radiator hoses. It is already working on the next two products to use the new catalysts.
DSM's new EPDM plant now being considered 'very intensively' will almost certainly be built in China. DSM Elastomers is EPDM market leader in China and has been for some time. A joint venture with Sinopec failed to come to fruition in 2003 because 'the time wasn't right' for investment. But now DSM is pooling inevitabilities - that it will need another Keltan plant somewhere in the world before long, and that it will need to expand its presence in China. The decision is expected to be made in the next couple of years.
Dow invests more in European polyurethanes March 27, 2007
Dow Chemical is planning to invest at two of its polyurethanes chemicals plants in Europe over the next two years. The company plans to increase capacity at its polyols plant in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, by 180,000 tonnes, and at its propylene glycol facility in Stade, Germany, by 45,000 tonnes over the 35,000 tonnes it added earlier this year.
Dow has recent and current expansions in Europe with its joint venture with BASF to build a hydrogen peroxide-to-propylene oxide facility at Antwerp, Belgium, for 2008 start up and the completion of a 40,000 tonnes expansion of its propylene oxide capacity at Stade in January of this year, bringing its total PO capacity at the plant to 630,000 tonnes. PO is a key raw material used in the production of both propylene glycol and polyols.
According to Dow the European propylene glycol industry is growing at the rate of 3 per cent per year on average, driven primarily by strong demand from wide-ranging end-use applications, including unsaturated polyester resins. Growth for polyols is expected at the rate of 5 to 6 per cent per year on average, driven by strong demand in the automotive, construction and home furnishing industries.
When Ticona moves it won't go far March 27, 2007
Ticona is planning to stay in the Rhein-Main area of Germany when it relocates its Kelsterbach headquarters to make way for an extension to Frankfurt airport. The company has been evaluating suitable potential regions in Germany over the past few months, and two sites remain in consideration - in Wiesbaden and the Hoechst Industrial Park. Either site will enable Ticona's present workforce to continue with the company.
Goodyear sells off engineered products division March 27, 2007
Virtually all of Goodyear Tire and Rubber's Engineered Products division is being sold to EPD Inc, a company financed by Carlyle Partners, for $1·475 billion.
Goodyear Engineered Products has 32 plants in 12 countries making rubber components for industrial, military, consumer and transportation original equipment end-users. The components are mainly hose, conveyor belts, power transmission products, rubber track, moulded products and air springs. Sales last year were approximately $1·5 billion.
Kautex sold again March 23, 2007
German investment company Adcuram has sold blow moulding machinery manufacturer Kautex to Steadfast Capital, a private equity company based in Frankfurt specialising in management buy outs. Adcuram bought Kautex in 2004 from the SIG group of Switzerland, which in turn had bought it from ThyssenKrupp in 2000. Adcuram also bought the Battenfeld injection moulding machinery business from SMS last October.
It is understood that 75 per cent of the Kautex equity is held by Steadfast, with the remaining 25 per cent held by the five-strong management team led by Olaf Weiland, former head of technology at Krupp Kautex before moving to Krupp Corpoplast in 1999, and who rejoined Kautex at Adcuram as general manager in 2005.
Cinpres links with VW March 23, 2007
Is another war brewing in the gas injection technology business? Cinpres Gas Injection issued a news release today saying that Volkswagen is specifying Cinpres gas injection technology where appropriate in its plastics components, and in the third paragraph goes straight to the commercial heart of the matter: 'The agreement will also see VW advising suppliers that any components supplied to VW, and using Cinpres technology, must be covered by the appropriate licences (which they must acquire themselves). International protection of such technology, using licenses, is seen as increasingly important.'
The new agreement with Cinpres covers VW's facilities in Wolfsburg, where the company makes internal trim components for cars. VW currently has approximately 10 Tier One suppliers of plastic components and several hundred others. 'Those continuing to supply components based on Cinpres technology will be required to secure the relevant licences,' says Cinpres, adding that it has spent in the region of $10 m developing and legally protecting its patents and rights globally and quoting its managing director Jon Butler: 'We have a clear obligation to protect our technology. Forward-looking companies like Volkswagen AG - who is sending a very loud signal that they expect ethical and legal behaviour from their suppliers - will help considerably in that process'.
In the 1980s and '90s when gas injection was in its infancy there was much litigation between patent holders, particularly between Cinpres and GAIN of the USA, over alleged infringements involving details of each others' technologies. The litigation and risk of legal action through selling a part made under a patent on one side of the Atlantic which might be construed as infringing patents on the other side was seen by some as hindering the application of gas injection in its early days.
European Commission drops action against German drinks packaging deposit March 23, 2007
The European Commission has dropped its action against Germany for restricting inter-Community trade with its mandatory deposit on mineral water, beers and soft drinks sold in one-trip packaging. The Commission instructed Germany in 2004 to change the law, intended to force beverage manufacturers to use reyclable packaging. Germany did nothing, the EC did nothing, and last year the European Ombudsman weighed in with criticism of the EC inaction.
Now the Commission has formally closed the infringement action against Germany saying that it: 'considers that the rules applied are now in line with the requirements concerning the free movement of goods and Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste.'
In its infringement procedure, the Commission had argued that there was no functioning nation-wide take-back system at the time of the introduction of the deposit obligation. Retailers were only required to accept the return of packaging of the exact type, shape and size they had in their own stock. This cumbersome legislation made it difficult to import beverages into Germany and constituted a barrier to trade in the internal market. Following two judgments of the European Court of Justice and further discussions with the Commission, Germany reworked the deposit system and simplified the rules on the recovery of the deposit for consumers. One-way bottles can now be returned in principle in every shop selling beverages in packaging of the same material type.
The Commission says it has closely monitored the recent changes, which came into force on May 1, 2006, and has come to the conclusion that the new system is working properly and is also applied to imported products without any discrimination.
Nova Innovene to absorb North American PS businesses March 22, 2007
The Nova Innovene polystyrene joint venture between Nova Chemicals of Canada and Ineos of the UK, set up towards the end of 2004, is to be extended beyond its present European structure to include North America. Both companies will pool North American operations to expand the joint venture to a Eur 2·6 billion sales company.
Nova will be putting in the whole of its Styrenix business while Ineos will contribute its North American styrene and polystyrene operations. Styrenix is the company formed less than a year ago by Nova as a means of distancing itself from its loss-making solid (as opposed to expanded) polystyrene operations, and includes its half share in Nova Innovene. Alongside the solid polystyrene business the new venture will include special styrenic polymers NAS, Zylar and Dylark from Nova and Avantra from Ineos.
This is not a total pooling of styrenic assets by the two companies, however. Nova will retain full ownership of its North American expandable polystyrene business, Arcel PS/PE hybrid foams, and new expandable polystyrene-based ventures. Ineos will retain full ownership of its styrene business in Europe with a styrene manufacturing plant in Marl, Germany.
The new joint venture will become the largest PS producer in North America and the second largest in the world and its formation is expected to be complete in the third quarter of this year.
Thermoplastic composites capacity more than doubled March 22, 2007
A new production facility for Tepex thermoplastic composites has been commissioned by Bond-Laminates at its Brilon plant in Germany to meet growing demand for applications in sporting goods, automotive, personal protection and aerospace. The original 400 tonnes line is running in three-shift operation, and the new line is twice the capacity, giving the plant an overall annual capacity of 1,200 tonnes. In addition to the capacity increase, Bond-Laminates has installed a water jet cutting line to trim the fully consolidated laminates to customised contours on demand.
SIG backs Rank takeover March 22, 2007
Swiss packaging systems group SIG has recommended the takeover bid from New Zealand's Rank Group to its shareholders. In a statement published today the board says that Rank's revised offer of SFr435/share 'adequately reflects SIG's inherent value'. It adds 'Through its investment in Carter Holt Harvey and the recent acquisition of International Paper's Beverage Packaging division (BevPack), Rank has significant experience and expertise in the forest products and packaging sector. The Board supports Rank's intention to combine the geographically complementary BevPack and SIG businesses as to create a leading global beverage packaging company, drawing on the respective strengths of both companies. A combination of BevPack's product range in the fresh dairy and juice market and SIG's aseptic packaging portfolio means that the combined group will offer its customers a comprehensive range of packaging solutions and provide important strategic advantages in terms of scale, market presence and global footprint.'
The statement says that Rank intends to continue to operate SIG under its current management team, to maintain its headquarters in Switzerland, and to keep the SIG name and brands.
Arkema to tighten up fluorochemicals business March 22, 2007
Arkema is restructuring its operations in France's Rhône-Alpes region, with changes at two of its six plants there. It plans to restore the competitiveness of the Pierre-Bénite plant by concentrating its activities in fluorochemicals, shutting down loss-making hydrofluoric acid and refrigerant production and focusing on the production of Kynar fluorinated polymers and Forane refrigerants. Water treatment chemicals production at the site is to be sold to Kemira.
The site will also become a world-wide IT hub with the transfer of 60 jobs from Arkema's Paris headquarters.
The neighbouring Saint-Fons site will become the headquarters of the PVC business unit.
Waste paint toughens acrylic and extends HDPE March 21, 2007
An American university has devised a new extender for plastics - waste paint. The aim was to find a way of reducing the environmental problem of left over household paint. Paint is now the largest component of household hazardous waste in the USA according to Tom Nosker, professor of materials science and engineering at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Some 68 million gallons are thrown away each year, and this doesn't include the paint thrown away by commercial painters and retailers.
As part of Rutgers' work in plastics recycling the researchers blended gloss and matt latex paints into HDPE and acrylic - the solids left after the paint solvents evaporate are mainly acrylic polymers and colorants. The HDPE underwent little change from being blended with the paint, so yielding a benefit of disposing of the paint and saving on petrochemical feedstock. The acrylic, on the other hand, obviously lost its transparency, but gained toughness while retaining its stiffness and strength.
Rutgers is now to extend its research into oil-based paints.
Husky opens in Turkey March 21, 2007
Husky Injection Molding Systems has opened an office in Istanbul, Turkey. This follows the opening of an office in Vienna, Austria, to serve Central and Eastern Europe, and is part of a continuing expansion into the region aimed at increasing Husky's presence in the emerging European markets for applications beyond beverage packaging.
Record profits and wire and cable investment plans for Borealis... March 21, 2007
'The best financial performance in the history of the company' was achieved by Borealis in 2006, with an increase in net profits of 45 per cent. At the same time as declaring its Eur 327 million profit, the company has announced a Eur 370 million investment project at its Stenungsung, Sweden, site in products for the wire and cable markets.
While price increases contributed to the 20 per cent rise in sales to a record Eur 5,742 million, Borealis also increased its volume by 7 per cent to more than 3·5 million tonnes.
The Stenungsund investment will add a 350,000 tonnes high-pressure, LDPE plant alongside the additional cross-linkable PE capacity coming on stream during the second half of the year. 230,000 tonnes of old, high-cost polyethylene capacity will be shut down and the total capacity at Stenungsund will rise from 580,000 to 700,000 tonnes. The new plant will be on stream in 2009.
...while Dow also increases pressure on wire and cable business March 21, 2007
Dow Chemical is also chasing wire and cable producers by doubling supplies of its high purity insulation compounds and semi-conductive compounds in Europe, and appointing new management to improve sales in Europe, the Middle East and India. Dow Wire & Cable says markets such as Russia, Eastern Europe and some countries in the Middle East are experiencing double digit demand growth, especially in high voltage power distribution applications.
The new management appointments are Benoit Fritz, who moves from market manager for Dow Wire & Cable in Europe to sales director, with Robert Tarimo coming in as market manager from his previous position as base plastics business research manager.
Bottle-to-bottle recycling of HDPE milk bottles March 20, 2007
Milk bottles containing recycled HDPE have gone into production in the first trial of a WRAP-funded project. In what is described as 'the world's first commercial demonstration of closed loop recycling for milk bottles' post-consumer scrap bottles from both kerbside and bring schemes are being recycled into new milk bottles.
The trial involved the production of 60,000 milk bottles for commercial sale. It is the culmination of a three-year project and builds on early research by Linwood Foods and development by an international team including Nampak Plastics, Dairy Crest, the Fraunhofer Institute, Sorema, Erema and Nextek.
The process involves sorting the reclaimed bottles by infra-red detectors and by hand to isolate natural HDPE bottles. These are flaked and washed in a 2 per cent caustic solution at 93 degC to remove all surface dirt, paper labels and adhesive. The flakes are then dried and colour sorted before the dried flakes are put through a 'super-clean' recycling process. The reclaimed material is added to virgin HDPE at 30 per cent for moulding new bottles.
After initial testing to ensure compliance with food packaging legislation, the project team worked with Marks & Spencer and produced and filled 60,000 four-pint bottles which went on sale in M & S stores in December last year. No consumer reaction on packaging quality was received.
WRAP is now negotiating contracts to provide financial support to potential recyclers to get the process commercially established in the UK.
Lanxess restructure yields higher profitability March 20, 2007
The cost-cutting and spending control imposed by Lanxess since its independence from Bayer is paying dividends - literally: the company has improved its profitability enough to be planning payment of its first dividend to shareholders.
During last year Lanxess improved profitability across all its four operating sectors, raising group pre-tax profit by 16·2 per cent to Eur 675 million. The Engineering Plastics sector increased its pre-tax profits by 56·1 per cent to Eur 103 million despite a slight fall back in actual sales revenue from the sale of its loss-making fibres business unit. Performance Rubber saw a profits increase of nearly 16 per cent at Eur 248 million from a 5·8 per cent increase in sales.
One of the basic goals for Lanxess has been that every business should be profitable in its own right, and last year it got the proportion of its businesses that were profitable up to 60 per cent - twice as many as when Lanxess was formed in 2004.
The cash that Lanxess is earning is being channelled into expansion. As well planning to buy businesses Lanxess is investing in organic growth and this year expects to increase its capital expenditure 'significantly' to more than Eur 300 million, with research and development spending going up 10 - 15 per cent.
Specific growth plans for this year are in butyl rubber and engineering plastics. To meet growing demand for butyl rubber for car tyres Lanxess has an expansion programme running into 2009 which should increase capacity by 25 per cent, or 50,000 tonnes. The research budget for butyl rubber is being increased 60 per cent this year. In engineering plastics Lanxess is focusing on faster-than-average growth, particularly in Asia.
Indian plastics producer reported in JV talks with Dow and Nova March 19, 2007
Reports from India are linking the country's petrochemical major Reliance Industries with two North American plastics manufacturers. The Times of India says that RIL is in talks with both Dow Chemical and Nova Industries to set up joint ventures. None of the three companies have confirmed the reports.
RIL is seeking tie-ups outside India in a range of industries. According to The Times of India it is at advanced stages in discussions with both Nova and Dow. No specific nature is given for the Nova joint venture, but the newspaper says that the Dow talks involve Dow spinning off its basic plastics and chemicals into a new company with RIL taking a 59 per cent stake in what would be a $20 billion joint venture. Reports of the talks between RIL and Dow pushed up Dow's share price to a four year high. The reports closely followed rumours that Dow is to be taken over in a $54 billion buy out by financial firms.
Dow announced last week that it is to restructure the management of its plastics and chemicals businesses to achieve greater autonomy for each business.
Reliance Industries reckons to be Asia's largest manufacturer of polypropylene and among the world's top eight with a capacity of more than 1 million tonnes, using Dow's Unipol process. It uses Nova's Sclairtech process to make LLDPE and HDPE, and is also India's largest manufacturer of PVC.
Demag chief executive welcomes separation from K-M and Netstal March 19, 2007
The new structure of the former Mannesmann Plastics Machinery Group announced last week is being seen by Demag Plastics Group as means to shake off the restrictions of being associated with the Krauss-Maffei and Netstal injection moulding machine brands.
Since Demag, K-M, Netstal and, at the time, Billion, were brought together under one roof their various owners have stressed that they were competitive entities. A statement from the Demag Plastics Group's chief executive Dr Klaus F Erkes issued today puts a slightly different perspective on this inter-brand competition and suggests that it was not as competitive as it was meant to be. Referring to the administrative separation of DPG from the rest of the MPM operations he says: 'There are many overlaps in the product ranges and addressed target segments between Krauss-Maffei, Netstal and Demag Plastics Group which cannot be easily eliminated and hinder the three companies' ability to fully leverage their potential. The separation is a must.'
He goes on: 'From our point of view the decision to separate the Demag Plastics Group is an opportunity to further develop our business in the long term. We no longer have to take into account objectives and strategies of the other brands. We can fully implement our own strategy, focusing on our target customer clusters and provide them with a clearly structured product offering and specific application technologies.
'This newly gained freedom will offer us more opportunities to develop our strengths in the global markets and to acquire new customers.'
New CFO for Borealis March 19, 2007
The new chief financial officer at Borealis is Dan Shook. He succeeds Clive Watson who left the company in September last year. Mr Shook joins Borealis from industrial gases producer The BOC Group where he was finance director for Industrial & Special Products, the company's largest and most profitable division.
e-business booms for BASF March 19, 2007
Electronic marketplaces are now carrying more than a third of BASF's sales. Last year the business volume on electronic marketplaces rose more than 40 per cent over 2005, to reach Euro 13·6 billion, or approximately 36 per cent of total BASF Group sales excluding oil and gas and the acquisitions in 2006. BASF uses two main transaction portals, Elemica, the central trading platform for chemical products, and its own web portal, WorldAccount.
Top appointments at Lanxess March 19, 2007
Dr Werner Breuers, president of polyolefins Europe at Basell, is joining Lanxess as a main board director on May 15. Also appointed to the Lanxess board of management is Dr Rainier van Roessel who becomes labour relations director replacing Dr Martin Wienkenhöver who will be leaving the company on March 31.
New Krauss Maffei tightens up Mannesmann Plastics Machinery March 16, 2007
Mannesmann Plastics Machinery is tightening up its structure. It announced today a 'new Krauss Maffei' in which the extrusion operations of the Berstorff and Krauss-Maffei divisions are to be merged, and which will become the parent organisation of its Swiss injection machine manufacturer Netstal. The Demag Plastics Group will remain an independent entity, managed separately from the new Krauss Maffei. Krauss Maffei becomes the new holding structure for the MPM Group, absorbing the former MPM Holding.
MPM and its predecessors have always maintained a policy of allowing their machinery brands to operate independently and compete where applicable. With the new more integrated structure MPM is still describing itself as having 'individual brands each fully autonomous in their operational activities, while MPM manages the overall development of the group, fostering synergies in purchasing, financing, and cost-management'. The retention of independence for the Demag Plastics Group will doubtless prompt speculations as to its long term future - particularly as for nearly a year now MPM has been owned by venture capitalist Madison Capital Partners.
MPM says that by merging the K-M and Berstorff extrusion businesses it will cover a wider range of applications and products and, with the exception of sheet extrusion, there will be no overlaps in the product ranges. Berstorff and Krauss-Maffei have already been working closely together in the United States and Russia for some time. The merger will be finalized by the end of fiscal year 2006/2007.
With the new structure comes a new chairman. Present chairman and chief executive Richard C Osborne becomes chairman of the advisory board and Dr Dietmar Straub joins the company from Knorr Bremse to become chairman of the management board and chief executive. Mr Osborne is also listed as Madison Capital's managing director of portfolio companies.
Gabriel-Chemie to make masterbatch near Moscow March 16, 2007
Austrian masterbatch producer Gabriel-Chemie is about to open a plant in Russia. The new production site near Moscow, which will be brought on line in April, will enable the company to support and to supply regional customers more rapidly. It will also serve as a strategic laboratory and delivery base for the CIS countries.
Initial capacity will be 400 tonnes of colour and additive masterbatch, and the company expects to expand this to 1,000 tonnes over the next two years.
Software predicts true cost of ownership of processing equipment
March 16, 2007
Software to help predict the true cost of ownership of plastics processing equipment has been developed by RECIPE (Reduced Energy Consumption in Plastics Engineering).
The organisation says that purchasing decisions are often based on the initial cost of purchase and delivery, whereas an analysis of the energy consumption over the equipment's life time will give a different picture of the cost of ownership. It cites injection moulding machines where all-electric machines are typically more expensive to buy than hydraulic machines, but over their lifetime are less expensive to own and run because of their lower energy consmuption.
RECIPE says its cost of ownership model will enable processors to calculate the cost of operating a piece of equipment over its projected lifetime, based on energy efficiency and projected usage. The available reports will show comparisons of the lifetime cost of different machines as well as the differences in the cost when producing a specific part.
The new software has been introduced alongside RECIPE's free European Best Practice Guide for Low Energy Plastics Processing which aims to help organisations plan and implement an energy efficiency programme. It is aimed at all levels of management and operational staff and provides a structured and practical approach to improving energy efficiency in the processing of plastics. The guide can be downloaded from RECIPE's web site.
Korean additives manufacturer sets up European HQ March 16, 2007
Antioxidants manufacturer Songwon of Korea, which until last year was in partnership with Clariant International, has opened up its own European headquarters in Switzerland.
Songwon International sells antioxidants, hindered amine light stabilisers, and ultraviolet light absorbers. Its parent company Songwon Industrial is about to open a second antioxidants factory in April, ahead of schedule, at Maeam near its headquarters at Ulsan in Korea.
New Zealand group left as the only bidder for SIG March 15, 2007
SIG Holding, the Swiss packaging group that owns the Corpoplast PET bottle machine business and used to own the Kautex blow moulding machine business, looks set to become part of Rank Group of New Zealand.
Rank has seen off the bid to buy SIG by Ferd - which owns Norway-based Elopak - and CVC Capital Partners of Luxembourg with a bid of SFr435/share, a price which Ferd and CVC said 'does not make economic sense'. Rank and the Ferd/CVC consortium have been tussling to take over SIG for the past few months, following the initial hostile bid by Ferd/CVC. SIG's board has steadily rejected the Ferd/CVC approach, and has not yet endorsed the Rank bid, promising a judgement by March 22 at the latest. It had previously rejected Rank's SFr370/share and commented that the Ferd/CVC response of SFr400/share was 'at a realistic level' but was not able to recommend either acceptance or rejection to shareholders because 'under certain circumstances, CVC/Ferd could withdraw its offer'. The board also commented that it could not say whether the CVC/Ferd offer 'represents the highest achievable price'. Clearly in the light of Rank's current bid it didn't.
Meanwhile Rank has amassed 22 per cent of SIG, while Ferd and CVC have unloaded most of the 10 per cent they had already acquired.
And while the deal is yet to be done, it has already received European Commission sanction. A statement today from the EC says: 'The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger Regulation to the acquisition of sole control of SIG Holding AG (SIG) of Switzerland by Rank Group Holdings Limited (Rank) of New Zealand. Rank is an investment company with stakes in many sectors, including carton packaging via the US company Evergreen. SIG is active in aseptic carton packaging solutions and plastic packaging solutions. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.'
The emphasis in this takeover battle has been on the carton businesses, with the PET bottle interests very much along for the ride. Ferd's Elopak was aiming to bulk itself up to compete with TetraPak of Sweden, while Rank Group - owned by New Zealand's richest man, reclusive billionaire Graeme Hart - has a major position in the paper and cardboard packaging business in Australia and New Zealand.
Akcros Chemicals is sold March 15, 2007
PVC additives producer Akcros Chemicals has been sold by Akzo Nobel of the Netherlands to UK-based private investment firm GIL Investments. The sale, for which no price has been quoted, includes the company's sites in Eccles and New Brunswick in the United States. All the approximately 160 employees at these locations will be transferred to GIL. Akzo Nobel will continue to operate two smaller, related production operations in Greiz, Germany, and Itupeva in Brazil which will provide toll production services to GIL.
Akcros, which makes stabilisers, biocides and bonding agents, will continue to operate under its present name.
Akzo Nobel is realigning its chemicals businesses and says it has just one more divestment to finalise. Earlier this month it sold its Organon BioSciences drugs business for Eur 11 billion and towards the end of last year agreed to sell its share in the Flexsys rubber chemicals business to its partner Solutia. Speculators are suggesting that Akzo Nobel plans to make an acquisition in chemicals with the proceeds, with ICI as one potential target. There is also suggestion that in its cash-rich situation Akzo Nobel itself could become a target for a takeover by a private equity company.
Bayer sees steady improvement in materials sales and anticipates more March 15, 2007
Bayer's MaterialScience business increased sales by 8 per cent last year to reach Eur 10·2 billion, mainly through higher volumes although increased prices made a contribution to the rise. The greatest growth came from the Systems segment of the business - mainly polyurethanes - which increased sales by 10 per cent. The Materials sector, primarily polycarbonate, increased sales by 3 per cent, mainly in Europe and Asia Pacific. During last year Bayer became the biggest producer of polycarbonate in the world.
Speaking at the company's financial news conference today chairman Werner Wenning said that Bayer MaterialScience is expecting further increases in sales volume during 2007 and an improvement in profitability in the first quarter 'However, given the high volatility of raw material prices, a reliable longer-term forecast for this subgroup is not possible at present.'
DSM buys additional technology for Dyneema March 15, 2007
New technology for producing ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fibres and compacted sheets has been bought by DSM. It has acquired Swiss-based Pamako from FMS Enterprises Migun. Pamako's technology for UHMWPE products will be incorporated in DSM's Dyneema fibre and unidirectional bullet resistant sheet products.
PP random copolymer gets German backing for pressure pipe March 15, 2007
A change in DIN standards for polypropylene pressure pipe opens new opportunities for the Beta PPR random copolymer introduced three years ago by Borealis.
The German standards for polypropylene pressure pipes were revised last year with the designations PP-H100, PP-B80 and PP-R80 being withdrawn as they did not reflect the required behaviour at elevated temperatures and the designations being changed to PP-H, PP-B and PP-R. The temporary PP-RCT standard for random copolymer pipes has now been officially recognised as a category under the new German standards DIN8077 and DIN8078 for PP pressure pipes.
According to EN ISO 1043 designations, PP-RCT is a PP random copolymer with a crystalline structure which gives improved pressure resistance, particularly at elevated temperatures. It offers more than a 50 per cent improvement in long-term strength at 70 degC over 50 years compared to standard PP-R materials. Borealis says this means that pipes based on this material can be produced with thinner walls. In turn, this means they have a larger internal diameter giving them a higher capacity for distributing large volumes of water, such as in high-rise buildings. The capacity increase can also serve to overcome the problem of low water pressure from a supply network.
In processing terms thinner wall pipes can be extruded faster with less material. And in use smaller pipes lead to smaller insulation, fittings and faster installation times. They weigh less, benefitting transport costs and handling.
GE and PetroChina stall planned polycarbonate venture March 14, 2007
The polycarbonate joint venture between GE Plastics and PetroChina announced last year has been abandoned. Reports from China say the project has been cancelled without giving any specific reason, although the anticipated sale of GE Plastics is thought to have been a factor, as are predictions that there will be an oversupply of polycarbonate in China over the next few years.
Dow rethinks its management structure March 14, 2007
Dow Chemical is restructuring its top management in a move redolent of Bayer's new management structure.
The company will be run by a committee of five whose responsibility will be overall strategy, investment, finance and performance, and Dow's individual businesses will be arranged into eight groups, each led by a business president accountable to the main management committee for implementing global strategies. Dow's polymer interests are divided across Basic Plastics, Polyurethanes, Designed Polymers & Latex, Epoxy & Intermediates, and Specialty Plastics.
The main board will be headed by chairman and chief executive Andrew Liveris, with Geoffery Merszei as chief financial officer, Romeo Kreinberg responsible for performance businesses, Heinz Haller - strategic development and new ventures, and Mike Gambrell - basic businesses.
According to Andrew Liveris 'the business leadership framework we have put in place creates an environment of greater accountability and increased autonomy, in which these eight presidents will have the agility and the authority to model their businesses around the individual drivers of long-term success.'
Borealis to tighten up manufacturing, research and management March 14, 2007
Borealis is tightening up its structure. It is to reorganise its Bamble plant in Norway where it makes LDPE and PP - having closed its HDPE plant there last year - to a lean manufacturing framework. And it is considering phasing out its research and development activities in Norway, concentrating its innovation capability in Austria, Finland and Sweden, and at the planned Borouge innovation center in Abu Dhabi. Borealis has already announced that it is to merge its Innovation Centres in Bamble and in Stenungsund, Sweden into one Scandinavian Innovation Centre.
The company is also to move its business management currently situated in Mechelen, Belgium, to its head office in Vienna, Austria to 'improve coordination and effective implementation of the company's strategy'.
Trexel gets back microcellular patent rights March 14, 2007
Microcellular moulding developer Trexel, which owns the MuCell process, has successfully appealed against a decision (April 1, 2005) to revoke its European patent 0 952 908. This puts the patent back into force and gives Trexel patent rights over all types of microcellular moulded articles irrespective of the process, or type of blowing agent (physical or chemical) used to form them. It means that microcellular products produced by processes claiming to differ from MuCell are covered by the patent.
The crux of the appeal was wall thickness. The patent had originally been revoked because of challenges by other developers of microcellular processes, but these processes involved thick section mouldings. Trexel's patent applies to mouldings with a thickness of less than 0·125 inches (3·175 mm) and a flow length-to-thickness ratio of at least 75:1, which the company says covers nearly all microcellular products currently in production and more than 98 per cent of all future targets for microcellular production.
The battle is not yet over, however. The original claim against the MuCell patent moves to the European Opposition Division to assess whether the claims meet the 'inventive step' standard which was not at issue before the appeal board. Trexel says it will win this as well, but it is likely to take three years or more to come to a conclusion, and during that time its patent remains in force.
Rexam quits glass to concentrate on cans and plastics March 12, 2007
Rexam is pulling out of glass packaging to concentrate on its beverage can and plastics packaging businesses. It is to sell its glass business to Ardagh Glass Group for £449 million.
Rexam says the sale is consistent with its strategy to focus investment on organic growth and acquisitions in higher growth and emerging markets.
New PP plant planned for China March 12, 2007
A 200,000 tonnes polypropylene plant is to be built at the PetroChina GuangXi Petrochemical Company complex in GuangXi Province, China. It will be the second in China to use Unipol PP technology from Dow Chemical. The plant is expected to come on line in 2008.
Husky to consider sale or merger March 9, 2007
Husky is to consider whether it should put itself up for sale or merge with another company.
The Canadian injection machine manufacturer has engaged Citigroup Global Markets as a financial adviser in a review process to consider the future of the company in the light of chairman Robert Schad's decision to consider a sale of his shares. Robert Schad is the man who founded Husky, and is also its largest shareholder.
Whether a sale or 'strategic combination with another business' will happen is played down in the company's announcement as one possibility to be included in the review, with a sale by Robert Schad as no more than a consideration.
Mr Schad said that while over the past decade Husky has made substantial investments to improve its technology and business operations and improved its competitive position, 'we do not believe that this position is reflected in our current market valuation'.
President and chief executive John Galt confirmed that he and the Husky board were in support of the review.
The review was announced as Husky published its second quarter results for 2006 - 07 which showed an increase in orders and sales quarter on quarter and half year on half year for the previous period, but with a drop in net income for the second quarter contrasting with a slight increase for the half year. Orders for the quarter reached record levels.
The company also revealed that it has cut its Bolton, Ontario, workforce by 85 and commented 'it has become increasingly inefficient and costly to manufacture products in Canada that are destined for, and shipped to, markets on the other side of the globe.' Husky's worldwide business is where its growth lies at present. In its second quarter statement the company reported growth in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America - 'all territories except North America'. Orders in North America fell back because of a decline in PET beverage packaging and automotive applications, although this was partly offset by increases in the packaging, technical and general markets.
Over recent years Husky has been attempting to broaden its scope as a supplier of general injection moulding machinery with a stress on the automotive sector, but its worldwide order increase outside North America was principally due to growth in beverage packaging: in Europe it reported orders increased in all markets.
Plastic fuel cell breakthrough in Britain March 9, 2007
A University of Southampton-based company has a revealed a breakthrough in a polymer formulated for use in bipolar plates for fuel cells. Bac2 makes ElectroPhen, an electrically-conductive room temperature curing polymer and composites of the polymer with conductive fillers. A new curing agent used with the material has led to an increase in conductivity to nearly 500 Siemens per centimetre, more than double the US Department of Energy conductivity target of 200 Siemens per centimetre for materials used to make bipolar plates for fuel cell applications, primarily for automotive applications.
Bipolar plates and end plates for connecting to the power load make up to 70 per cent of the weight and 30 per cent of the cost of a typical polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack.
Elkay Electrical Manufacturing, part of Cable Management Products, has invested more than £250,000 at its Newtown, Powys factory with the installation of four Ferromatik Milacron K-Tec 60-265 injection moulding machines and robot systems. The first machine of the group was installed in Ferromatik Milacron's showroom in Chesterfield and run as a production cell, to enable the Elkay work force to be trained. Elkay has been a user of Ferromatik Milacron machines - and their predecessors - since 1980.
SMS sells all its pipe and profile equipment businesses but stays in film and sheet March 7, 2007
The Battenfeld and Cincinnati pipe and profile extrusion system companies are being sold by their parent, the German industrial conglomerate SMS. SMS is involved predominantly in metals producing and processing equipment and is selling its plastics machinery operations to focus on its core businesses, although it is keeping a stake in plastic film and sheet machinery. Last October SMS sold its Battenfeld injection moulding machinery subsidiary and hired the former chairman of Mannesmann Plastics Machinery, Pepyn Dinandt, 'to further develop the Plastics Technology Business Area within a limited time frame in order to maximize potential for further options for the SMS group'.
In January SMS reported growth in orders over the previous year, mostly due to vigorous global performance in the steel industry, and noted that its plastics processing markets had 'also developed well'.
All but one of the SMS extrusion businesses are going: SMS is selling Battenfeld Extrusionstechnik (Germany), SMS Extrusion Kempen (Germany), American Maplan Corporation(USA), Battenfeld Extrusion Systems (China), and Cincinnati Extrusion (Austria, USA and China). Film and sheet equipment producer Battenfeld Gloucester of the USA is being retained. Overall, the companies being sold have sales of around Eur 200 million with some 1,000 employees.
The buyer is Triton, an independent European private equity investor which SMS says 'expects significant growth and value creation potential for the companies'. The transaction is subject to approval by the anti-trust authorities. No financial details have been disclosed.
Rhodia and Snia finally escape from Nylstar March 6, 2007
Rhodia of France and Snia of Italy have finally pulled out of their ailing nylon fibre joint venture Nylstar. They have sold their 50 per cent stakes for a token Eur 1 to a consortium of Nylstar's creditors.
Rhodia has been trying to free itself from the fibres business for several years and has been counting on Radici of Italy to buy it out. Radici, Rhodia and Snia planned early in 2005 to ally Nylstar with RadiciFibres, with Radici taking a majority. In November the same year the three companies signed a letter of intent for RadiciGroup to buy out the two partners.
Last year Rhodia reported Nylstar as a 'disposal in progress at March 31' and said that negotiations under way with the Radici group should lead to a sale in 2006. Then nothing. The proposed sale to Radici seems to have slipped quietly away, leaving no trace, and with Rhodia and Snia still holding the troubled textiles company.
In early February Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and unidentified hedge funds were reported to have bought debt in Nylstar from several banks. Now Rhodia and Snia have sold out to Nylstar's creditors. Rhodia says 'This agreement forms part of the financial restructuring of Nylstar through a debt/equity swap to give the company a restructured balance sheet and a significantly reduced level of debt. Nylstar will now be in a better position to ensure its development. Rhodia will also remain a raw material supplier to Nylstar.'
Record sales and profits for Wavin March 6, 2007
Pipe and building profiles manufacturer Wavin has shown that in some sectors extrusion is still a licence to print money. The company achieved record sales and profits in 2006 from growth in the construction industry across Europe, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe where Wavin now draws 17 per cent of its revenue. Overall the company's revenue increased 12·8 per cent to Eur 1,501 million, with the building and installation sector (above-ground pipe systems) revenue increasing 25·8 per cent and increasing its share of overall revenue from 32 per cent to 35·7 per cent. Sales of underground pipe systems increased 8·6 per cent.
The boom in above-ground pipe systems came from replacement of traditional piping systems with plastics. In particular, there was substantial - 42·4 per cent - growth in sales of hot and cold water supply pipe as overall plastics' penetration in this area is still quite low. The hot and cold segment generated 18 per cent of Wavin's total revenue. Wavin says the growth comes from a combination of increased building activity, rising metals prices, and recognition of the cost-effectiveness of plastics installations.
Increasing emphasis on energy efficiency in buildings fuelled 'robust growth' in indoor climate control applications such as underfloor heating and ceiling cooling systems.
Away from pipe, Wavin recorded a 25·2 per cent increase in sales of cable ducting helped by an acceleration in data communication (Last Mile Telecom) in several countries.
The UK and Ireland remain Wavin's biggest sales territory and returned 11·8 per cent more revenue in 2006 at Eur 449·8 million - although it showed an erosion of profit margin (15·3 per cent down to 15 per cent) - but has still the second highest margin in the company's seven territories, behind Central and Eastern Europe, where the margin also slipped.
Dow to buy Hyperlast from British Vita March 5, 2007
British Vita is planning to sell its British-based Hyperlast and Autothane polyurethane elastomer systems businesses to Dow Chemical.
British Vita bought Hyperlast in 1998 and since then has expanded it, buying the ALH Systems rail coating business in 2000 and in 2004 buying the US-based Synair business and incorporating its polyurethanes operation into Hyperlast North America. Synair also owned British-based rubber to metal bonding agent and polyurethane elastomer producer Chemical Innovations (CIL) - formerly Compounding Ingredients - and this was put under Hyperlast control. The deal with Dow does not include CIL, nor the Hyperlast North America business.
Dow's acquisition of the two businesses is part of a plan to expand its technologies with performance products businesses which are 'customer-intimate'. Dow has more than 50 years experience in polyurethane chemistry while Hyperlast brings particular expertise in spray and cast elastomers.
British Vita would not comment on why it has sold Hyperlast and Autothane. No financial terms were disclosed.
Sumitomo Bakelite expands in high performance thermosets with Neopreg buy March 5, 2007
The world's largest producer of phenolic moulding compounds, Sumitomo Bakelite, has bought another European thermosets manufacturer. Sumitomo Bakelite reinforced its global position in phenolics in 2005 when it bought Vyncolit of Holland and Vyncolit North America. Now it has bought Neopreg of Switzerland, which makes long fibre thermoset composites under the trade names Kinel and Neonite, and is to integrate it into Vyncolit - although stil retaining the Neopreg name.
Neopreg's compounds are based on epoxy and polyimide (bis-maleimide). Neonite epoxy compounds are used in high-voltage equipment, switches and contact terminals. Kinel polyimide compounds have application in aerospace, for example jet engine intakes and blades.
The takeover expands Sumitomo Bakelite's product range in long fibre thermosets, and increase the support and R & D facilities available to Neopreg customers.
Dow prepares for full scale production of new-technology TPE March 5, 2007
The olefin block copolymers introduced last summer by Dow Chemical are to go into volume scale production at a plant in Freeport, Texas, USA in the third quarter of this year. Infuse OBCs are single monomer TPEs, with the alternating hard and soft blocks in the polymer chain made by polymerising with two types of catalyst. The process is enabled by Dow's Insite technology and the Freeport plant already produces other Insite-derived materials including Affinity polyolefin 'plastomers' and Engage polyolefin elastomers.
Dow recently carried out a pilot large-volume production run of Infuse to meet needs for customer trials, and says it now has the capacity to expand customer trials and application development.
London plant will reclaim PET for food packaging March 5, 2007
A PET recycling plant is to be opened in London in December of this year to divert an annual 35,000 tonnes of reclaimed bottles from export or landfill to food grade PET packaging. The plant, in Dagenham, will be operated by Closed Loop London, and has drawn a commitment from Marks & Spencer to both supply waste PET and to encourage its suppliers to source PET from it.
The plant, described enthusiastically as 'the first plant in the UK to recycle plastics into material for food packaging', is being financed by a £12 million grouping of private equity finding and public sector funding from the London Development Agency and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
Technology for the plant will come from United Resource Recovery Corporation of the USA and combines sorting, granulation and cleaning. The company's equipment is being used to produce recyclate for food packaging in the USA and Europe.
DCB buys LinPac Moulded Foams to form the UK's biggest independent foam moulder
March 2, 2007
LinPac's moulded foams business has been sold to Scottish EPS moulder DCB Mouldings, which has restructured the two companies into a new entity called Moulded Foams, 'the largest independent foam moulder in the UK'. Recent changes in the structure of the LinPac Group, particularly the sale of the Containers and Automotive divisions, have meant that moulded EPS is no longer central to its activities. The company had already closed the original Moulded Foams headquarters, the former Ace Packaging site in Chichester, about a year ago.
The remaining two sites, at Tonypandy and Scunthorpe, join DCB's two sites at Cumbernauld and Shetland. Tonypandy is the factory set up in 1991 as Moulded Foams (Wales) by two local entrepreneurs who spotted the chance to supply the big electronics operations in the area and which was acquired by LinPac in 1999. The Scunthorpe plant was opened in 1986 by Killian and May to supply fish boxes and expanded into horticultural products and general packaging. All four process expanded polystyrene, and the Tonypandy site also processes expanded polypropylene and expanded polyethylene for automotive components such as bumper cores, tool kit pods, head restraints and seating products.
DCB Mouldings had a turnover in 2006 of £4 million and before the takeover of the LinPac business employed 28 people. In 2004 DCB invested £750,000 in Shetland with more planned for this year, and it spent £600,000 at the Cumbernauld site in 2006 on machinery for mouldings for the construction sector. Moulded Foams says it will be investing in new plant at Scunthorpe and Tonypandy to 'support the growing demand for cellular foam in important new sectors'.
Brückner adds pallet stretch wrap with marketing deal March 2, 2007
Germany's Brückner cast film and sheet machinery group, which earlier this year bought Kiefel, has added stretch film equipment through a sales and marketing deal with Adtech Provera of Rovato in Italy. It will be selling Adtech Provera cast film extrusion lines and rewinding equipment for LLDPE pallet stretch wrap alongside its own non-oriented film extrusion lines. Adtech's manufacturing, pre-assembly, wet-test facilities and service remain in Rovato. The deal gives Brückner a wider portfolio and gives Adtech a more powerful worldwide sales organisation.
The two companies will be staging a demonstration on April 18 at Adtech Provero's plant of a 5 m, 7 layer coextrusion cast stretch film line.
Ticona starts to restructure European distribution March 1, 2007
Ticona is restructuring its distribution channels across Europe. Its first move has been to appoint Resin Express to cover Central and Eastern Europe, aiming to build on Resin Express's existing penetration of these high growth markets, while broadening the distributor's product line in engineering plastics.
The restructure will extend across the rest of Europe by the end of the year. Which distributors it is planning to ally with is not being revealed by Ticona, but the company says it will have news of more agreements by the time of the K2007 exhibition.
Retailers take voluntary steps to cut the environmental impact of carrier bags March 1, 2007
The UK's biggest supermarkets and other major retailers are combining to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags. Retail associations and individual retailers have joined with government departments and the recycling association WRAP in a three-part campaign to reduce the environmental impact of each individual carrier bag; encourage customers to significantly reduce the number of carrier bags they use; and to enable the recycling of more carrier bags where appropriate.
The mechanics of how to do this have yet to be worked out, but a target of 25 per cent reduction in the overall environmental impact has been set for the end of 2008.
Packaging and Industrial Films Association PIFA (soon to be PAFA) has welcomed the project: it represents manufacturers of plastic carrier bags, and emphasises in its statement of support that the target is to reduce plastic and paper carrier bag usage. PIFA said: 'It may surprise some people that the manufacturers and suppliers of plastic carrier bags are party to this agreement but in fact we were the first to draft a voluntary code some time ago. We welcome open, science-based debate about the relative merits of different carrier bag materials. This has shown that 80 per cent of households re-use their plastic carriers and it has also exposed the myth that paper is better for the environment when in fact, if measured by full life cycle analysis, it has far greater environmental impacts.'
The PIFA statement goes on to say: 'The Association revealed evidence last year that taxing plastic bags in the Republic of Ireland brought serious unintended negative environmental impacts not least through a switch to paper by retailers and an overall increase in plastic bags as consumers need to buy more bin liners. This evidence was accepted by the all party Scottish Parliamentary Environment and Rural Development Committee which unanimously rejected a private members bill calling for a tax. Similar voluntary codes in Australia have also led to a successful reduct
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