Climate tax could lead to recycling decline - BPF

March 31, 2001 - The British government's Climate Change Levy which will, from tomorrow, impose a tax on energy consumption, will cost British plastics recyclers £1 million a year when they can least afford it, says the British Plastics Federation's Recycling Council.
     According to chairman Colin Williamson: 'The UK plastics recycling industry is struggling hard to survive the current harsh economic climate. We are seeing shortages of good quality scrap film as so much is now exported to China, and the PRN system has failed to have any significant effect.
     'As a result, last year saw the industry decline as washing and extrusion capacity was closed down. Now we are faced with an enormous CCL bill that will only make the situation worse.'
     He added: 'We are expected to recycle more and more every year and the government has now introduced a so-called environmental tax that will hit recycling very hard.' Mr Williamson stressed that the National Insurance reduction which the government claims will make the tax cost-neutral would give recyclers less than a 20 per cent respite. 'Plastics recycling must be an integral part of any plans for sustainable development, but the industry will decline again this year unless the government accepts that if it wants to see plastics recycling increase, it must create conditions that encourage recyclers to invest, rather than blitzing them with new taxes'.

100 per cent RPET water bottle spearheads Get Green campaign

March 31, 2001 - Full scale production has started in the USA of a food-contact bottle made from 100 per cent reclaimed post consumer PET. This is said to be the first commercial bottle in the world to be made from 100 per cent RPET, and is made by Plastic Technologies Inc, the first US company to get FDA approval for making food-contact products from RPET.
     The material reclaim is done by a subsidiary company, Phoenix Technologies, which says it is the largest pelletiser of RPET in the world, and currently has an annual capacity in excess of 22,000 tonnes of non-food material. It put food grade RPET on the market around the middle of last year after three years of research and testing, and has now added plant to produce 7,500 tonnes a year.
     Its technology had already been proven commercially by Coca Cola, which has built a plant near Sydney, Australia, to produce material for use in its bottles for the Australian and New Zealand markets.
     The new bottle produced by PTI is the result of a joint operation with the Lucas County Commissioners - the local authority in the Ohio district in which PTI is located. Recycling is dependent on there being material to recycle, and Lucas County wanted to encourage a higher level of recycling and cut the waste going to landfill.
     With the aid of a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Lucas County and PTI developed the Green Bottle, a sport water bottle designed as a tool to promote recycling and environmental education among school children and their parents. These are distributed under a Get Green project, and Lucas County is now promoting the project for licensing by other local authorities.

M & S to review PVC ban

March 31, 2001 - Industry indignation over the decision by Marks & Spencer earlier this year to phase out PVC packaging by 2002 has brought a shifting of the retailer's position. While it is not withdrawing its policy, it has agreed to a review in six months time.
     Marks & Spencer's initial announcement brought sharp reaction from the British Plastics Federation, the Packaging and Industrial Films Association, and many individuals throughout the industry. Following a meeting with BPF director general Peter Davis M & S has said that it is not anti-PVC, but that PVC would become a big issue in the future and the PVC industry needed to 'rebuild trust'.
     As well as agreeing to a review of its policy, Marks & Spencer has said it will read more of the published research on the topic, not comment on PVC on labelling and at point of sale, and consult the BPF before making any more announcements.
 The first progress report from European PVC producers on their voluntary commitments to improve the environmental credentials of PVC has been published. The PVC producers, through their various trade associations, say that it shows that the industry is already delivering responsible PVC product and waste management, with further improvements to come over the next 10 years.
     Among the successes claimed so far are nine new waste management projects including plans for pan-European schemes for recycling PVC pipes, flooring and window frames; the phasing out of cadmium-based stabilisers and funding for research into lead stabilisers; and completion of the Tavaux feedstock recycling plant with financial support for two further feedstock recycling projects in Germany and Denmark.

SolVin shuts Belgian VCM/PVC plant

March 31, 2001 - SolVin, the vinyl joint venture between Solvay (75 per cent) and BASF (25 per cent) set up in 1999, is to close the BASF VCM/PVC unit at Zandvliet in Belgium in April. The closure is in line with the efficiencies sought when SolVin was set up, by concentrating production on a smaller number of larger, integrated and more efficient plants. SolVin has expanded other plants, particularly Jemeppe in Belgium and Rheinberg in Germany, to provide part of the 170,000 tonnes of VCM and 150,000 tonnes of suspension PVC capacities at Zandvliet.

German packaging regulation 'discriminates against imports'

March 31, 2001 - Germany has fallen foul of the European Commission in its attempts to legislate on reusable bottles, and is being taken to the European Court of Justice.
     The problem stems from the requirement in the German re-use scheme for a deposit-refund obligation for some non-returnable primary packaging. One-way packaging for drinks such as natural mineral water is exempt from this obligation when the proportion of returnable packaging used is above 72 per cent.
     But this principal clashes with the Community Directive on the sale of mineral water which requires that it be bottled at the point of origin. Imported mineral water therefore has to travel in its retail bottles, and the obligation to return these over long distances adds a cost which effectively discriminates against imported water.
     Life cycle analysis shows there is a greater environmental cost for these returnable bottles because of transportation than there is for one-way packaging.

More cost cutting at PolyOne

March 31, 2001 - PolyOne Corporation is forging another link in the chain of cost-cutting measures forecast when Geon Corporation and M A Hanna merged last year. It is to cut 55 jobs at three sites in its US-based Engineered Films Group, saving around $3·5 million a year. PolyOne has also completed the closure of another engineered films site, which had already been scheduled for closure before the merger.
     Earlier this year PolyOne shut down a number of compounding and distribution sites.

Marlpen buys Plasmold Tools

March 31, 2001 - United Industries has sold Plasmold Tools (Birstall) to Marlpen Moulds as part of a series of divestments across a number of industry sectors.
     Both Plasmold and Marlpen are in West Yorkshire, near the motorway network, and are active in the automotive, domestic appliance, leisure, housewares and point of sale markets. Marlpen's Batley site can produce tools up to 10 tonnes, while Plasmold at Morley can handle up to 25 tonnes.

Dow delays POSM plant

March 31, 2001 - A world scale propylene oxide/styrene monomer plant being planned by Dow Chemical for the US Gulf Coast has been put on hold because of a shift in PO supply/demand balances. During last year Dow increased output at two US plants and later this year will switch on increased capacity at Stade in Germany, to give a total increase in capacity in excess of 100,000 tonnes. The new US POSM plant, which was scheduled for a 2004 start-up, would add three times that amount.

New works manager for VTC

March 31, 2001 - The new works manager at Vita Thermoplastic Compounders in Middleton, Manchester, is Ian Marshall. He was previously works manager at pressed concrete manufacturer Marshalls.

Arburg machine for multi-component training

March 29, 2001 - Polymer Training - the new persona of the British Polymer Training Association's training arm - has bought an Arburg Allrounder 420C 1000-350/150 multi-component injection moulding machine for two-shot moulding at its Telford training centre. This is one of eight machines of various types to be installed following a grant by the government agency Advantage West Midlands.
     The machine will be used for training setters, technicians and engineers, and will also be used in research and development on multi-component machines and processes.

Barlo strengthens its central European position

March 29, 2001 - Barlo Plastics has opened a central European manufacturing and warehouse facility for transparent sheet at Pribram in the Czech Republic. Around Euro 2·5 million has been invested in the land and buildings, with an additional Euro 5 million in equipment. Two manufacturing halls and one warehouse, each covering 1,500 m² have been built and four extrusion lines are already operational. Another two extrusion lines are planned by mid-year.
     The main product of the plant is polystyrene sheet from 1 to 6 mm thick. Capacity is 8,000 - 9,000 tonnes.
     This is Barlo's second recent investment in central Europe. At the end of last year it bought PCHZ-Akryl in Slovakia.

Tetra Laval plans to buy Sidel

March 29, 2001 - The Tetra Laval Group, which incorporates Tetra Pak and DeLaval, is bidding for French PET bottle machine maker Sidel. This is the first step in structuring the group into three elements - equipment, packaging and closures.
     Tera Laval's offer values Sidel at Euro 1·7 billion and has been recommended by Sidel's board. It is Tera Laval's intention that Sidel should continue to operate as a stand-alone business under its own name.
     Sidel has 4,000 employees working in 24 countries and had sales of Euro 1·025 million in 2000. Tetra Laval employs 24,000 people, with operations in more than 165 countries and had net sales of Euro 8·9 billion in 2000.

EC worried about BDO buy by BASF

March 29, 2001 - The takeover by BASF of two Belgian-based chemicals companies in the Italian SISAS Group has been called to account by the European Commission.
     The two companies are Pantochim and Eurodiol. Pantochim produces a number of chemical products, mainly phthalic anhydride and plasticisers (standard phthalates used among other things to make soft PVC). Eurodiol basically produces butanediol (BDO) and BDO derivatives GBL, NMP and THF.
     The European Commission is concerned that BASF is already the European market leader for GBL, THF and NMP. The acquisition of Eurodiol would give BASF a market share in these products of twice to three times that of its major competitors.
     The purchase of Eurodiol would also give BASF a low-cost technology and could add considerably to its production capacity, which would mean that BASF would control the entire GBL production capacity in the European market.
     According to the European Union's merger regulation, the Commission now has a maximum of four months to reach a final decision on whether to approve the takeover or make conditions.

Whitlam back to Sandretto sales after Futcher switches to Negri Bossi

March 29, 2001 - Chris Whitlam has returned to Sandretto UK as national sales manager for automation. In the eight years since he has worked at Sandretto he has worked for automation specialists ATM and Piovan + Star.
     Last year Sandretto UK became the sales and servicing agent for the ancillary equipment made by Dal Maschio which comprises robots from sprue pickers to full CNC robots for injection machines up to 5,500 tonnes lock, as well as hopper loaders, hopper driers, conveyors and granulators.
     Sandretto's sales director Carl Futcher recently left the company to become sales director and managing director designate of Negri Bossi.

New structure for Piovan + Star

March 29, 2001 - Robot and automation manufacturer Piovan + Star Automation has changed its name to Star Automation Europe, and is now 100 per cent owned by Star Seiki Co of Japan.

Internet trading tie up to feed Indian demand for secondhand machines

March 29, 2001 - The MachinePoint plastics machinery trading site has joined with Indian plastics portal ePlasticsIndia to offer secondhand equipment to the Indian market. An access page to MachinePoint has been added to ePlasticsIndia.
     According to ePlasticsIndia 72 per cent of the Indian plastics industry consists of small and medium plastics processors, this section being responsible for almost two thirds of the $5 billion turnover. The industry is growing at an annual rate of 15 per cent. The demand for polymers is expected to reach 8 million tonnes in 2006 - 7 from the current 4 million tonnes. It is also estimated that over the next five years India will need an additional 35,000 plastics processing machines of various types.
     However, Indian companies currently have very limited access to quality secondhand machines and information about them is hard to come by, says ePlasticsIndia. The MachinePoint cooperation will allow ePlasticsIndia customers to access a database of more than 3,000 used plastics machines.

Milk could be the new pop in PET

March 28, 2001 - Milk and dairy products are identified as a significant potential market for PET in a new report from PET Packaging, Resin & Recycling. The research company estimates that the market segment potential is 500,000 tonnes in North America and Europe and sees significant opportunity in Asia as well.
     There are two target segments: fresh milk in small container sizes (up to 1 litre) and fresh and flavoured 'dairy beverages'. The report says that dairy companies in Europe and North America are seeing strong potential and high added value in newer applications such as flavoured milk beverages, vitamin-enhanced milks, probiotics and yoghourt-based beverages. In all these new markets companies are using new packaging presentations to make a distinction from standard milk in commodity packaging.
     PET is already being used to promote brands by companies including in Europe: Parmalat, Nestlé, Campina Melkunie, Friesland Coberco and Garanarolo; and in the USA: Dairy Farmers, Suiza, Deans Foods and Kroger. Five of the largest dairy companies in Europe and four of the largest in the USA are now using PET. Some 35,000 tonnes of PET is now being used in Europe and North America, and PCI projects a consumption volume of more than 100,000 tonnes in the near term.
     The report also examines how PET meets packaging needs for milk in terms of improved barrier from UV and concludes that new advances in aseptic filling are increasing PET's potential for use with longer shelf life milks.

BASF caters for high growth in powder injection moulding

March 28, 2001 - BASF is increasing its capacity for ceramic and metal powders for injection moulding with the installation of what it says is the world's first continuous manufacturing plant. The new plant, due on line in 2002, will expand the capacity for Catamold granules at the Ludwigshafen, Germany, site by 1,000 tonnes/year. The continuous production process is also expected to raise quality.
     Catamold currently has a double digit sales growth rate and BASF claims a 70 per cent share of the European market.
     BASF developed Catamold 10 years ago, making it possible to carry out powder injection moulding in continuous production plants. Catamold products are injection-ready granules consisting of metal or ceramic powders and a patented binder system. This binder makes debindering 10 times faster than with conventional methods, says BASF.
     The process of metal or ceramic powder injection moulding is being used for products such as watch cases and automotive components in large quantities. In recent years the market has grown by around 15 per cent per year. BASF expects that this growth trend will continue and that the technology of powder injection moulding will develop into the leading process for the production of highly complex parts.
     More information on Catamold is at www.basf.de/catamold.

BP to start production of hot compaction sheet

March 28, 2001 - BP is now making samples of its recently acquired hot compaction sheet material for testing, and has given it the name Curv. The production plant at the Gronau, Germany, site is expected to start up later this year.
     Vehicle parts offer potential applications for Curv, and BP says that manufacturers and suppliers are now examining the material for a number of forthcoming models.
     BP is planning a dedicated web site, www.curvonline.com.

British moulder adds lower labour cost facilities

March 28, 2001 - Media Moulding Technology, the Welsh-based custom injection moulder in the MMT Group subsidiary of Magnetic and Memory Technology, is joining forces with a Latvian company. It is setting up a joint venture near Riga with the European Plastic Industries subsidiary of Nordic Industries.
     The co-operation will add lower cost production to MMT's facilities, and open new markets in the Baltic States, Scandinavia, the FSU and the EU. Instead of products being developed in Wales and then the business being lost to lower cost production in other countries, the company now expects to retain projects from conception to production.

Driers are cheap 'and will stay cheap'

March 28, 2001 - TEW hot air driers from Taiwan are now available from STV of Milton Keynes, with the emphasis firmly on low price. The company reckons to be in a position to cut its sales costs compared with other drier distributors, and so keep the price permanently low.
     STV says there are already hundreds of TEW driers and loaders working in the UK. Models range from 12 to 400 kg capacity and machine features include stainless steel construction, aluminium castings, PD temperature control with overheat safety circuit and a 24 hour timer. A 12 months warranty is given.

Wellington turns turnaround into a record

March 28, 2001 - The restructuring over the past couple of years of Wellington Holdings out of rubber compounding and into performance seals has paid off for the company, and the improved results of 1999 have turned into record sales and profits in 2000. Turnover was up 23 per cent at £30·6 million with pre-tax profits up 40 per cent to £3·5 million.

Borealis expands its cable compound interests

March 28, 2001 - Borealis has acquired the whole of the American joint venture wire and cable compound business it owned with Nova Chemicals. Nova-Borealis Compounds was formed in 1996 to supply the North and South American markets. It is now to be integrated into the global Borealis wire and cable business.

Second Spectar sheet agreement

March 28, 2001 - Eastman has signed a second exclusive distribution licence for Spectar branded PETG sheet. Earlier this month it gave Barlo Plastics the exclusive right to make and sell sheet under the Spectar name in Europe. Now it has licensed Spartech Corporation as exclusive North American distributor.

Mitsubishi plans East European moulding machine base

March 28, 2001 - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is to set up an injection moulding machine service base in the Czech Republic in May, according to Japan Industrial News. The move is to cater for Japanese automotive parts manufacturers who are also setting up in the country. Following an initial after-sales service operation, Mitsubishi intends to add machine sales.

Ciba to sell Atofina antistat

March 28, 2001 - Following its recent distribution deals with Kanebo Chemical Industries and EPI Environmental Technologies, Ciba Specialty Chemicals has now taken on Atofina's Pebax polyether block amide as an antistatic additive. It will sell Pebax worldwide as a permanent antistat alongside its existing Irgastat P product range.

All-electric MuCell moulder

March 28, 2001 - The first all-electric injection moulding machine to be fitted with MuCell microcellular moulding equipment has been built by Japan Steel Works. The machine is being delivered this month to a Japanese company, and the model is also available in the USA and Europe.

Krupp director moves to SMS Group

March 28, 2001 - Walter Häder, a member of the managing board of Krupp Elastomertechnik, has moved to Cincinnati Extrusion in Vienna, Austria, as joint managing director, marketing and sales.

Twin screw lab extruder for ColourTone

March 28, 2001 - ColourTone Masterbatch of Bedwas in Gwent has invested £35,000 in a 21 mm twin screw compounder from TSA of Italy. TSA specialises in laboratory and small scale production extruders, and the model EM21 bought by ColourTone has a clamshell barrel, 35:1 screws and a 3 kW motor giving an output of 10 kg/hr. It also has slip-in replaceable barrel liners and 'plug-and-go' controls for fast set-up.
     The machine is the first twin screw in ColourTone's laboratory and will be used to develop new products in line with the company's recently announced polymer specific masterbatches for rigid PVC and acetal.

Dow buys Basell PP plant

March 25, 2001 - Another step has been taken towards meeting the European Commission's requirements for the merger of the polypropylene businesses of BASF and Montell into Basell. The 10 years old Unipol unit at Cologne in Germany is being sold to Dow Chemical, contributing 195,000 tonnes to the EC requirement that Basell chop 600,000 tonnes of capacity.
     Buying the Cologne plant fits well into Dow's polypropylene business, adding an existing commercial plant using the Unipol process, acquired with Dow's takeover of Union Carbide.
     As well as divesting capacity to meet EC requirements, Basell has also turned off 500,000 tonnes of capacity because of poor returns in the market, and on March 1 increased prices for its Moplen and Novolen grades in Europe between 0·10 and 0·15 DM/kg.

Lenzing merged with Acordis cellulose fibres

March 25, 2001 - The cellulose fibre activities of Acordis Industrial Fibers are being merged with the Austrian Lenzing fibres company to make the world's largest cellulosic fibre producer with a combined turnover of Euro 1 ·6 billion.
     Acordis, until last year part of Akzo Nobel and incorporating the former Courtaulds Cellulosic Fibres, is 64 per cent controlled by CVC Capital Partners. CVC has set up Zullulosefaser Beteiligungsgesellschaft which has bought the 80 per cent of Lenzing shares owned by Bank Austria. CVC is to combine Acordis Industrial Fibers with the new company which will eventually be controlled around 54 per cent by CVC with approximately 18 per cent of the shares held by various Austrian co-investors and a further 18 per cent by Acordis BV. The remaining 10 per cent will be held by the management of the new company.
     The new company will be based in Austria and expects to invest in production sites in Lenzing and Heiligenkreuz.

Bayer stalls Agfa-Gevaert sell-off

March 25, 2001 - Bayer has put on hold its plan to sell its remaining shares in Agfa Gevaert because of 'the short term decline in operating performance expressed by Agfa-Gevaert'.

INEOS now owns EVC

March 25, 2001 - The INEOS takeover of European PVC major EVC International has been completed, and INEOS now owns 64·5 per cent.

Now Milacron accuses SIG of computer control patent infringement

March 25, 2001 - Milacron is sueing another plastics machinery manufacturer for patent infringement over the use of personal computers in machine control. After successful actions against Husky, and more latterly UBE, Milacron is alleging that SIG Plastics Technologies is breaching its 1991 patent (US Patent 5,062,052). SIG is countering with the claim that it was selling machinery using the patented technology before Milacron's patent application.

Omnexus goes multi-lingual for Europe

March 25, 2001 - Omnexus, the independent internet marketplace set up by a dozen or so global materials suppliers and now carrying stocks from more than 20 global companies, is now easing into Europe. It has set up French, German and Spanish language access using European currencies and measures, and expects to start trading in the third quarter of this year. At the same time Omnexus expects to add equipment sales, and to begin integration with customer ERP facilities. Part of its pan-European functionality is to recognise individual users, and only display those parts of its catalogue available in those users' regions.

Bayer management slims down

March 25, 2001 - Bayer's management board will be reduced from eight to seven when Dr Pol Bamelis retires at the end of April. He will not be replaced and his function as chairman of the research committee will be taken over by Dr Frank Morich in addition to his health care business responsibilities.

Basell PE goes up again

March 25, 2001 - Basell is increasing the price of all its European polyethylene products on April 1 by Eur 50/tonne, extending the Eur 150/tonne increase on March 1.

Iddon builds its first twin screw compounder

March 16, 2001 - NFM Iddon has started building twin screw compounding extruders, with the first machine going to Whitaker Technical Plastics in Macclesfield.
     Iddon's parent company, NFM/Welding Engineers of the USA, has been building the Toshiba TEM series of co-rotating twin screws under licence since 1996. The licensing agreement has now been extended to give NFM Iddon European manufacturing rights.
     The TEM series is built with screw sizes between 41 and 136 mm, and the NFM companies make all the major components except the Toshiba-built gearboxes.
     The 58 mm machine supplied to WTP is said to offer the highest torque per free volume and highest screw speed of any major commercially available extruder.

Vita - the most difficult year for a long time

March 16, 2001 - Operating and pre-tax profits at British Vita dipped in 2000 on sales volume growth up by 3 per cent. Operating profit was down 15·3 per cent to £64·2 million, while pre-tax profit fell 9·35 per cent to £69·8 million.
     Chairman Jim Mercer commented that 2000 was the most difficult year for Vita for some considerable time. The year was two contrasting halves: the first half was tough, but in line with expectations, while second half performance was badly hit by raw material price pressure and deteriorating market conditions, particularly in the USA. Raw material price increases and the difficulty of recovering these from its customers hit all three divisions, Cellular, Thermoplastic Sheet and Compounding, and Nonwovens.

Ciba extends additive range with distribution agreements

March 16, 2001 - Ciba Specialty Chemicals is extending its portfolio of polymer additives through new representation deals in Japan and Canada.
     From Japan it is to bring inorganic (silver) antimicrobials made by Kanebo Chemical Industries. Ciba will distribute them outside Asia as Ciba Irgaguard, and in Japan and Asia Ciba and Kanebo will distribute them side by side under their own trade names.
     The Canadian agreement is with EPI Environmental Technologies. Ciba becomes exclusive distributor of EPI additives for degradable polymers in the agricultural industry. The products, previously sold as AGP, will become Ciba Envirocare. Ciba will sell the additives for use in mulch films, banana bags, non-wovens and twine while EPI will continue to sell DCP (Degradable Compostable Plastic) additives for use in refuse bags, shopping bags and diapers.

First Arburg 250 tonne moulding machine for the UK

March 16, 2001 - The first Arburg Allrounder 630S injection moulding machine in Britain has been sold to Hi-Tech Plastics of Blackburn. The 630S, at 250 tonnes, marks Arburg's entry into higher tonnage moulding machines, and is to be followed soon by 320 and 400 tonne machines.
     Hi-Tech is a long-standing Arburg customer. It bought its first machines 18 years ago and now has 18, from 25 to 250 tonnes. The purchase of the 250 tonne machine followed increasing enquiries for larger mouldings, and enabled the company to maintain relations with its existing supplier.

Bayer and BASF buck the trend

March 16, 2001 - Concentration on higher technology polymer products has paid off for German conglomerates Bayer and BASF. Both companies recorded strong sales growth in 2000, with their polymer businesses not singled out as poor performers, as has been the case with other chemicals majors and commodity polymer producers.
     Bayer Group sales increased 21 per cent to Eur 30 billion and profits rose 20 per cent to Eur 3·3 billion. Polymer sales climbed 28 per cent to Eur 11·4 billion, and while polymers accounted for 90 per cent of the group's higher raw materials bill - an extra Eur 1·4 billion - the division still achieved a 10 per cent return on sales.
     In the future Bayer will put more effort into the Asian market for polymers, and will expand production in the region. Cost savings are planned through new technology, and specific cost-containment programs in all parts of its polymers business that should bring savings of more than Eur 300 million a year, starting in 2003.
     BASF's group sales and profits for 2000 were the highest in its history. Sales rose 22 per cent to almost Eur 36 billion and profits increased 15 per cent to Eur 3·4 billion.
     Among the restructuring measures that brought this growth last year was the moving of its polyolefins business into the Basell joint venture with Shell. BASF sees this year picking up momentum from a subdued first half. Part of this momentum will be in its oil and gas business, which doubled its earnings last year as a strategic buffer to compensate for pressures on other chemicals operations.

Robot company doubles production space

March 16, 2001 - German automation specialist Neureder has opened its second production plant, in Schwerin in Northern Germany. The company is based in Schwaig near Munich, and was planning to open a new centre away from the south because of a growing shortage of automation engineers. Schwerin became the obvious choice when Neureder received a deluge of job applications from engineers at the ailing Gosewehr plant, which has now closed.
     At 1,050 m² the new Schwerin plant almost doubles Neureder's production capacity. It will be used for the production of standard linear robots, releasing the space at Schwaig for the company's R & D, process development and project work on complex automation cells.

Bayer to sell off the rest of Agfa-Gevaert

March 16, 2001 - Bayer is to sell its remaining share in the Belgian imaging company Agfa-Gevaert. It currently holds 30 per cent of the shares, with the Gevaert Group holding 25 per cent and the rest widely distributed. Bayer sold half the share capital of Agfa-Gevaert in 1999, and is now selling the rest because the imaging business is no longer of strategic importance.

Same day spares service in Ireland

March 16, 2001 - Nickerson Europe, which supplies a range of spares for extruders and injection moulding machines, has opened an office in Lucan, County Dublin, for same/next day deliveries to the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. Telephone number is +353(0)1621 0562, fax +353(0)1621 1070, email irishsales@nickersoneurope.co.uk. Nickerson has other European offices in Belgium, France, Spain, Germany and Denmark.

DHL deal has improved deliveries for DuPont Dow

March 16, 2001 - DuPont Dow Elastomers has improved European deliveries of Kalrez perfluoroelastomer parts and Zalak high performance seals through a deal with courier service DHL. DuPont Dow set up a European centralised warehouse for Kalrez at DHL's European hub near Brussels Airport. This enabled next day delivery to become standard, with a 'sprinter' hand carried service for emergencies. In the nine months this has been operating on-time deliveries have improved to 95 per cent for standard items. The warehouse maintains a stock of more than 100,000 Kalrez and Zalak parts and seals.

Borealis/Repsol joint venture scrapped

March 15, 2001 - The joint venture planned between Borealis and Repsol in the Iberian peninsula is off. A statement from Borealis today says that after due diligence and various feasibility studies the two parties have agreed not to pursue negotiations to establish a joint venture company. 'Both Borealis and Repsol recognise that their respective polyolefin interests are best off being developed separately.'
     Borealis is now to review the development of its Iberian operations, which currently make it the second largest polyolefins supplier in the region.
 New chief executive officer and executive board chairman of Borealis is John Taylor. He comes from British Nuclear Fuels where he was CEO, and has also worked for Exxon Chemical where he was one-time European vice president of its polyolefins businesses. He succeeds Svein Rennemo who announced his plans to leave last autumn.

No news like tomorrow's news

March 15, 2001 - The new magazine being being launched by Interplas exhibition organiser Reed Exhibition Companies as a wrist slapper to Plastics & Rubber Weekly for its abortive attempt to stage a competitive exhibition (you step on my exhibition toes and I'll kick your magazine publishing shins) also has a web site carrying news. The news is so new that today there is a headline with tomorrow's date (although the story is a couple of weeks old). The magazine promises to return its profits to the industry to fund education. Although with advertising space being given away at no charge this will probably take a while to realise.

Ticona to install MuCell test bed

March 15, 2001 - Ticona has bought a licence for the MuCell microcellular moulding process and is to install a facility for trials in a laboratory being built at Kelsterbach in Germany. Its aim is to provide back up for companies considering MuCell and needing to evaluate appropriate plastics.

Rubber chemicals prices rise

March 15, 2001 - Cytec Industries is increasing the price of its liquid and powder Cyrez rubber chemicals by 5 cents/lb worldwide on April 1. This increase reflects higher costs in raw materials and energy that have affected all amino resin products since the second half of last year.

GE puts PP in its PPO

March 15, 2001 - GE Plastics has developed a new grade of its Noryl polyphenyl ether family incorporating polypropylene, and achieving a combination of stiffness, heat resistance and high flow for thinwall mouldings. PPO and PP are basically incompatible but GE says it has new patent-pending alloying technology for bringing them together. Scrap is said to be 'regrind friendly' with other polypropylene-based products.
     Noryl PPX is aimed at a range of market areas including power tools, food trays and fluid handling components, but the emphasis is being placed on automotive applications such as bumper fascias, front end modules and under-bonnet components. Initially there are four grades available:
          PPX 7110 has a flexural modulus of 1,620 MPa and an instrumented impact strength of 28 Nm at -30 degC.
          PPX 7125 has a flexural modulus of 1,340 MPa and an instrumented impact strength of 37 Nm at -30 degC.
          PPX630 and PPX640 are 30 and 40 per cent glass reinforced grades.
     The two unreinforced grades are reckoned to be 30 - 50 per cent stiffer than the thermoplastic olefins used extensively in the USA for vehicle front panels. They can be painted after plasma or flame treatment.
     The glass-reinforced grades are aimed at front end modules, seat backs, load decks and under-bonnet components. They are said to offer a good balance of high elongation with long term heat resistance and stiffness.
     During the past year GE has quietly added more than 40 grades to its long lived Noryl product line, and this year expects to add more than 20, with high heat platable, conductive and special effect materials yet to come.
     Contact: GE Polymerland.

Better flow for toughened nylon

March 15, 2001 - Introduction of a viscosity-lowering technology by DuPont is extending the potential for its toughened nylon materials.
     Zytel ST801 is the top-of-the-range grade, offering a notched Izod impact strength of around 10 times that of a standard PA 66 with only slightly less stiffness. This has made it competitive with polycarbonate, particularly at low temperatures, where its impact strength is substantially better than that of PC. It has also been shown to greatly outperform both polycarbonate and ABS in fatigue tests. As an example DuPont quotes a power tool housing, which could arguably be specified in super-tough nylon, polycarbonate or ABS according to their recognised impact strengths. However, when tested with multiple impacts, as could be expected during the life time of the product, the super-tough nylon far and away outperforms the others - it tolerates 130 impacts compared with just 4·4 for PC and 2 for ABS.
     The new Advantage grades give this performance in circumstances where the standard super tough materials would be difficult to mould. Flow length of ST801A is 48 per cent more than standard ST801 at 270 degC, 44 per cent more at 280 degC and 40 per cent more at 290 degC, when it is just slightly more viscous than a natural PA66.
     This is expected to bring productivity benefits over the existing ST801 through reducing injection pressure, thus enabling smaller machines to be used; adding extra cavities in multi-cavity tools; or enabling wall thicknesses to be reduced. Reduced melt temperature is another benefit, lowering crystallisation and cooling times and thus shortening cycles, and also saving energy costs.
     The increased flow length is sufficient to enable the super-tough grade to be used in tools made for standard PA66 - shrinkage permitting - improving product properties. An example quoted by DuPont is the moulding of cable ties. Switching to a super-tough material from a standard grade would give ties a much better low temperature performance, opening markets in colder climates.
     In another example an automotive steering column cowl was being moulded in traditional ST801 with a fill pressure of 76 MPa at 299 degC. Switching to ST801A enabled fill pressure to be reduced to 51 MPa at 290 degC. By lowering the melt temperature to 273 degC the tool could be filled at 81 MPa, and the reduced melt temperature brought the cycle time down from 46 to 40 seconds. DuPont extrapolates this through machine/operator costs to give a saving over 20,000 mouldings of just over £1,000. On 500,000 mouldings this works out to around £25,500.
     Of course, there is a price premium for the Advantage grade, but at 5 - 10 per cent on the standard ST801 DuPont says there is sufficient reduction in costs to make substitution financially beneficial.

Plastic Engineering goes solo

March 15, 2001 - The Plastic Engineering of Leamington has become independent of the Edgbaston Group through a £multi-million 'buy in management buy out' led by managing director Michael Hart and Robert Smallwood, president of US-based Atlantic Venture International. The company is heavily involved in European automotive supply, and for some time has been seeking expansion into the USA through the purchase of a like-minded company. Last year the company moved into a new factory and spent £500,000 on new moulding machines.

Cray Valley buys polyester company from Nordkemi

March 15, 2001 - Following its purchase of the resins division of Croda International and Nordkemi's sale of Neste Polyester to Ashland, Cray Valley has now bought a Malaysian polyester company from Nordkemi. Dynomer, a subsidiary of Dyno ASA, is active in coatings and unsaturated polyesters in South East Asia, China and the Middle East, and has annual sales of around Eur 20 million. Nordkemi is increasingly concentrating on formaldehyde-based adhesives and coating intermediates.

Barlo gets double whammy marketing boost from Eastman

March 15, 2001 - Barlo Plastics and Eastman have tied up a marketing deal in which Eastman has taken the unusual step of assigning one of its own trademarks for exclusive use by Barlo.
     Barlo, the Irish-based European plastics sheet major, is to use Eastman's Spectar PETG to extrude sheet, which will be sold as Spectar sheet. Spectar is widely used for sheet extrusion, but is branded by the companies making the sheet. This is the first time the polymer brand name has been applied to the sheet product, and Barlo has exclusive use of the name for this purpose in Europe.
     Selling Spectar brand sheet will give Barlo a marketing edge, as while other producers use Eastman's trade mark to back up their own, Barlo will be able to trade directly on Spectar's reputation.

Newly named Crompton Technology moves in to its new plant

March 15, 2001 - Crompton Plastics, which was bought by its management last November, has been renamed Crompton Technology Group and has moved into the new factory started in Banbury last summer. The name Crompton Plastics is being retained for the polyurethane moulding division, which stays at the company's old plant and is planning expansion, and the composites division is now operating as Crompton Advanced Composites. Earlier this year the company set up a third division, now named Crompton Keronite Coatings, which has taken a licence from Cambridge-based Keronite for the application of ceramic coatings to metals.
     Crompton also now has a web address, www.ctgltd.co.uk which should be active in a couple of weeks.

EC OK for Etex takeover of Glynwed pipes

March 3, 2001 - The European Commission has given its approval for the takeover of Glynwed's Pipe systems division by Etex of Belgium. Because the operations of the two companies are largely complementary the Commission concluded that the merger would not result in the creation or strengthening of a dominant position in either products or markets.

Kraton sale complete

March 3, 2001 - The sale by Shell of the Kraton styrenic block copolymer business to Ripplewood Holdings of the USA has been completed. John Georges, managing director of Ripplewood's affiliate company Greenwich Chemical Partners is the new chairman and Steve Wood, former vice-president, becomes chief executive officer.

Greenpeace claims danger from floors and carpets

March 3, 2001 - Greenpeace has extended its campaign against PVC by joining with the Healthy Flooring Network to condemn the use of vinyl flooring and fitted carpets.
     A report entitled Poison Underfoot compiled by the Greenpeace Research Laboratories identifies what it describes as hazardous chemicals used in carpets and PVC flooring. These include pesticides, organotins, brominated flame retardants and phthalates.
     Samples of both carpets and vinyl flooring were found to contain tributyltin (TBT), which is said to be toxic to animals and to have caused sex changes in marine wildlife. TBT is used as a PVC stabiliser, and its presence in the carpets was attributed to its use as an active agent for biocide treatment against dust mites. The anti-dust mite treatment was also thought responsible for the presence of other organotins, and permethrin, a toxic pesticide.
     Brominated flame retardants, on an international priority list of chemicals whose use should be discontinued, were found in three of the carpet samples.
     Phthalate PVC plasticisers found included BBP and DINP, which have been banned from use in toys intended to be chewed by young children. Greenpeace's concern about these was that they can leach out from the PVC, and that young children are at the greatest risk from exposure because their breathing zone is closest to the floor.
     The levels at which these compounds were found in the eight carpet and five vinyl flooring samples tested was described by Greenpeace as 'substantial' and 'clearly of concern'.

European setback to GE/Honeywell takeover

March 3, 2001 - The possibility of an unacceptable market dominance arising in the aeroplane engine and avionics market has added a delay to the takeover in which GE Plastics would acquire the Honeywell, formerly AlliedSignal, plastics business.
     The European Commission's first phase investigations under the merger regulation indicate that the merger may bring about overlaps in the market for large regional jet engines, reducing the existing degree of competition in this market, as well as other effects from Honeywell's supply of components to competing engine manufacturers and the possible bundling of jet engines, avionics and non-avionics.
     As a result it is to open a full investigation into the merger, which could take four months to complete.

Swanstone adds sheet supply

March 3, 2001 - Thermoforming machinery distributor Swanstone is now also able to supply sheet for thermoforming. It has signed an agency deal with Hagedorn Plastics of Germany, which owns the Hostaglas PET brand and Thermo-Plastics range of standard sheet materials.

Ashland to buy Neste Polyester

March 3, 2001 - Ashland is to buy Neste Chemicals' polyester business and to incorporate it into the composite polymers division of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company.
     Neste Chemicals is a subsidiary of Nordkemi, a holding company owned by Industri Kapital. Nordkemi also owns Dyno ASA. Nordkemi is the world's largest producer of formaldehyde based resin systems and the sale of Neste Polyester is part of its strategy to concentrate on industrial adhesive resins and coating intermediates.
     Neste Polyester manufactures unsaturated polyester resins and gelcoats for the marine, building and construction, and transportation industries and is the second largest manufacturer of gelcoats in the world with plants in Finland, France, the United States, Poland, China and Austria.

Albis becomes Labotek distributor

March 3, 2001 - Albis (UK) moves into equipment supply on March 5 with the takeover of the UK and Ireland distribution of Labotek materials handling equipment. Labotek has been running for the past few months alongside Hi-Class Machinery in Kettering, with Hi-Class managing director Bob Wilson performing the same role for Labotek. This 'caretaker' arrangement began last summer when former Labotek MD Kevin Horne moved to Jenco.
     Labotek's Kettering office has now been closed and new offices are to be opened at Albis' Knutsford site, where service and spares will also be housed.
     Albis' German parent has represented Labotek for more than 20 years.

Newly independent colour company buys Dutch coatings plant

March 3, 2001 - The colour tinting systems businesses of the Finnish Tikkurila group have become independent, and the new company is to buy a coatings factory from Akzo Nobel.
     The businesses were known as Tikkurila CPS and Winter-Bouts. They are now operating as CPS Color with headquarters in Sittard, the Netherlands. CPS Color makes colorants and dispensing and mixing equipment for paint, leather and plastics manufacture.
     The purchase from Akzo Nobel is of its Decorative Coatings factory in Sneek,the Netherlands.

Profits dive at Borealis

March 3, 2001 - Falling profits on polyolefins last year, especially in the last quarter, were further hit at Borealis by production shutdowns. Planned maintenance and unexpected downtime, particularly at the newly expanded Stengungsund cracker in Sweden, helped towards a 4·5 per cent fall in sales volumes.
     This, together with an 80 per cent increase in naphtha price only partly offset by a 34 per cent increase in polyolefin prices, helped push operating profit down from Eur 216 million in 1999 to Eur 92 million. In the fourth quarter the company lost Eur 49 million, compared with a Eur 91 million profit in the same period in 1999.

Pira adds test instrument supply

March 3, 2001 - Packaging research organisation Pira International has branched out into test instrument supply through an arrangement with James H Heal & Co. It has installed Heal instruments in its own laboratories, which can now operate as demonstration facilities for potential purchasers. The equipment includes instruments for testing tear, friction, burst strength, light fastness, drape and colour.

Cray Valley buys Croda resins

March 3, 2001 - Cray Valley, the resins division of Atofina, has bought the resins division of Croda International, which manufactures at three sites, two in the UK - Speke in Liverpool and Belvedere in East London - and at Beranang in Malaysia. The acquisition strengthens Cray Valley's position in photocuring resins in Europe and in industrial coatings in Europe and Asia.

East-West amino co-operation

March 3, 2001 - Perstorp Compounds, the world's largest producer of amino thermosets, is to co-operate on new materials developments with Asia's biggest amino producer Matsushita Electric Works of Japan. The two companies plan to develop new materials with greater toughness and suited for thinwall applications, making them more competitive with thermoplastics in applications requiring high electrical resistance, inherent fire resistance, self-extinguishing and scratch resistance.