HayssenSandiacre acquires Simionato Integrated Packaging System

HayssenSandiacre Inc. has announced the stock purchase of Simionato Integrated Packaging System S.r.l., an integrated flexible packaging company that had been privately owned through Vela Capital. With the acquisition of Mestrino, Italy-based Simionato, HayssenSandiacre is aligning operation bases across Europe and America. According to the company, the combined organization boasts 20,000 machinery installations worldwide and annual revenues of approximately $100 million.

Baltimore mayor to raise bottle tax
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is seeking to increase the city's tax on bottled beverages from 2 cents to 5 cents, as part of a plan to boost funding for school construction and repairs. According to her administration, the bottle tax money and other revenue would create a funding stream of $23.8 million that the Baltimore school system would use to float $324 million in bonds to renovate and replace dilapidated buildings. The tax approved by the City Council last year came after months of wrangling and fierce opposition from retailers and the beverage industry.

NSF launches Home Product Certification Program
NSF International has launched its Home Product Certification program, designed to verify the quality, performance and material safety of private label/store brand home products, such as housewares and small appliances. The program provides a single set of retailer-approved testing requirements encompassing all applicable regulatory requirements and standards for each type of home product. Streamlining this process is said to save manufacturers the time and costs associated with meeting multiple requirements. The program was announced at the Private Label Manufacturers Association show this week, taking place in Chicago.

Group launches aluminum packaging website

The International Aluminium Institute has launched packaging.world-aluminum.org, the latest in its series of product-related sustainability websites. The sites are geared toward highlighting the advantages using aluminium in packaging. Launched at the Arab International Aluminium Conference 2011, the website features interactive content based on the group lifecycle research and examples of the full range of aluminium packaging applications. Previously launched sites feature content regarding green building, transportation and recycling. 

Owens-Illinois "Glass is Life" campaign honored

Owens-Illinois Inc.'s Glass Is Life industry marketing campaign has received the 2011 BtoB magazine award for Best Integrated Campaign. In addition, the campaign landed an Honorable Mention for its Print Campaign. The Glass Is Life global advertising initiative showcases the favorable qualities of glass packaging, showing how the material can be harnessed to build successful food and beverage brands.

GMA partners on Global Food Safety Fund
The Grocery Manufacturers Association has joined U.S. government and World Bank officials on an innovative public private partnership. The group has pledged $1 million for the creation of the world's first Global Food Safety Fund for capacity building; to be managed by the World Bank, the fund will bring together a wide range of stakeholders in training programs designed to enhance food safety and to facilitate trade.

‘Atlas Shrugged' packaging gaffe causes kerfuffle
On Tuesday, more than 100,000 retail DVD and Blu-ray copies of "Atlas Shrugged"-the film adaptation of Ayn Rand's 1957 novel of the same title-were shipped to stores, touting the movie as a gripping tale of "self-sacrifice." The problem is, "Atlas Shrugged" and the rest of Rand's notoriously individualistic works run directly counter to that principle. "Atlas is quite literally a story about the dangers of self-sacrifice," producer Harmon Kaslow wrote on the film's website. "The error was an unfortunate one and fans of Ayn Rand and ‘Atlas' have every right to be upset." Consumers wishing to rectify the error on their packaging can request a free replacement title sheet here.

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