PACKAGING BRIEFS Tuesday, Feb. 1

Sealed Air celebrates annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
Sealed Air Corp., the makers of Bubble Wrap brand cushioning, celebrated its 11th Annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day on January 31, 2011. With this year’s event only six days from Super Bowl XLV, the company highlighted football-inspired uses for Bubble Wrap. These applications include: a Bubble Wrap Football, celebration mat, cold beer/soda cozy, Bubble Wrap Pom Poms, helmet/shoulder pads, Bubble Wrap placemats, and a seat cushion.

PCC opens clean compounding plant
Plastics Color Corp. (PCC), a polymer solutions provider and supplier of color concentrates, pre-colored resins and additive masterbatches for the plastics industry, has announced the opening of its new clean compounding facility in Southern California. Modeled after PCC’s “Plant-Within-a-Plant” concept operating at PCC’s Asheboro, North Carolina campus since 2009, the California operation was designed to address risk mitigation.  The plant operates in a clean environment where special measures have been taken to guarantee clean compounding. Water curtain air filters remove particulates from the plant’s air supply. The air is cycled every four to five minutes through this system. The water for the strand cooling baths passes through a 5 micron filter and U.V. lights that destroy 100 percent of all microbes, providing a clean product for medical and food use.

Pack Expo confirms platinum sponsorship of WorldStar 2010 ceremony
Charles D. Yuska, president of Pack Expo producer PMMI, has confirmed that Pack Expo will be the Platinum Sponsor of the WorldStar Awards ceremony, to be held in May 17th, during Interpack, in Düsseldorf (Germany).  The WorldStar Competition is one of the major events of the World Packaging Organization, and the 2010 edition of WorldStar has brought in 278 entries from 30 countries from around the world.  In addition to announcing the winners in all seven WorldStar award categories — Beverage, Electronic, Food, Health & Beauty, Household, Pharmaceutical & Medical and Other — the WPO will announce the winners of its President’s Award and Sustainability Awards.
Sigpack and Paal become Bosch Packaging SystemsBosch Packaging Technology has changed the company names of its subsidiaries Sigpack Systems AG and Paal Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH. Sigpack Systems AG, based in Beringen, Switzerland, will become Bosch Packaging Systems AG. Paal Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH in Remshalden, Germany will become Bosch Packaging Systems GmbH.