FRI DAY, JULY 10, 2009

Exal Corp. wins American Business Awards
Business Innovation of the Year
Exal Corp., a manufacturer of extruded aluminum packaging, earned top honors at the 2009 American Business Awards in the category of Business Innovation of the Year. Exal received a Stevie Award during ceremonies held in New York City on June 22nd for companies larger than 100 employees for its evolutionary Coil-To-Can (C2C) aluminum container manufacturing technology. Exal's C2C technology was also a finalist in two other categories: New Product or Service of the Year - Manufacturing, and People's Choice Product or Service.
C2C is a hybridized technology that marries the manufacturing speed and lightweighting of standard drawn and ironed beverage can technology with the dynamic shaping technology originally available only with heavier walled, extruded aluminum containers. Because of their lighter weight, containers made via C2C contribute fewer transport-related carbon dioxide emissions than heavier packaging formats. The process utilizes post-consumer recycled aluminum as a raw material and finished containers are 100 percent recyclable. The manufacturer also reports that high-speed C2C production lines also use less energy per container than other packaging choices. www.exal.com.

HP to be official technology provider for
upcoming Plastiki expeditiony
HP announced it will be the official technology provider for the upcoming Plastiki expedition led by adventurer and environmental storyteller David de Rothschild and his organization Adventure Ecology. The company will equip Adventure Ecology and the Plastiki crew with technology products needed to enable the 60-ft catamaran created from reclaimed plastic bottles, self-reinforced PET and other recycled materials, make its10,000-mile expedition from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia.
HP also collaborated with Adventure Ecology on its interactive activity and educational center, Plastiki Mission Control. By interacting with 10 energy-efficient HP TouchSmart IQ816 PCs, visitors to Plastiki Mission Control at San Francisco's Pier 45 can explore the showcase the thinking, technologies and sustainable design solutions that were used to transform 10,000 plastic soda bottles into a seaworthy vessel. www.hp.com
TAPPI expands marketing staff to support integrated outreach strategy
TAPPI has appointed Simona Marcellus as director of marketing and Lisa Hightower to the role of TAPPI PRESS operations manager. Marcellus will direct the development of an integrated marketing strategy for TAPPI products, creating unified outreach programs for membership, events and publications. She will also focus on broadening awareness of TAPPI’s involvement in expanding markets such as bioenergy, nanotechnology and nonwovens, while tailoring TAPPI offerings to meet the changing needs of its current and prospective members. Hightower will help improve the efficiency and facilitating continued growth of TAPPI PRESS. www.tappi.org
 


THURSDAY,JULY 9, 2009

International Paper expands Forest Stewardship
Council manufacturing platform
International Paper has expanded its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain-of-Custody certification to include a majority of its U.S. pulp and paper mills and a number of converting facilities across its businesses. The company reports that the increase establishes International Paper as having the world's largest Forest Stewardship Council manufacturing platform. www.internationalpaper.com

EUROPEN and ECR Europe write guide to
help executives make sustainable packaging decisions
EUROPEN, The European Organization for Packaging and the Environment, and ECR Europe, the group that promotes collaboration across the supply chain to serve consumers better, faster and at less cost, have published Packaging in the Sustainability Agenda: A Guide for Corporate Decision Makers. The guide aims to help senior executives take decisions that optimize the contribution their company’s packaging policies make to sustainability.
In the guide, the groups argue that a Western Europe without packaging would lead to a 15-fold rise in food waste. As the project co-chairs Sonia Raja and Lars Lundquist put it; a key reason for widespread mistakes that are made when evaluating the role of packaging is that packaging is usually viewed as a stand-alone product. “This ignores its function, which is to protect, distribute, and display wares,” they remark. www.europen.be and www.ecr-net.org.

WEDNESDAY,JULY 8, 2009
Sigma Plastics Group acquires
majority interest ofFlexSol Packaging Corp.
Sigma Plastics Group has announced a strategic partnership with FlexSol Packaging Corp. of which it has acquired the majority interest. Each company will continue to operate under their respective company names, but both will be lead by CEO Alfred Teo.
“FlexSol is a very fine company with an outstanding management team," Teo remarks. "I am very excited about the combined opportunities available as FlexSol joins the Sigma family of companies." FlexSol Packaging Corp. president Brian Stevenson released a statement remarking on the financial strength of Sigma and how the partnership will allow strong customer, market and product synergies. www.sigmaplastics.com

EnviroPAK Corp. names new president and CEO
EnviroPAK Corp. appoints Bob Plummer as president and CEO. Plummer’s upper management experience includes serving as COO of Siegel-Robert Automotive, CEO of OccuNomix and division president of Portola Packaging. He also is a graduate of Harvard Business School.
“An increasing number of companies, including major retailers such as Walmart, are becoming more environmentally responsible by driving the change to recyclable, compostable packaging from other material types, such as Styrofoam, which can be harmful to the environment when they biodegrade,” says Plummer. “I am very pleased to join EnviroPAK and I am looking forward to leading our company and enhancing its competitive position as a producer of environmentally friendly packaging materials.” www.enviropak.com

Tetra Pak's new packaging materials plant
to operate on 100-percent 'green' electricity
Tetra Pak inaugurates a packaging material plant in Hohhot, Northern China, which operates completely on power from renewable resources--often referred to as ‘green electricity’. The company invested €60 million to build the plant, which also is the first manufacturing plant in Inner Mongolia and among the first in China to exclusively use green electricity. The plant consumes an estimated 20 million kWh of green power annually, which corresponds to an estimated saving of 16,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. The green electricity supplied to Tetra Pak comes primarily from wind power.
"This new plant is another example of our focus on resource-efficient production and our commitment to protecting the environment. By putting leading environmental programmes into every part of our business we believe we will continue to deliver competitive advantages to our customers," said Dennis Jönsson, president of and CEO of the Tetra Pak Group, who presided over the inauguration ceremony with Finn Rausing, member of the Tetra Laval Group board. www.tetrapak.com

Varicon formed from merger of CMS and Innovative Container
Varicon is the newly formed company resulting from the merger of Container Management Systems (CMS) and Innovative Container. Varicon boasts that the merger places the new company in a leadership position in the U.S. reconditioning and manufacturing of industrial containers market. Mark Daniels, former president and CEO of CMS, will serve as the CEO of Varicon.
The newly formed company's offerings include intermediate bulk containers and all-plastic drums as new or reconditioned. Primarily, these containers are used to ship bulk materials, such as chemicals, powders and other liquids, within the agriculture, chemicals, paint and coatings, and pharmaceutical industries. Varicon also offers a variety of container management services, including serial tracking, asset reconditioning and complementary retrieval. www.variconsolutions.com



TUESDAY,JULY 7, 2009A. Schulman closes Invision sheet-manufacturing operation
A. Schulman Inc.'s  board of directors approved a plan to cease the operation of its InvisionÒ sheet production line at its Sharon Center, OH manufacturing facility, by the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009. A total of four positions will be eliminated at the plant related to Invision sheet production. www.aschulman.com
Siemens takes safety on tour
Siemens Energy & Automation Inc has launched a Safety Innovation Tour, which will visit cities across the United States.The tour features live demonstrations and seminars on how to seamlessly integrate certified safety protection into a company’s automation architecture. Additionally, SE&A will demonstrate two brand new wireless safety products. www2.sea.siemens.com



MONDAY,JULY 6, 2009INDA announces S.C. Johnson's Windex All-in-One Outdoor Glass Cleaning Tool winner of 2009 WOW Innovation Award
INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announces S.C. Johnson’s Windex All-in-One Outdoor Glass Cleaning was voted the recipient of the 2009 WOW (World of Wipes) Innovation Award as part of the third annual WOW Conference. Windex's Special Sheeting Action formula wipes prevent streaks and spotting and allows the user to clean 20 windows with a single pad. Users can reach up to 11 feet, so they can safely clean outside windows without using a ladder.
A record-setting 267 conference attendees selected the winner from five finalists, which included Clorox Green Works Natural Biodegradable Cleaning Wipes; Evolon Exfolia Beauty Cloths, developed by Freudenberg and Beauty Cloth International and presented by Kleen Test Products; PGI Spinlace Nonwoven Fabric. Polymer Group, Inc.’s Spinlace process; and Prime Label & Screen Rigid Lens II Resealable Flat Pack. www.inda.org
EPA to host webinar about the lifecycle of biodegradable plastics
EPA, as part of its Resource Conservation webinar series, will be hosting the webinar Biodegradable Plastics: From Cradle to Cradle on July 16, 2009, 1:00-2:30 p.m. EST. The agency states that U. S. generated almost 31 million tons of plastics in 2007. While many types of plastics are recycled, some plastics are difficult to recycle or markets do not exist. As a result, plastics make up approximately 17 percent of the total waste stream.
In this webinar, participants will hear the latest thinking on biodegradable plastics from a cradle-to-cradle perspective. They will learn how the largest manufacturer of biobased plastic is researching the lifecycle impacts of their product and facilitating recovery of biobased plastics. From the users’ standpoint, we will hear how consumers are navigating green product claims and how labeling initiatives can help combat misinformation. To complete the full lifecycle, we will hear from composters on how to differentiate bioplastics and how bioplastics affect compost quality. www.epa.gov

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