General News

Russia to flood Europe with PET as Alko-Nafta builds giant plant in Kaliningrad

5/3/2010

Russia's Alko-Nafta is set to start construction of a new PET polymer factory with capacity of 240,000 tonnes per year in the city of Kaliningrad in the first half of 2010, news portal eplastics.pl reported.

The Kaliningrad plant will be the fourth PET factory in Russia, and also the largest, double in size compared to the second-ranked Blagoveschensk complex of Polief.

With the new investment, total PET production capacity in Russia will rise to 535,000 tonnes annually, a volume equivalent to pre-crisis demand for the polymer in Russia.

Of the Kaliningrad plant's output, 40% will serve the domestic market and the rest will be earmarked for exports.

Technology and equipment will be provided by Germany's Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH, involving a completely automated process for making PET granules.

Source: Eplastics

He ain’t heavy: IRN-BRU maker commits to less plastic

By David Eldridge
Posted 9 March 2010 9:51 am GMT
Scottish soft drinks company AG Barr, maker of the IRN-BRU carbonated drink, is planning to cut the amount of PET it uses in bottles across all its product ranges.
Working with Zero Waste Scotland, AG Barr will aim to reduce PET plastic use in bottles produced at its Cumbernauld factory by 8%, representing a saving of 375 tonnes of PET a year.
By the end of this month, all bottles of Strathmore Spring Water will contain 25% recycled PET, the company said.

Russia to flood Europe with PET as Alko-Nafta builds giant plant in Kaliningrad

5/3/2010

Russia's Alko-Nafta is set to start construction of a new PET polymer factory with capacity of 240,000 tonnes per year in the city of Kaliningrad in the first half of 2010, news portal eplastics.pl reported.

The Kaliningrad plant will be the fourth PET factory in Russia, and also the largest, double in size compared to the second-ranked Blagoveschensk complex of Polief.

With the new investment, total PET production capacity in Russia will rise to 535,000 tonnes annually, a volume equivalent to pre-crisis demand for the polymer in Russia.

Of the Kaliningrad plant's output, 40% will serve the domestic market and the rest will be earmarked for exports.

Technology and equipment will be provided by Germany's Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH, involving a completely automated process for making PET granules.

Source: Eplastics

Enviroporn

Trevor Butterworth, 03.03.10, 12:01 AM EST
Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie's "Slow Death by Rubber Duck."
To the chagrin of climate scientists, some of the most graphic and telling descriptions of the world’s overheating--the rapidly melting Himalayan glaciers--turned out to be examples of “enviroporn," seductive, and seemingly plausible disasters that on closer inspection turn out to be implausible and fabricated or promoted by advocacy groups. To the dismay of toxicologists, enviroporn is rampant in the reporting of chemical risks, because, let’s face it, real chemistry is desperately unsexy, difficult (arguably the most painful part of a medical education) and toxic to explain to nonchemists. Particle physicists at least have a massive hole in the ground to point to, and a near diabolically wicked piece of engineering in the Large Hadron Collider. They are almost Star Trek. But even without the ultimate toy to re-create the original conditions of the creation of the universe, physicists have String Theory, possibly a vast waste of time and effort, but at least fodder for the comic genius of Eddie Izzard.

Tesco swaps glass bottles for plastic on own-brand spirits

Jill Park, packagingnews.co.uk, 04 March 2010
Tesco is trialling plastic bottles for its own-brand spirits to replace glass containers as part of a raft of measures aimed at cutting its carbon footprint.
The supermarket giant, which has signed up to the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment, has moved its own-brand brandy into plastic bottles, which it said reduced packaging by 86% and saving 200,000kg of material.
Tesco added that using plastic bottles also meant a reduction in outer packaging as "plastic is more durable than glass and needs less protection".

Mondi RAPPET PET wine bottle

Published: 01 Mar 10
 
It's good but not in glass
Papsak, box and glass used to be the accepted packaging for wine, but conventional industry standards are now being challenged by the Mondi RAPPET PET wine bottle - made from plastic.
The "high performance package" looks exactly like a normal glass bottle and offers a two-year shelf-life for natural wine. It is lightweight and weighs 50g compared to glass bottles that weigh approximately 400g.
Producers also highlight other benefits: "The bottle is completely transparent and therefore allows for reverse printing of labels as there is no distortion by optical interference."
Transport of plastic bottles is also made more effective, as 36% more product can be transported on a 20ft container compared with glass.

Frigid Fluid Co launches first bottle recycling program for funeral industry

-- Packaging Digest, 3/1/2010 12:57:20 PM
Frigid Fluid Co., a leading manufacturer of mortuary products, announced this week that it is launching a customer recycling program. In an industry that generates an estimated 2.8 million bottles annually that's a lot of bottles that may ultimately end up in landfills.

Frigid Fluid Co. uses plastic bottles made of totally-recyclable resin. The company recognizes the obligation to recycle as many of the bottles used for their products as possible. All customers who enroll in the program will receive a free recycling bin for direct collection according to their local waste management policies.

Many products are packaged in pint-sized plastic bottles and boxed 24 bottles per case, so recycling these bottles will save on a great deal of excess waste.

"We are the first in the industry to offer such a program," says Steve Yeazel, operations manager of Frigid Fluid Co. "And, we are very excited to provide this green option to our customers."

In the past few years, the green movement has certainly touched the death care industry and there is an ever-increasing public sentiment that greener methods should be available and introduced. And, that's exactly what Frigid Fluid Co. is doing through this recycleable bottle program launch.

"Plastics manufacturers that I talk to are continually seeking additional recycled feedstock to use to make new products," says Tim Pratt, recycling coordinator for the City of Roseville, Minn. "By collecting these bottles for recycling, we will take what used to be considered waste and turn them into a valuable commodity."

For more information about Frigid Fluid Co.'s recycling program, visit: www.frigidfluidco.com/recycle .

News Source: Frigid Fluid Co.

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Alpla leads Europe’s rigid plastics packaging sector

European Plastics News staff
Posted 1 March 2010 4:07 pm GMT
The top five producers of rigid plastics packaging in Europe share a slice of the market worth more than €4bn, according to a new report published this month by European Plastics News.
Alpla Werke of Austria takes the top place in the European Plastics News ranking of 30 Top Producers of Rigid Plastics Packaging in Europe. Second place goes to RPC of the UK, followed by UK-headquartered Rexam, Spain’s Artenius PET Packaging Europe and Greiner Packaging of Austria.

Nine World Cup sides to wear shirts made entirely from recycled PET bottles

By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 12:17 PM on 26th February 2010
Footballers including Cristiano Ronaldo and Robinho will take to the pitch in the World Cup in South Africa this summer wearing shirts made out of recycled plastic bottles.
Nike announced yesterday that for this first time its nine national teams, which include Brazil, Portugal and The Netherlands, will wear tops made entirely from polyester.
The environmentally-friendly move will see each shirt made from up to eight recycled plastic bottles.
 
Green: Footballers including Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo will wear Nike shirts made entirely from plastic bottles at this summer's World Cup in South Africa

Modular homes made from recycled plastic

By Anthony Clark
Posted 26 February 2010 10:42 am GMT
A Welsh company, Affresol, has developed the technology to build affordable low carbon homes from recycled waste plastic and minerals – including packaging and manufacturing waste. Each house consists of approximately 18 tonnes of material that would otherwise be destined for landfill.
The first of the modular buildings has been ordered by Worcester Bosch, a UK manufacturer of domestic heating and hot water systems, for its plant in Warndon, Worcestershire. Supplying Affresol with plastic recovered from recycled boilers will enable the heating specialist to achieve a zero waste policy.
Affresol has developed a material called Thermo Poly Rock (TPR) from recycled plastics and minerals for use as a structural building product. The patented process uses a low energy cold process which converts the plastics into a strong structural element.

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