News
PC baby bottle ban will face opposition
Canada is proposing a ban on import and sale of polycarbonate baby bottles, because of PC's use of bisphenol A as feedstock. The proposal also includes can liners that use BPA as a feedstock (www.hc-sc.gc.ca).
Canada is the first country to suggest limiting exposure to BPA in this way. In announcing the proposal, Health Minister Tony Clement said it would come into force, barring new information from a 60-day public comment period.
"We've concluded it's better to be safe than sorry," said Clement.
However, a number of industry groups have made statements indicating they intend to oppose this move. The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, which represents baby bottle manufacturers in the US and Canada, is "extremely disappointed" in the proposal.
"Based on the information presented today by Health Minister Tony Clement and his panel of experts, we're confused as to the reason for the ban," said Mike Dwyer, executive director of JPMA. "It was repeated numerous times that parents shouldn't worry and that the risk of exposure to BPA is extremely low. According to Health Canada's announcement: ‘The scientists concluded in this assessment that bisphenol A exposure to newborns and infants is below levels that may pose a risk'."
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association, through its Environment and Plastics Industry Council, along with the American Chemistry Council, is similarly questioning this notion of implementing a precautionary ban that is not supported by the government's own study.
Despite widespread media reports of toxic levels of BPA occurring in water bottles, Health Canada found no cause for alarm in the use of polycarbonate in this application, nor in any others using plastics that have BPA as a feedstock.
Unsurprisingly, environmental lobby groups hailed the proposed ban.
"Listing bisphenol A as toxic is a tremendous step towards protecting Canadians from this harmful chemical and we congratulate the Prime Minister and Ministers Clement and Baird for this decision," said Dr. Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence. "This conclusion really marks the beginning of the end for this chemical."
Environmental Defence stated that "organisations, expert panels and more than 150 peer-reviewed studies have associated bisphenol A with a variety of health problems (obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, breast cancer and a wide range of developmental problems), often at surprisingly low levels of exposure. Its statement did not note that the Health Ministry's assessment of a much larger database of clinical studies failed to confirm any of these allegations.
www.jpma.org, www.cbwa-bottledwater.org, www.cpia.ca, www.environmentaldefence.ca
Registration opens for PlastEx Summit
Registration is now open for the Plast-Ex Summit. You can register online at www.plastexsummit.ca.
This executive-level event, being held at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on May 22, is a one-day event that will examine why Canada is still a place to invest in manufacturing, despite the challenges of the present business climate.
The day includes high-profile keynote speakers and interactive panel discussions, that will look at the future of plastics manufacturing in Canada. The day's sessions will be moderated by TV personality and consumer advocate Dale Goldhawk.
The keynote speakers include MP James Rajotte, chairman of the federal Standing Committee on Industry, Science & Technology, talking on Manufacturing: Moving Forward – Rising to the Challenge; economist Bill Empey, managing partner at Prism Economics and Analysis in Toronto, who will examine The Picture the Numbers Paint – Where the Industry Now Stands; and Paul Clark of VisionGain Consulting, who will speak on India and emerging Asian players in the plastics industry.
The morning panel discussion is a focus session on macro-manufacturing, with speakers from government and private industry, and the afternoon panel will look at specific plastics manufacturing issues.
The day's program will conclude with a networking session, a dinner, and a baseball game featuring the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Angels.
www.plastexsummit.ca
D-M-E and Futaba form alliance
Futaba Corp. and D-M-E Co. have formed a strategic alliance that includes transfer of ownership, new product accessibility and greater distribution opportunities for both organisations. The deal was finalised on March 31 with the transfer of stock in D-M-E's Japan joint venture, JADME, from Mitsubishi Steel Manufacturing (MSM) to Futaba. D-M-E maintains majority ownership in JADME and will continue to focus on the mould technologies market in Japan.
Futaba, a manufacturer of vacuum fluorescent displays and radio control manufacturing and sales, also produces mould and press die-set bases in Japan and Asia. It will have access to D-M-E's tooling technologies and range of products, including hot-runners, temperature controllers and stack mould centring devices, enabling it to better serve the increasingly sophisticated Asian market, and will also have access to D-M-E's global distribution and service network, allowing for expansion of Futaba products outside of Japan.
D-M-E will now have increased manufacturing capabilities in Asia through Futaba facilities which offer more timely, cost-effective production and distribution. In addition, the alliance enhances D-M-E's mold base and component offer to customers around the world.
Futaba Corp. began in 1948 as a manufacturer and seller of receiver vacuum tubes. In 1962, it began producing radio control equipment as well as press die set components. This was followed by development of mold base components and the more recent addition of VFD modules
www1.futaba.co.jp/english/index.htm, www.dme.net
Engel claims record for press size
Engel is laying claim to having shipped the largest injection moulding machine yet built. GRAF (Teningen, Austria) recently ordered a two platen press with a clamping force of 6,180 tons, with three injection units, for making underground tanks and logistics containers. This Duo 6000 machine supports shot weights up to 310 lb with the three injection units, but also offers low energy consumption of 0.34 kW/kg.
The three parallel action injection units have screw diameters of more than 10 in. each, and help make a 1,717 gallon Carat underground tank for GRAF. The 82-ft press has a total weight of 585 tons and a mould weight of up to 160 tons. Due to its size the machine had to be sunk 6.5 ft into the ground.
The Engel Duo 6000 press and a moulded tank.
US green group asks for more plastic bags, please
The Environmental Affairs Council (Sacramento, Cal.), an environmental lobby group, is asking the US Federal Trade Commission to stop a supermarket chain from making false claims regarding the environmental superiority of paper bags to plastic. Steve Hamilton, president of the EAC, stated that Whole Foods Market Inc. lacks "credible and objective scientific evidence " that plastics are more environmentally harmful than paper in this application.
Whole Food planned to stop distributing plastic carryout bags April 22 in favor of paper bags to "help protect the environment and conserve resources." Hamilton described this as "feel-good environmentalism at its worst."
EAC uses an Environmental Protection Agency report to back up its contention. This says that 40 percent less energy is needed to make plastic grocery sacks and that their production generates 80 percent less solid waste. The same study concludes that paper bags produce 70 percent more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants that the plastic bags; also, that it takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper.
"This paper vs. plastics debate is a serious, complicated and unsettled scientific issue undeserving of such simple and deceptive treatment," Hamilton concluded.
www.enviroaffairscouncil.org
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Changes
Husky Injection Molding Systems (Bolton, Ont.) has appointed James Reid to the position of vice-president, organisational development. He will be responsible for human resources worldwide. Prior to joining Husky, he was executive vice-president, human resources, at MDS Inc., a global health sciences firm. Before MDS, he served in the Canadian Armed Forces.
www.husky.ca
DuPont Engineering Polymers has selected ThyssenKrupp Materials North America as its authorized distributor for Vespel polyimide stock shapes in Canada. This distributor serves customers from four strategically located warehouse/sales offices, in Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver.
www.tkmna.thyssenkrupp.com
Crocs Inc., which makes elastomeric clogs, plans to close its Quebec City footwear plant this July, and to shift production to its Mexican facility. It is retaining a sales and marketing group in Quebec City.
The closure eliminates 670 jobs, in addition to 262 workers already laid off. The plant was bought by Crocs in 2005, and was previously owned by Foam Creations.
www.crocs.com
Milacron Inc. chairman, president and CEO Ronald Brown will retire by the end of the year. Brown, who is 54, plans to continue in his current position until a successor is named, and adds that he will work with this individual to ensure smooth transition.
www.plastics.milacron.com
Petro-Canada has named Brenntag its distributor for Puretol white mineral oils in Canada. The agreement gives Petro-Canada a broader channel to market, benefiting from Brenntag Canada's geographic presence and market expertise. Puretol white mineral oils are colourless, odourless and tasteless hydrocarbons suited to a wide variety of applications, including plastics, that must meet stringent standards such as United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) and National Formulary (NF).
www.brenntag.ca
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Coming Events
2008
April 23-24: Mold Expo 2008 and Conference at Rock Financial Showplace, Novi, Mich. (Contact: 513-527-8800 or info@moldmakingexpo.com)
May 4-7: UV&EB Technology Expo & Conference 2008, at McCormick Place, Chicago. (Contact: Mickey Fortune at 240-497-1243 or mickey@radtech.org).
May 12-13: Tenth International Conference on Progress in Biofibre Plastic Composites. At the Toronto Airport Renaissance Hotel. (Contact: Guida Williamson at 519-249-0545 or www.biocomposites-toronto.com)
May 22: The Plast-Ex Summit 2008 is a look at the urgent issues facing the plastics industry in Canada. Co-sponsored by Plastics in Canada magazine and the Canadian Plastics Industry Association. At the Rogers Centre, Toronto. (Contact: Nick Passingham at 416-764-1527 or nick.passingham@plastics.rogers.com).
May 22: Plastic Film Manufacturers Association of Canada, 27th annual golf tournament. At Richmond Hill Gold Club. (Contact: Marilyne Berman, 905-678-7748 or mberman@cpia.ca).
May 26-29: Aseanplas 2008 incorporating Aseanrubber 2008, Southeast Asia's main international trade fair for plastics and rubber. At Singapore Expo. (Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America at 312-781-5180 or info@mdna.com).
June 16: Windsor Chapter of CAMM dinner meeting. (Contact: Diane Deslippe at 519 255-7863 or info@camm.ca).
June 5: Canadian Plastics Pioneers 12th annual reunion and citation awards dinner. At the Donalda Club, Don Mills, Ont. (Contact: Tom Thomas at 416-498-4016 or tom.thomas@rogers.com)
June 20: SPE Ontario golf tournament, at Station Creek Golf Course. (Contact: Andrew Marshall at 416-781-5286 or amarshall@ontor.com).
September 30-October 2: Interplas 2008, Britain's national plastics show, at the Birmingham NEC, UK. (Contact: Graham Earl at 020 8910 7890 or graham.earl@reedexpo.co.uk).
October 22-23: Rotoplas '08, the international rotational moulding event, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Ill. (Contact: Maria at 630-578-3266 x225, or mariap@cmservnet.com)
October 20-21: Expoplast 2008, Quebec's triennial plastics show, at the Palais de Congres in Montreal. (Contact: Tom Sockett at 905-678-7748 or tsockett@cpia.ca)
October 22-23: Rotoplas '08, the international rotational moulding event, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Ill. (Contact: Maria at 630-578-3266 x225, or mariap@cmservnet.com) TOP
Coming Soon From Plastics In Canada Magazine - June issue
Precision Parts - Moulding to Tight Specifications
Extrusion Report - Innovations in Blown Film
Spotlight on Granulators and Shredders
Product Review of Printing & Decorating
Product Review of Welding Systems
Raw Materials Report
Processor Profile
Closing: May 21, 2008
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