Ontario Liquor Board likes PET, bans plastic bags Ontario's Liquor Control Board has taken the lead recently in promoting PET bottles and Tetra-Brik aseptic packages as environmentally favourable. But it has also taken an anti-plastics move, and is ordering no more plastic bags when the current stock is exhausted. The move came on instructions from Public Infrastructure Minister David Caplan, who is responsible for the LCBO.
"Consumers are ready for this and have been asking for and looking for alternative packaging," Caplan said.
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association has condemned the move, pointing out that studies have repeatedly shown switching from plastic bags to paper bags and rigid paperboard containers increases greenhouse gas emissions, energy usage and water usage.
"The decision to drop plastic shopping bags but keep paper bags at LCBO outlets is a political decision, not a decision based on science," said Serge Lavoie, president and CEO of the CPIA. "It is the wrong decision, and we're tremendously disappointed,"Study after study has concluded that paper bags are a poorer environmental choice. We don't understand why the Ontario government has made this decision in the face of sound science."
www.cpia.ca, www.lcbo.com
Dow, Huntsman declare price increases Although prices for resins and other raw materials have already risen steadily over the past year, two resin suppliers have announced further major increases in the region of 20 to 25 percent. On May 29, Dow Epoxy, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company said it to raise prices in North America and other world regions as necessary, in response to the current climate of rising costs and shrinking margins. Huntsman Chemical followed suit the day after with a similar announcement.
"Profit margins have substantially eroded in the face of step-change hydrocarbon and energy and other manufacturing costs, and the situation shows no signs of improvement," said Patrick Ho, business group president, Dow Epoxy & Specialty Chemicals. "We have absorbed our share of the increased costs and done what we can to mitigate them, but we have no more room and must act immediately and definitively to ensure our business is healthy over the long-term to help our customers succeed."
The business is currently meeting with customers to discuss market issues and upward price movement primarily driven by rising costs. On the cost side, Dow incurred new hydrocarbon and energy costs of greater than $2-billion in the first quarter of this year alone and an additional $665-million so far in the second.
"Inaction on pricing means severe consequences," said Ho. "Dow Epoxy has supported industry growth for more than 60 years through trusted supply of raw materials and delivery of new epoxy solutions. Our customers need trusted supply and continual innovation from us to help them win in their markets. They also expect us to meet ever-increasing performance and delivery standards across the world. We are rising to those challenges, but prices must be at reinvestment levels to sustain our ability to do so."
Huntsman Corp. ( Salt Lake City , Ut. ) said it plans to increase prices for all of its plastic and chemical products by as much as 25 percent. Peter Huntsman, president and CEO, said the increased costs the company was absorbing from its own material suppliers should not be underestimated.
Huntsman gave no date for the increases. Dow Chemical Co. on May 28 warned of increases up to 20 percent on all its products as of June 1. www.dow.com, www.huntsman.com
Quebec pioneers recall the good times Plastics pioneers in Quebec reunited for a dinner at the Whitlock Golf and Country Club recently. Shown here are: (seated, L to R): Suzanne Edward, Louise Browitt, Joyce Parker, Ginette Desmarais and Micheline Perusse; (standing, L to R): Terry Browitt, Ralph Noble, Jim Edward, Monique Noble, Louis Gouron, Pierre Dubois, Joseph and Anna-Maria Selim, Frank Barth, Monty Milne, Gilles Plante, Alan Taveroff, Michel Vinette, David Parker, Nelson Wright and Dick Standish.
Art Painter – obituary The long-term publisher of Canadian Plastics magazine, Arthur Painter, died on May 30 at the Veterans Wing of Sunnybrook General Hospital in Toronto. He was 83, and had been hospitalised for most of the past two years. Art or Archie to friends and competitors alike, he worked for the magazine for more than 20 years and was a man who seldom let a sale to an advertiser get away. He maintained oversight of Canadian Plastics even when he was promoted to group publisher in charge of several publications. He saw one of his competitors, Progressive Plastics, fold its tents in the late 1970s, and was winding down his career when a second, Plastics Business, was bought by Southam, then-owner of Canadian Plastics, in early 1990. He leaves his wife Ellaine, to whom he was married for 53 years, his children Jane, Joyce and Allan, and several grandchildren.
Have you updated your listing in Plastics in Canada's Source Book?
This annual directory of the plastics industry is compiled during May, and you should already have had a form mailed out to you. If you've not seen yours, or need to make further changes to your listing, simply go to www.plasticsincanada.com, and click on the Update/Add Listing button on the right.
PLEASE NOTE: we make every effort to keep the Source Book a useful and relevant manual for the industry. This means that every year, we delete listings that have not been updated in the previous 24 months. So, it's advisable to check your listing anyway, to be sure it's up to date, and not at risk of being eliminated.
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association is about to undergo further restructuring. Do you feel:
This move reflects the reality of changing times
69%
Such associations are not needed as they once were
0%
I would prefer one North American association
31%
Plastics in Canada's enewsletter goes out weekly to over 10,700 confirmed recipients. Advertising to reach all these decision-makers can be very cost efficient. Call Gillian Thomas today at 416-764-1506 to find out more. Creative advice and services are also available.
Changes
IPL Inc. (St-Damien, Que.) has introduced a thinwalled round packaging container with in-mould labelling (IML) graphics. Available in three sizes, the IML round container is aimed at the specialty dairy product category, which includes dips, sour cream, cream and cottage cheese, as well as specialty yogurts.
The project required a $4.3-million investment at IPL's facility located in Edmundston, NB, which included the addition of an injection press, robots, as well as the development of moulds used to produce containers and lids. This new equipment will be fully operational in November 2008, although IML round containers are already available in limited quantities. www.ipl-plastics.com
Klöckner Pentaplast of America Inc. (Gordonsville, Va.) has purchased PMC Film Canada's rigid films product line. The price was not disclosed. PMC has a rigid PVC film plant in Tottenham, Ont., but this is not included in the deal. www.pmcfilm.com, www.kpfilms.com
Yuntinic Resources, Inc. (San Mateo, Cal.) has named H.L. Blachford (Mississauga, Ont.) its exclusive distributor of PVC tin stabilisers in Canada. www.blachford.ca, www.yuntinic.com
Gloucester Engineering Co. Inc., (Gloucester, Mass.) has successfully completed the spinoff from SMS GmbH's Battenfeld Group, and has immediately realised a profitable quarter. The company says it is company is on track to achieve its best first-half of the year in profits since 2000. www.gecextrusion.com
PolyOne Corp. (Cleveland) has named Brett Warland director, process improvement.
In this position with PolyOne, he will work across the company's global business units and functions to select, prioritise and manage Lean Six Sigma projects. Warland has been a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt since 2005. www.polyone.com
Chemtura Corp. (Middlebury, Conn.) has appointed Ken Elsbury as its Polymer Additives division's new vice-president for global manufacturing. He comes to Chemtura from Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., where he served as vice-president of global quality, compliance and technology transfer. www.chemtura.com
The Plastics in Canada e-newsletter Classified Ads section offers a platform to reach 10,700 recipients every two weeks.
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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 11: 2008 CPIA Alberta Golf Classic, at Innisfail Golf Club (Contact: Hilary Sturdevant at 905-678-7748 or hsturdevant@cpia.ca).
June 12: Quebec section of SPE, annual golf tournament at Club de golf La Madeleine, in Ste-Madeleine, Que. (Contact: Michel M. Vinette, at 819-758-2692 or mvinette@americanpolymers.com)
June 16: Canadian Association of Mold Makers dinner meeting, in Windsor, Ont. (Contact: Diane Deslippe at 519 255-7863 or info@camm.ca).
June 20: SPE Ontario golf tournament, at Station Creek Golf Course. (Contact: Andrew Marshall at 416-781-5286 or amarshall@ontor.com).
June 20-21: International Association of Plastics Distribution Canadian conference. At Marriott Niagara Falls Hotel. (Contact:
913-345-1005
or iapd@iapd.org)
August 28: Canadian Plastics Industry Association's annual golf classic, at Cardinal Golf Club, Kettleby, Ont. (Contact Erin Cimino at 905-678-7748 or ecimino@cpia.ca).
September 4: Canadian Plastics Pioneers Eighth Annual Golf Tournament, at Richmond Hill Golf Club, Richmond Hill, Ont. (Contact: Peter Stephen at 905-940-5577 or pstephen@stephensales.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 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: APAC international business development conference, 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)
Coming Soon From Plastics In Canada Magazine - September issue:
Special supplement – Expoplast 2008 show preview
Plastics in automotive safety systems
Measuring – what's happening in monitoring size, colour, dimensions and efficiency
Product Spotlight on Controls
Blow moulding report – New machine designs for blow moulding
Raw materials report – Innovations in resin technology, fillers and additives
Troubleshooting – Our regular look at what can go wrong, and how to be sure it doesn't
Processor profile – A visit to an innovative moulder, extruder or other manufacturer of finished plastic items
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