Plastic News Nov. 2011

SAY YES TO PLASTICS Volume No. 48

Tech-47/713/MBI/09-11

Issue No. 11

November 2011

Rs. 75.00

14 - 17 MAY 2012, Sharjah, UAE

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CONTENT

IN THIS ISSUE...

22...AIPMA At Work 39...Company News The Official Organ of The All India Plastics Manufacturers Association Estd. 1945

Tech-47/713/MBI/09-11 Volume 48

November 2011 No. 11

Hon. Editor

Mr. Raju Desai

Associate Editor

Mr. Hiten Bheda

Chairman - Editorial Board

Mr. Yogesh Shah

Members

Dr. T. Biswas Mr. A. E. Ladhaboy

44...Environment 48...Features

Editorial Co-ordination: Padmesh Prabhune, Dhruv Communications, Mumbai, Tel No: 00-22-2868 5198 / 5049 • Fax No : 00-22-28685495 email: dhruvpr@vsnl.net Published by Ms. Uma Gupta on behalf of the owners, The All India Plastics Manufacturers’ Association Plot No. A-52, Road No. 1, M.I.D.C., Andheri (E), Mumbai-400 093. Tel: 67778899 • Fax : 00-22-2821 6390 E-mail : office@aipma.net Website : http://www.aipma.net

...Now it’s the Green Polymer world over...

and printed by her at Dhote Offset Technokrafts Pvt. Ltd.,

...Chinese plastic product exports expected to drop 20%

Jogeshwari (E), Mumbai-400 060.

...Plastics play huge role in helping human survival Annual Subscription Rs. 750/-

...Firms needs to design strategies to abide emissions rules

Single issue Rs. 75/Views/Reports/Extracts etc. published in Plastics News are those of the

...Lawsuit argues that plastic bags are safer than paper for transporting hot foods

authors and not necessarily of the Editor. Furthermore except for copies of formal AIPMA communications no other matter in this journal should be interpreted as views of The All India Plastics Mfgrs. Association.

65...International News

OFFICE BEARERS Mr. Jayesh Rambhia President Mr. Anand Oza Vice President (West Zone) Mr. R. K. Aggarwal Vice President (North Zone) Mr. Anil Bansal Vice President (South Zone)

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69...Business News

Mr. Ashok Agarwal Vice President (East Zone)

75...Product News

Mr. Manish Dedhia Hon. Secretary

82...Technology

Dr. Asutosh Gor Jt. Hon. Secretary

85...In the News

Mr. Mukesh Shah Hon. Treasurer 7

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THE PRESIDENT SAYS

Be Future Ready M

our marketing reach.

ost of us are too busy with our present situations & have no time to prepare for future. Being Entrepreneur myself I perfectly understand pressures you face.

Te c h n o l o g y : I n d i a n p l a s t i c processors have capability to make most of plastic products available in the world. K Plast, Chinaplast whichever plastic trade fair we go to, we see Indian plastic processor being welcomed at booths & absorbing new technology. With Plastindia, Plastivision & several other shows technology is now available at door step.

Growing Polymer manufacturing within country

Complete value chain available within country : Polymers, machines ,mould making & consumers

Industry widely spread across country

Good quality products

Low startup capital needed.

Good service to consumers

Role models to follow : Some processors becoming world class & multinational

Institutes like CIPET, IIT MSME centre’s etc.: Plastic education, testing, consultancy services available to industry at affordable cost.

Selling to Chain shops makes it easier to reach wide spread consumers

Low sea freight from India helps export

Depreciating Rupee compared to Dollar helps export.

Stronger associations ready to help industry

But ready or not, future will be upon us.

Those who plan may have future of their choice.

Rest will have to accept whatever future brings.

Can we do something together to plan for a better future as Indian plastic processors?

Can you spare few minutes to plan your own future?

For future of your business? For future of your family?

To begin the journey, we have to see where we are now & what is surrounding.

SWOT analysis is good planning tool in modern management.

I am attempting to do it for Indian Plastic Processing Industry.

This is beginning of discussion & not final judgement. Plastic industry is large & diverse. This SWOT may not be true for specific company or industry sub group; it is done with wider perspective.

It is attempt to identify constraint to growth of sector, so we can collectively work for better future for industry.

Your valuable inputs will help us to refine plan.

SWOT Analysis of Indian Plastic Processing Industry Strength:

India is world’s 3rd largest economy & growing fast.

Growing young middle class population fueling domestic consumption of plastic products.

Fast growth in sectors where plastic is widely used such as packaging, agriculture, healthcare, automobile, infrastructure, FMCG, white goods etc.

Weakness: - Huge shortage of manpower - Shortage of trained manpower & training institutes - Shortage of Electrical power in country - Inefficient power hungry old machines

New applications of plastic: everyday metal, wood, paper, glass: traditional material is being replaced by plastics.

Entrepreneurship: Smart / Intelligent / hard working / honest Indian can compete & command respect at individual level anywhere in the world.

- No segregating of waste by municipalities even 10 years after Supreme Court order.

India well Connected to world economy: export /import is much easier.

- Cost & availability of industrial land

Communication: Knowledge of English, internet expands

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- Littering habits of masses causing pollution

- Cost & availability of finance to SME

- Cost & Availability of water - 20% big units processing 80% of plastic & 80% of units

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THE PRESIDENT SAYS processing 20% plastic - Industry unorganized, majority of them privately owned smaller units - Law & order situations in industrial clusters - Liberalization / Globalization largely focused on benefiting 1%

Growing numbers of young Indians joining work force

Growing urbanization making it easier to reach markets

Costs going up in China

Chinese currency being forced to real value

Threat

- Smaller units still need lots of licenses to run & inspector raj though reduced, still prevalent.

- China scale: China processes 56 million ton & their yearly growth is more than 10 million tons, India processes just 8.5 million tons & grows about 1 million ton per year, so gap is widening.

- Corruption - Scale of suppliers & buyers much larger than processors, so processor has less influence on policy, price & profit.

- China Strategy: China used cheap manufacturing to dominate world economy & politically. Indian leadership failed to recognize or respond to such brilliant plan.

- Systems & processes weak - Low productivity & competence - Time & cost to make moulds high

- Imported goods being more profitable for sellers, shelves of modern retail occupied by China.

- R & D very low, low innovation, low IPR generation & protection

- Unregulated under invoiced imports of plastic finished products by grey market players

- Dependence on imported machines with domestic manufacturers not being able to meet demand.

- Made in India not appreciated by Indian consumers.

- Export: hardly any growth in plastic product export, more than 50% plastic export is Polymers.

- Cheaper polymers, energy cost, low tax & liberal labor laws making Arabian Gulf a fast emerging processing hub.

- SME Industry data not available, so government plan & policy, media cannot serve SME

- African plastic processing industry also growing

- Slowdown in US & EU markets

- Health: India fast becoming world capital for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, malaria, TB, AIDs, cancer etc. taking its toll on workforce.

- Finished goods trade fairs do not have many Indian exhibitors - On time deliveries difficult

- Changing Economy : Construction, IT, Malls, Finance ,Stock/ commodities market lifestyle abroad has taken educated next generation away from industry.

- Low value addition puts pressure on profits & prevents investment or tech up gradation

- Short term selfish interests, Mistrust, narrow views & ego dividing industry

- Political / law & order situations: Naxalites, Maowadi, Terrorism, Separatists, militancy in local regional political parties have made it a challenge for industrial clusters in remote area.

- FTA being signed left, right & centre, SME interest not being presented well.

- Judiciary: with slow & long wait for justice bad elements get away with bad debts & entrepreneur suffers.

- No lobbying power with government

- Faulty Environmental image of plastic

- Anti dumping duty on polymers & machines to protect interest of big players

- Big foreign players entering Indian plastic processing market

- lack of leadership / vision for sector on collective front

We need to build on our strengths & overcome weaknesses by collective action to en cash opportunity in our industry.

- Bad & insufficient infrastructure - Academy - industry connect weak

AIPMA is actively engaged to help You be future ready.

-Association & members connect weak

If interested to participate in a brighter future,

Opportunity

Just send a sms to “Future Ready” to 98678 71622.

Current Indian plastic consumption is too low, just 8 kg per head per year as against world average of 28 Kg indicate scope of huge growth.

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Jayesh Rambhia President AIPMA

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FROM THE EDITOR

From the Editor’s Pen…. e had seen four events happening last

aspects of business, the BRIC

month first , AIPMA’s Plastivision Arabia

nations are growing fastest

that was held during October first week then the

in the plastics arena and this

Fakuma 2011 during October 18-22 followed by the

year’s conference heralds a

four-day seventh triennial International Plastic Fair

review of the expanding PVC

(IPF) at Japan and the PlastEuroAsia Istanbul 2011.

markets in India by the leading

All these events turned out to be pretty good.

company Reliance Industries.

W

Plastics and packaging go hand in hand. In fact

While India remains optimistic about its growth

the British Plastics Federation (BPF) has urged world

according to some experts the Chinese plastic product

governments to recognize the role plastic plays in

exports are expected to drop 20% this year with the

helping human survival saying the use of plastics was

steepest declines to the U.S., Europe and Japan.

"key to supporting population growth and raising the

At a recent plastics conference in China economic

hopes of deprived people.”

analysts said that the country’s plastics sector still projects growth of at least 15 percent for the year, a

Also you might be aware that according to the

figure that would be met with cheers anywhere else in

recent to ICD Research the top five growth regions in

the world. But within China’s industry, here 20 percent-

the packaging industry are USA, Germany, Singapore,

plus annual growth has been the norm, there’s a mix

China, South Korea and India. Well this seems to be

of both optimism and consternation.

a good news for our industry.!!

I had said this earlier in the last editorial that

Furthermore, the increased domestic and regional

perhaps it’s time India could regain some of its lost

consumption, driven by strong economic growth, in

ground. Let’s hope for the best..

the Asia-Pacific region has increased the demand for packaging in countries such as Singapore, while

Hon. Editor

buyers and suppliers consider India and China to be

Raju Desai

the two most important markets for potential growth.

raju@jyotimail.com

The PVC compounding and processing is in a phase of active development as well. As with many

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AIPMA AT WORK

Plastivision Arabia 2012 Plastivision Arabia 2012 held at Sharjah - By President Mr. Jayesh Rambhia AIPMA’s Plastivision Arabia (PVA) was co-organised by Expo Centre Sharjah.

of exhibition venue convinced Dr. Doring of quality of infrastructure available. He was very happy with arrangement. This is beginning of a good relationship.

Expo Centre Sharjah is owned by Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry, a semi government organization.

Expo Centre organises 20 trade shows a year & is professionally managed. Expo centre had organised a press conference to launch Plastivision Arabia-2012 in GCC countries. They invited myself & Mr. Ajay Desai, Chairman PVA to address press conference.

On 11th October during Press conference agreement for Arabia mold was signed. ArabiaMold will be a concurrent event within Plastivision Arabia, adding immense value to the event Mr. Ajay Desai invited Dr. Doring to join AIPMA booth at Fakuma-2011 in Germany to promote Arabiamold, Dr. Doring accepted with thanks.

Dr. Ebehard Doring CEO of M/s Demat Gmbh, organisers of EuroMold Germany, Intermold Japan, Asiamold China, Diemould India, Afrimold South Africa, Rosmold Russia, Euromold Brazil, Amerimold USA, etc was also invited at PVA Press Conference. Demat Moulds making & machineries for plastic, dies cast, metal press mould are major display during this shows.

Press conference was well attended and well reported in mainstream press & TV media throughout GCC. This shows professionalism & might of our coorganizers Expo Centre Sharjah. We have chosen our partners well.

We were assured that sales in GCC will begin soon.

AIPMA is also invited to participate in Road Shows to launch PVA through out GCC countries.

Mr. Raju Desai, Chairman of Plastivision India 2013 had suggested to invite Dr Doring as Guest of Honor at PVI launch function, in Mumbai. He knew Dr Doring & was aware the advantage to AIPMA association with Demat.

AIPMA & Plastivision Arabia got fantastic publicity through this Press Conference. Such visibility enhancing image & brand value of AIPMA.

During launch function in India myself and Mr. Saif Midfa of Expo Centre invited Dr Doring to join Plastivision Arabia.

This was followed up by Ms. Lilian Segundo of Expo Centre & ultimately Dr. Doring agreed.

Arabian hospitality is known world over. Expo Centre had arranged for visa, good hotel, airport transfers. They also hosted lunch with Director General Mr. Saif Al Midfa & dinner with project managers of PVA.

On 10th October 2011 we reached Sharjah. Had a joint meeting with Dr. Doring & Expo centre ofďŹ cials. A tour

Happy to report another feather in AIPMA cap.

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Media Coverage in Sharjah

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FAKUMA – 2011 Visit Report (18th – 22nd October, 2011 at Friedrichshafen, Germany)

Mr. Saif Midfa Director General of Expo Centre Sharjah visited the show for a day. A joint meeting with Mr. & Mrs. Schall: An organizer of FAKUMA was positive. They were convinced about Plastivision and are willing to market our shows in EU. A follow up meeting was done & MOU had been signed. Agency agreement needs to be sent in German. Need to meet them during Euromold to negotiate & sign final agreement.

Dignitaries who attended: Mr. Jayesh Rambhia President, AIPMA, Mr. Ajay Desai: Chairman of PVA, Mr. Kailash Murarka: Co: Chairman PVI This was the AIPMA’s first visit to Fakuma – 2011. Thanks to efforts of AIPMA Secretary General , Ms. Umaa Gupta to manage a barter booth in FAKUMA, Friedrichshafen, Germany, which is a small town on border of Switzerland , Germany & Austria, on the banks of Lake Bondesee, a huge sweet water lake supplying drinking water to many cities including Stuttgart. It is surrounded by mountains, a good camping/ holiday site for Europeans.

Nearest airport is Zurich, Switzerland. Takes about two hours travel by road.

Dr. Doring, CEO of DEMAT also visited show for a day and had agreed for joint promotion of Plastivision Arabia & Arabia Mould show. They organize 9 diemould shows across world.

They have agreed to give AIPMA a barter booth at EuroMould & Brazil Mould.

I am very optimistic about closely working with DEMAT in future. Euromold is worlds’ largest die & mould show between November 30 to December 3 ,2011 in Frankfurt. It is a must visit for Plastivision promotion.

Fakuma is double the size of PVI happening in non K years at Friedrichshafen, Germany .The prime focus was injection moulding. Most participants and visitors were from European Union. We were promoted Plastivision India2013, Plastivision Arabia- 2012 & Arabia Mould, which is concurrent show with PVA organized by DEMAT, Germany.

Ms. Deone Zimmer from DEMAT will handle Arabia mould & was promoting DEMAT shows throughout FAKUMA. She has helped to promote PVA show too.

DEMAT market their own shows & does not employ agents.

They attend all major plastic shows & market directly to potential exhibitors. This is great way to go for established shows.

We attended launching of NPE show & met SPI officials also. NPE, USA covers 2 million sq-ft. They have agreed to give us a barter booth and have also agreed to support our environment initiatives with sharing knowledge about their efforts. We did have few interesting visitors at AIPMA booth.

A European representative of Media Company has shown interest to collect ads for Plastic News. We must increase circulation of Plastic News & make it richer. It would be good asset of AIPMA.

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AIPMA AT WORK We did get few inquiries at booth for raw material, machinery, moulds from India.

They will be forwarded to relevant members. This will help members get business improve AIPMA’s service to members & increase our exports.

I have collected several magazines from show. Show directory & magazines are available at AIPMA library. A visit to library would be worth the effort.

Barter booth is used as a base; we kept walking the exhibition, meeting potential agents, exhibitors & media

Investment in business travel is made in export businesses.

With launching of Plastivision internationally, AIPMA has now joined a different league. We will have to have sustained marketing campaign to bring AIPMA brighter future ahead.

Leaving our own business behind & spending time in traveling during freezing weather , suffering jet lag, surviving on whatever veg food we can get, language barrier, handling 35 kg baggage are not simple & easy task. But it is really worth the effort when we are able to see AIPMA getting stronger.

We see a bright future ahead for Indian Plastic Industry.

partners. Barter booth deals will bring all major plastic show organizers worldwide to our shows. This will encourage them to make tie ups with AIPMA for brining in exhibitors & visitors to our shows. We met about 10 exhibitors from India.

Many global players will enter market at all levels & industry will grow.

I visited booth of polymer department for University of Stuttgart. They do research projects on biopolymer, improving processing efďŹ ciency & test plastics. Such opportunity to exhibit improves industry-academy connect.

Industry has limited time & resources for R & D, that function is handled by university. Only at such large shows we get opportunity to meet show organizers worldwide including from Czech Republic, France & USA. Such participation gives AIPMA & Plastivision visibility amongst exhibitors & visitors of such huge shows.

Visibility brings us business & enhances our brand value too. Meeting our partners from Sharjah & DEMAT strengthens bond & boost AIPMA strength.

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IPF Japan 2011 Report he seventh triennial International Plastic Fair (IPF) Japan was held during 25th to 29th October 2011. The five-day event was organised by International Plastic Fair Association at Makuhari Messe in Chiba-city (near Tokyo), Japan. The show comprised full spectrum of raw materials, machines, moulds, and services for the plastics and rubber industry and also featured a seminar programme.

Approximately some more than 1000 exhibitors covering 54000 sqm. with following flow of visitors witnessed the event. While on the first day the footfalls were some six thousand odd peoples, it increased gradually every day such that the last day saw almost some nine thousand people. One could also observe the curiosity amongst the visitors as most of them belonged to the industry and represented their respected organisation.

Apart from the locals one could see many of foreign visitors which was such a delight as one could interact with a variety of people across the globe.

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Date

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Number of Visitors Japanese

Overseas

October 25 (Tuesday)

5,112

770

October 26 (Wednesday)

7,331

567

October 27 (Thursday)

8,477

473

October 28 (Friday)

11,803

239

October 29(Saturday)

8,868

105

Total

41,591

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Report on PlastEuroAsia Istanbul 2011 cent. Last year, 755 firms from 38 countries participated in the fair and it attracted 29,684 professional visitors. This year 1020 firms from 44 countries and were expecting over 35 thousand visitors as stated by Mr. Yalçın.

In his speech Mr. Murat Akyüz, Chairman of IKMIB (Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters' Association) pointed out that the industry raised its export volume by 37.98 percent to 12 billion and 412 million dollars in the January – February period and is expected to reach an export volume of 15.5 billion dollars in the end of the year.

“The fair is a very important event to help us to achieve this goal” Akyüz stated and added that the recession in the economies of the European countries positively affected the Turkish Chemicals industry. Akyüz also noted that visitors from North and Middle Africa and South America make up a great potential for new business deals.

About PlastEurasia Istanbul 2011 Plastics and Chemical Industries Fair was opened in Tuyap Exhibition Centre.

The Plastic Industry of Turkey stands fifth in Europe with UK.

PlastEurasia, the biggest trade event of Plastics Industry in Eurasia was opened on Thursday 27th October 2011 concurrently with the Chemical Industry Fair Chemistry Eurasia. Organised by Tuyap and was attended by 1020 firms and firm representatives in 10 halls, the fairs was expected to attract over 35 thousand visitors. There were participation from 12-13 Indian companies. The show was promoted with 23 media partners (one from India)

“Plast Eurasia is the greatest meeting of the Turkish Plastics industry in the Eurasian region” Mr. Mehmet Uysal, the Chairman of Turkish Plastics Manufacturers Research, Development and Educational Foundation (PAGEV) stated and pointed out that the industry now reached an annual growth about 13 percent and exports to a total of 200 countries. Uysal noted that in this fair, the manufacturers of the plastics industry are aiming to make new business agreements and reach new markets.

PAGEV and PAGDER were their Turkey Plastics Manufacturers Foundation and associations were partners with Tuyap

In 2011, announced to be the International Year of Chemistry; Plast Eurasia Istanbul is held concurrently with Chemistry Eurasia and Kompozit Istanbul, Composite Products and Applications, Raw Materials, Intermediate Products, Production Technology Machinery and Equipment Special Section.

The fair gathered the most important manufacturers of the industry which is expected to reach a production level of 7 millions tones and an export volume of 10 billion dollars.

In the opening of the fair Serdar Yalçın, the Head of Tuyap’s Executive Board stated that Tuyap was proud to contribute to the growth of the industry by organizing the 21th Plast Eurasia fair. “The fair continues its growth this year by increasing the number of exhibitors by 30 per

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The Fair was open to visitors from 10:00 to 19:00 during October 27-29 period and from 10:00 to 18:00 on October 30th in Tuyap Fair, Convention and Congress Center.

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AIPMA AT WORK Mission Plastivision during Plast Eurasia Istanbul 2011 This visit was made by Mr. Manish Dedhia Hon. Secretary AIPMA, Ajay Desai Chairman PVA 2012 and Ms. Lilian Fernandes of Expo Centre- Sharjah First Time AIPMA has taken a stall for Promoting PVA 2012 & PVI 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey.

We had got a Barter Booth in PlastEurasia Istanbul 2011 and the booth size of 16 sq mtr. (Booth no.

1002) in barter for a booth in Plastivision India 2013 with the extra ordinary help of Ms. Umaa Gupta, We could not have a directory listing in the show directory We met on Ms. Gizem Gurel, the Event Co-ordinator, Pagder on 27th Oct and set up a meeting with their Mr. Huseyin Semerci, Chairman Pagder, Turkish Plastic Industry and after meeting him and conveying our Greetings fixed up the meeting for next morning to discuss and sign the agency contract for PVI 2013.

They agency contract was signed by Mr. Huseyin Semerci Chairman, Mr. Mehmet Bektas Member of the Board of Director on behalf of Pagder

Meeting With Tüyap Fairs and Exhibitions Organization Inc.:

On 29th Oct 2011 we had a meeting with Mr Huseyin Semerci Chairman, Pagder, Mr. I Selcuk Aksoy and Mr. Mehmet Bektas Member of the Board of Director.

Tüyap Fairs and Exhibitions Organization Inc is the venue owner and the principal Organisers of Plast Eurasia Istanbul exhibition which is held annually and this was their 21st Exhibition. They have offices across Turkey and they hold exhibitions at other 5 other venues in Turkey and they are organising 70 exhibitions on different subjects and the organisation is running their activity with 400 employees in Turkey and overseas..

A meeting was fixed initially with Fuat Guvenlidal Businwess Dev & Project Promotion Group manager, who organised a meeting with Ms. Arzu Firat Project Manager Plast Euoasia Istanbul. We discussed at length on Aipma and its activities and Mr. Arzu explained the structure and activities of Tuyap.

We expressed our desire to seek their interest in promoting PVA 2012 & PVI 2013 and maybe consider us representing them in India for their annual Plastic show as a nodal agent.

They were presented the Agency signed contract by us for them to accept and sign.. They wanted extra covereage of USD 25 per sq mtr towards expenses of having a PAGDER pavilion. As the initial commission offered in the contract was 15% we agreed to offer them this additional commission for their Association pavilion and suitable amendment needs to be sent to them as our commitment to the same.

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She discussed with her senior Ms. Oya Akgun, Asst General Manager and Member of the Executive Committee giving a brief on the discussion she had with us and agreed to meet us very shortly. During the interaction we once again explained about AIPMA and our activities. We once again expressed desire to seek their interest in promoting PVA

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AIPMA AT WORK 2012 & PVI 2013 and maybe consider us representing them in India for their annual Plastic show as a nodal agent She showed eagerness to work jointly with us and expressed that she would discuss with the management and would convey their stand on working together.

us once they go ITALY.\

Meeting With other Country associations British Plastic Federation: We met Ms. Justina the Project Manageress and Mr Tim Marsden Sr. Executive, Projects British Plastics federation Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry TAMI: we met Mr John Chen and discussed at length about PVA 2012 & PVI 2013 and saw his interest in promoting our shows in Taiwan and bring their country pavilion. He would convey their association interest on returning.

China Export and import Association: Ms. Lilian had a meeting with them on 30th Oct, and would convey their interest.

Korea Plastic Processing Machinery Association KPPMIC: We met and discussed KPPMIC’s interest in promoting PVA 2012 exhibition and saw their interest in the show and would convey their interest on their return back home.

Meeting With PAGEV

Distribution of brochure of PVI 2012 / PVI 2013 was done in Hall 1-6 all booths.

On 29th we arranged for a meeting with PAGEV -Turkish Plastics Manufacturers Research, Development & Educational Foundation, TURKEY

Catalogue of 5 companies Prayag, Rajhans, Electronica, Ultramarine and Machinery catalogue were displayed at our booth and same were distributed completely by 29th October

PAGEV is a very strong plastic Foundation in Turkey , they were co organizer of Plast Eurasia, We met with Ms. Banu Ergan Deputy General Manager PAGEV and during the meeting and expressed our interest to seek their interest in promoting PVA 2012 & PVI 2013 as both the organisations were trying to promote Plastic industry in their respective countries. She showed interest and promised to put to their board and convey their interest

Meeting With various country plastic associations Italy, UK, Taiwan, China and Korea, ASSOCOMAPLAST, ITALY We meet Girolamo Dagostino, Secretary General of ASSOCOMPLAST, ITALY, and discussed our interest in them promoting PVA 2012 and PVI 2013 for Italian country participation. He said that he will get back to P L A S T I C S N E W S

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COMPANY NEWS

First production facilities in US$1.4 bln expansion of BASF-YPC Co Ltd begin he first production facilities in the US$1.4 bln expansion of BASF-YPC Company Limited have now begun operations. Along with the successful completion of the steam cracker expansion, the newly constructed butadiene extraction plant and the non-ionic surfactants plant are now operational. "With this expansion, we are now beginning to realize the true potential of BASF-YPC as a 'Verbund' site - a German term referring to a highly integrated, highly energy efficient production complex.

At the same time, the chemicals produced here contribute directly to supporting China's energy efficiency goals as outlined in the 12th Five Year

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Plan," said Dr. Bernd Blumenberg, President, BASF-YPC Company Limited. These plants are part of a US$1.4 bln investment project which broke ground in September 2009. The project includes the expansion of the existing steam cracker, from 600,000 tpa to 740,000 tpa of ethylene, the expansion of three existing plants, and the construction of ten new plants.

The products of this second phase will serve multiple industries such as agriculture, construction, electronics, pharmaceutical, automotive and chemical manufacturing. Bulk of the remaining plants is expected to come on-stream around the end of 2011.

Kabra Gloucester launches 5 layer barrier film facility at Daman t was a landmark moment for Kabra Gloucester, as a fully loaded 5 layer plant demonstration successfully took place at their new facility at Daman. 2100 mm layflat 5 layer Barrier Film with an output of 525kgs/hour on a 100 micron thick film for Oil Packaging applications was demonstrated during the Open House. Kabra Gloucester created a specifically designed 5 layer Plant addressing all the categorical needs

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of Prropyl Packs Ltd, Kerala. The machine features extruders with light groove feed technology, 610 mm self centering die utilizing encapsulated feedport technology, Ultracool II dual lip air ring with film thickness control utilizing Beta gauge measurement, carbon composite rollers for collapsers, and turret style center winders. With this order delivery Kabra Gloucester synergy strongly equips the India Plastic Industry with another option

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GAIL India eager to participate in Kazakhstan petrochemical plants tate-run gas transporter GAIL (India) Ltd. has expressed eagerness to participate in gas-based and petrochemical plants in Kazakhstan. According to industry sources, as they say, it is also learnt that GAIL might also be interested in the butadiene manufacturing project of Kazakhstan's United Chemical Company.

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CK Technologies building painting plant hio based CK Technologies LLC is building a painting facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The company specializes in large-tonnage injection molding of components for the commercial truck and bus market. The 197,600-square-foot Fort Worth plant is scheduled to open next year, employing 50.

The Montpelier-based company said it will invest more than $5 million in the project. CKT is a unit of Grand Rapids, a Michigan based Cascade Engineering

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ALEFBET Jayvee Organics

ARCHITECTS ENGINEERS PLANNERS www.abtplanners.com

PLASTICS ENGINEERING FROM CONCEPT TO DETAILED DESIGN

• Layout design • Machines selection • Logistic design • Energy design • Architectural and Civil Engineering design

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Danny Harel danny_h@ox.abt.co.il +972 - 505280710 Fax: + 972-36233700 www.abtplanners.com

Come to visit us at: PLASTINDIA EXHIBITION 2012 IN DELHI Booth Hall No. : 7B Stand : RH www.plastindia.org

COMPANY NEWS

SABIC inaugurates polypropylene compounding plant in Mississippi ABIC Innovative Plastics has officially opened its specialty polypropylene (PP) compounding operation at its Bay St. Louis, Mississippi manufacturing site. The new compounding operation will supply SABIC PP compounds and SABIC STAMAX long glass fiberfilled PP (LGFPP) composites for automotive applications. The new plant will meet the rapidly growing demand from automotive OEMs and tiers for

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local supply of globally-consistent PP materials in North America, supporting production of regional and global vehicle platforms. In June 2010, SABIC opened a PP compounding facility at Genk, Belgium. “In today’s fast-paced automotive industry, we continually strive to help our customers respond to new challenges and demands,” said Gregory A. Adams, vice president, Innovative Plastics, Automotive.

Stolt-Nielsen opens chemical storage terminal on Jurong Island tolt-Nielsen Limited has announced the formal opening of its new petrochemical terminal in Tembusu on Jurong Island, Singapore.

The terminal has commenced operations with three gas spheres, with plans for a total of 300,000 cbm of storage to be built over the next twoto-three years. Stolthaven Terminals' newest facility is strategically situated in the Jurong Island petrochemical complex, among a number of major plants operated by such firms as Shell, ExxonMobil and Lanxess.

When fully operational, the Tembusu terminal will employ about 60 people in mainly engineering and management positions. Commenting on the opening, Walter E. Wattenbergh, President of Stolthaven Terminals, said, "We have

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ambitious growth plans for Stolthaven Terminals and our investment here in Singapore is a reflection of that.

With its central location, deep water draft at all times and good transshipment possibilities, this new terminal significantly strengthens our service capabilities in Asia Pacific. The excellent business environment here in Singapore was also a very important consideration for us." Stolthaven Terminals now operates nine terminals worldwide, plus a network of nine smaller terminals serving Australia and New Zealand. The company recently announced plans to acquire a further terminal located in The Netherlands.

Stolthaven's total global storage capacity is now in excess of 3.3 million cubic meters.

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IRPC plans 45 day maintenance shutdown hai refiner and petrochemical producer IRPC PCL is expecting a 30% drop in Q4 revenue from 2011, due to a planned 45-day maintenance shut down, according to Dow Jones. The planned shutdown coincides with slowing local demand triggered by worst floods faced by the country in decades. Most of Thailand's central provinces are submerged by the floods, including vast areas of farmland and industrial estates that are global production bases of electronics and automobile parts.

The inundation of those estates has materially disrupted global production in both industries.

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GAIL’s earmarks US$400 mln for its new Singapore office AIL (India) has earmarked US$400 mln for its new Singapore trading office to secure LNG and petrochemical product cargoes for delivery to India in 2012.

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The Singapore office will begin trading next month on getting all formal approvals. 90% of the trade would be in LNG from the initial start-up.

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COMPANY NEWS

Lummus Technology bags contract for two light olefins recovery units in China B&I announced that Lummus Technology has been awarded a contract by China Coal Shaanxi Yulin Energy & Chemical Co. Ltd. for the license and engineering design of two light olefins recovery units.

The plants will be located in Yulin, Shaanxi Province, China. The startup of the first unit is expected in 2013. The recovery units, which use breakthrough technology to recover olefins (ethylene and propylene) produced from methanol feed, are each expected to yield 300,000 metric tpa of polymer grade ethylene, and 300,000 tpa of polymer grade propylene. In addition, the Olefins Conversion Technology (OCT) from

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Lummus Technology was selected to upgrade the by-product produced by the light olefins recovery units into an additional 165,000 tpa of polymer grade propylene.

personal care, food and beverage markets in 2000, collaborated over the years with AptarGroup and became a licensee of the firm’s dispensing closure products in 2006.

AptarGroup buys India’s TKH plastics

Separately in Mumbai, India, AptarGroup is completing a clean room-equipped pharmaceutical device facility that is expected to be fully operational at the beginning of 2012.

Publicly traded AptarGroup specializes in both dispensing closures and pumps for cosmetic, personal-care, household, food and beverage and pharmaceutical products.

Illinois based AptarGroup Inc. acquired dispensing-closure licensee Hyderabad based TKH Plastics Pvt. Ltd. in a South Asia regional expansion.

In buying TKH, injection molder, AptarGroup paid about $17 million in cash and assumed debt of $1 million.

TKH, which had annual sales of about $8 million, began serving the Indian

Fortis Plastics announces shutdown of its corporate office ndiana based Fortis Plastics LLC announced plans to close its corporate office and molding plant in South Bend. The news comes just days after the company announced plans to close its Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Fort Smith, Ark., plants.

In layoff notifications filed with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the custom injection molder said it would permanently close its corporate office between Nov. 28 and Dec. 11, impacting 17 employees. The molding plant will permanently close between Dec. 9 and Dec. 23, impacting 71 employees.

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The company blamed an “inability to secure additional capital,” although recent developments have made clear that lost work from some customers may also have played a role. The company’s financial woes came to light in mid-October, when the company filed a notice with the city of Fort Smith warning that it would terminate 93 employees there starting November 4-18 “because of an inability to secure additional capital.” Then, a week later, the company notified the 142 workers in Poplar Bluff that their plant would close by December 2.

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Reliance Industries denies to buy Valero Energy Corp eliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has denied news that it is looking to buy Valero Energy Corp as reported by Business Standard. Answering the query RIL said in a statement “While it is, and will remain, the policy of Reliance not to comment on market rumors, in light of the materiality of the rumored transaction, Reliance wishes to dispel the rumors and announce that it is not in discussions with Valero nor otherwise considering an acquisition of Valero”. It said it was a company policy to not comment on market speculations but made an exception this time.

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COMPANY NEWS

Asahi Kasei wins SPE® Innovation Award for “Most Innovative Use of Plastic” sahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. and Penda Corp. shared the stage in Livonia, Mich. at the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) Automotive Innovation Awards Gala with Chrysler Group LLC, winning the "Most Innovative Use of Plastics" award in the Body Exterior category for the Dodge RamBox® assembly.

The RamBox® storage system sports the industry's largest twin-sheet thermoformed lid and is also the largest, most versatile, lockable, waterproof storage and cargo management system available in a pickup truck. Now in its 41st year, the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition & Gala is the largest and oldest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. "Winning this award is a first for our company," said John Moyer, president of Asahi Kasei Plastics. "It is a testament to our organization's talent and innovative spirit. This is a proud moment for our employees."

"When the design challenge of the larger RamBox® came up, it was clear the application would require something heavy duty," said Senior Technical Consultant, Russ Herlache of Penda Corp., the system supplier for the program. "No one other than Asahi Kasei thought this could be done in polypropylene - everyone else wanted to sell us more costly nylon."

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The larger RamBox® posed tougher engineering challenges. The lid still needed to be able to support the weight of two 250 lbs men, requiring the new structure to be stronger than its P L A S T I C S N E W S

predecessor. The box needed to pass 3 to 5Gs of force (100 lb load, 1 million cycles) to pass durability requirements, plus also needed to pass a point-load test (20 lb load, 5 inch drop). Asahi Kasei developed two new and distinct UV-resistant Thermylene® grades one for the twin-sheet thermoformed lid (Thermylene P6-15FG-0741) and one for the injection-molded bin (P8-40FG-4611) - that maximized performance while reducing weight.

The weight savings is projected to save US$3 mln over the life of the program vs. alternative technologies (long-glass thermoplastic polypropylene (LFTPP), short-glass nylon (polyamide, PA) 6/6, sheet-molding compound (SMC), and bulk-molding compound (BMC)). "Asahi Kasei Plastics set a new benchmark for high performance short-glass reinforced polypropylene," adds Herlache of Penda. "Not only

did the new materials they developed meet all the performance criteria, they also enabled a number of industry firsts for manufacturing and processing innovations." The materials allowed Penda to replace the blow molding process used on the first generation RamBox® lid, creating a stiff yet lightweight part at lower tooling and processing costs. Tight tolerances were maintained with novel cooling and processing methods. Twin-sheet thermoforming also has stronger weldline strength, better wall thickness control, and enhanced dimensional control through robotic trimming. "Asahi Kasei's Thermylene® short-glass polypropylene solutions helped us meet the RamBox® design challenges that included customer appeal, good surface appearance, and durability," said Herlache.

Marubeni mulls building a petrochemical complex with Gazprom in Russia arubeni plans to build a large petrochemical complex with Russia’s Gazprom in the Russian city of Nakhodka, Primorsky Krai, according to local media reports. Japan’s Marubeni is one of Asian's largest general trading companies, while Gazprom is the world's largest producer of gas. Financial details of the project, as well as the timing of its

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implementation, have not yet been disclosed.Marubeni plans to be the main investor in construction and the main purchaser of its future production. For Gazprom, this participation could form part of the company’s current strategy to diversify its business, with paying a particular attention for the development of its petrochemical business.

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COMPANY NEWS

ConocoPhillip to rename new independent downstream spinoff Phillips 66 onocoPhillips announced that the new independent downstream company created through its previously announced strategic repositioning will be named Phillips 66 and will be headquartered in Houston. Phillips 66 will have leading businesses in refining, marketing, midstream and chemicals. "Phillips 66 has strong brand recognition and value and it provides a link between our rich history and our exciting future," said Greg Garland, designated chairman and chief executive officer of Phillips 66. "Our name reflects an independent spirit and drive -- two attributes of our future company." The specific location in Houston for the Phillips 66 headquarters will be announced at a later date. "Our decision to make Houston our global headquarters

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leverages the city's supportive business environment and strong economic climate," Garland said. "Houston is a major energy center and Phillips 66 will benefit from its ability to attract the top business and technical talent in the field." ConocoPhillips, which will be a pure-play exploration and production company after the repositioning, will continue to be headquartered in Houston at the existing ConocoPhillips facility. Both companies will maintain a significant presence in Oklahoma, where ConocoPhillips was founded, and support a large number of jobs in the state. Bartlesville will be the global center for the Phillips 66 technology organization as well as the transaction services organizations for both companies.

Reliance Industries Q2 net up by 16% to Rs 5703 crore ccording to the release Reliance Industries (RIL), largely driven by improved performance in the refining and petrochemicals business, posted a 15.8% rise in the net profit to Rs 5703 crore for quarter ended September 30, 2011 as compared with Rs 4923 crore in the comparable quarter of previous fiscal. Total income of RIL during the quarter increased

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to Rs 79,671 crore versus Rs 58,151 crore in Q2FY-11. During the quarter, RIL’s petrochem revenues surged to Rs 21,100 crore from Rs 15,100 crore yoy. Refining revenue of the company was up at Rs Rs 68,100 crore versus Rs 49,700 crore, while its Oil & Gas revenue was down at Rs 3,560 crore versus Rs 4,300 crore, yoy.

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BR awarded first license for ACOTM facility plant in China R has been awarded a License and Process Design Package contract for a new olefins production unit using the Advanced Catalytic Olefins (ACOTM) technology. This award represents the first license using this innovative technology which catalytically cracks naphtha and other straight run feeds to produce olefins yields which surpass those available from traditional steam cracking technology. Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Yanan Energy and Chemical Co., Ltd. will construct and operate the plant which will be constructed in Luoyang Village, Fucheng Town, Fu County, Shaanxi Province, China. The ACO Converter will have a capacity of approximately 200 kta of olefins (ethylene plus propylene). ACO technology is developed jointly by KBR and SK Innovation. The keys to this novel technology are the development of a proprietary catalyst and optimization of operating conditions

by SK Innovation coupled with the know-how of KBR in the design of fluid bed reactors and olefins production facilities. In October of 2010, SK Innovation successfully started up and operated an ACO Demonstration unit at its facility in Ulsan, South Korea.

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ENVIRONMENT

Use of Waste Plastic in Construction of Flexible Pavement Dr. Aslam, Professor & Head, Er. Shahan-ur- Rahman, Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Integral University, Lucknow

A modified technique was developed for construction of flexible pavements. In flexible pavement construction plastic coated aggregate showed better binding property. It has less wetting property and voids.

Introduction Polymer modified bitumen is emerging as one of the important construction materials for flexible pavements. Use of plastic waste in the construction of flexible pavement is gaining importance because of the several reasons. The polymer modified bitumen show better properties for road construction & plastics waste, otherwise considered to be a pollution menace, can find its use in this process and this can help solving the problem of pollution because most of the plastic waste is polymers.

Various studies (1-5) are being carried out to improve the quality of bitumen used in bituminous road construction. One of the results of such studies is to use polymer-modified bitumen. Use of disposed plastic waste (specially plastic bags) is the need of the hour. The studies on the thermal behavior and binding property of the molten plastics promoted a study on the preparation of plastic wastebitumen blend and its properties to find the suitability of the blend for road construction.

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Polymer Modified Bitumen In the construction of flexible pavements, bitumen plays the role of binding the aggregate together by coating over the aggregate. It also helps to improve the strength of the road. But its resistance towards water is poor. Anti-stripping agents are being used. A common method to improve the quality of bitumen is by modifying the rheological properties of bitumen by blending with organic synthetic polymers like rubber and plastics.

Studies on this subject are going on both at national and international level.

Plastic Waste Scenario The use of plastic materials such as carry bags, cups, etc. is constantly increasing. The consumption of plastics have increased from 4000 tons/annum (1990) to 4 million tons/annum (2001) and it is expected to rise 8 million tons/ annum during the year 2009. Nearly 50 to 60% of the total plastics are consumed for packing. Once used plastic materials are thrown out. They

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do not undergo bio-decomposition.

Hence, they are either land filled or incinerated. Both are not eco-friendly processes as they pollute the land and the air. Any method that can use this plastic waste for the purpose of construction is always welcomed.

Characteristics of Plastic Waste Thermal study A study of the thermal behavior of the polymers namely polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene shows that these polymers get softened easily without any evolution of gas around 130-1400C, this has been scientifically verified.At around 3500C, they get decomposed releasing gases like methane, ethane etc. and above 7000C, they undergo combustion producing gases like CO and CO2.

Binding property The molten plastic waste inhibits good binding property. Following experiments were carried out to study the binding property.

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ENVIRONMENT The aggregate was heated to around 1700C and the shredded plastic waste (size between 2.36mm and 4.75 mm) was added. Plastics got softened and coated over the aggregate. The mix of aggregate and plastic was compacted and cooled.

The block was very hard and showed compressive strength not less than 130 MPa and binding strength of 500 kg/cm2. This shows that the binding strength of the polymer is good.

Characterization of Blend Separation test (IRC-SP: 531999)

The polymer coated aggregate was soaked in water for 72 hours. There was no stripping at all. This shows that the coated plastic material sticks well with the surface of the aggregate.

Samples of different composition were prepared and subjected to the separation test. The following observations were made on the basis of their softening point values. Homogeneity was obtained approximately up to 1.5% blend.

Beyond this composition, the variation of softening point was much higher for the top and bottom layer of the test samples showing that there is a separation of polymer from bitumen on standing.

Preliminary Studies

Determination of softening point

The studies on the thermal behavior and binding property promoted a study on the preparation of plastic wastebitumen blend and its properties to find the suitability of the blend for road construction.

(IS: 1205-1978)

Plastic Waste Blending Materials Preparation of blend Polyethylene carry bags were cut into pieces using a shredding machine. It was sieved and the plastics pieces passing through 4.75mm sieve and retaining at 2.36mm sieve were collected. These plastic pieces were added slowly to the hot bitumen of temperature around 170-1800C. The mixture was stirred well using mechanical stirrer for about 20-30 minutes. Polymer-bitumen mixtures of different compositions were prepared and used for carrying out various tests.

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The blend of different composition with different percentage of plastic waste has been prepared and their softening points were determined. It is observed that the softening point increases by the addition of plastic waste to the bitumen. Higher the percentage of plastic waste added, higher is the softening point. The influence over the softening point may be due to the chemical nature of polymers added.

Penetration Test: (IS: 1203-1978) Samples having different percentage of plastic waste in bitumen were prepared and their penetration values determined The penetration values of blends are decreasing depending upon the percentage of polymers and the type of polymer added the increase in the percentage of polymer decreases the penetration

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value. This shows that the addition of polymer increases the hardness of the bitumen.

Ductility The ductility is decreasing by the addition of plastic waste to Bitumen.

The decrease in the ductility value may be due to interlocking of polymer molecules with bitumen.

Flash and fire point (IS: 12091978) The studies of flash and fire points of the plastic waste-bitumen blend helps to understand the inflammability nature of the blend. Flash & fire point of plain Bitumen is 175-2100C. From the experimental results it is observed that the inflammability of the blend is decreasing as the percentage of polymer increases. The blend has developed better resistance to burning.

The polymer bitumen blend road surfaces will be less affected by fire hazards.

Characterization of Plastic Waste-Bitumen Blend For Flexible Pavement The utility of the plastic waste blended bitumen-aggregate mix for flexible pavement construction was characterized by studying stripping value and Marshall Stability value of the mix for the blends having a maximum of 1.5% plastic waste.

Stripping Test (IS :6241-971) Plastic waste was dissolved in bitumen and the blend was coated over aggregate. It was tested by immersing

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ENVIRONMENT in water. Even after 72 hrs, there was no stripping. This shows that the blend has better resistance towards water.

This may be due to better binding property of the plastic waste-bitumen blend.

Marshall Stability Test The specimen was prepared as per the IRC specification using plastic waste-blended bitumen. This shows that plastic waste-bitumen blend has higher strength compared to pure bitumen, whose value is approx.

1200Kg Moreover, the Marshall Quotient is also within the range of tolerance, thus showing that the plastic waste (polyethylene) blended bitumen mix is better and more suitable for flexible pavement construction.

Results of Preliminary Studies The studies of properties of the plastic waste-blended bitumen show that the addition of plastic waste to bitumen increases softening point, decreases penetration value and ductility, increases flash point and fire point, increase Marshall stability value and improve anti-stripping properties.

Yet the above process has its own limitations.

The preparation of such modified bitumen needs high power stirrer with thermostatic facilities to maintain the temperature between160-1800C. Any increase in the temperature could affect the properties of bitumen.

The proper storage of such polymerblended bitumen is very important. It

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should be stored in a freezer and it is also referred that it is stable for 6 hrs at a temperature of 1800C It was also observed from the separation test that when the plastic was mixed beyond the soluble range (from 2% and above) the excess plastic material got separated on cooling. These limitations necessitated developing an alternate method for using higher percentage of plastic waste for flexible pavement.

Modified Process (Dry Process) An alternate method was innovated to find an effective way of using higher percentage of plastic waste in the flexible pavement. The aggregate coated with plastic was used as the raw material. The plastic used were the disposed carry bags, films, cups was etc. with a maximum thickness of 60 microns. The bitumen was not blended with plastic waste.

Preparation of Plastic-Waste Coated Aggregate The aggregate was heated to around 1700C; the plastic waste was shredded to the size varying between 2.36mm and 4.75mm. This shredded plastic-waste was added over hot aggregate with constant mixing to gave a uniform distribution. The plastic got softened and coated over the aggregate. The hot plastic waste coated aggregate was mixed with the hot bitumen 60/70 or 80/100 grade (1600C).

Characterization of PCA Bitumen Mix Stripping Test (IS: 6241-1971) 44

The plastic waste coated aggregate bitumen mix prepared by the above process was immersed in water. Even after 96 hours there was no stripping.

This shows that the plastic waste coated aggregate-bitumen mix has good resistance towards water.

Marshall Stability Test It is observed that the Marshall stability values obtained were generally much higher than the Marshall stability value obtained for pure bitumen min.

Field study Using this dry process technique, road length of more than 1200 km were laid at different places in Tamil Nadu both by the department of Rural Development Agency and by Highways at Cochin, Mumbai, and Pondicherry the corporation laid test roads using this technology. The roads are exposed to heavy traffic, monsoonal change, heavy rain, hot summer etc. The roads are functioning well without potholes, raveling and rutting. Expert’s opinions are also in agreement.

Water absorption test A known quantity of aggregate was taken dried at 1100C and cooled. The weight of aggregate was determined.

It was then immersed in water for 24 hrs. Then the aggregate was dried using dry clothes and the weight was determined. The water absorbed by the aggregate was determined from weight difference. 500gms of the aggregate was taken and heated to around 1700C. It was then coated with plastic at that temperature. The plastic coated aggregate was cooled to room

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ENVIRONMENT temperature. It was immersed in water for 24 hrs. Then it was removed dried and the weight of the aggregate was determined. It is observed that the absorption of water had decreased with the increase in the percentage coating of plastic over the aggregate.

This shows that the coating of plastic reduces the voids. Hence, coating of plastic over aggregate helps to improve the quality of the aggregate.

Results and Discussion Preliminary studies on the use of plastic-waste as a blending material with bitumen, suggest that the blends behave similar to PMB, thus having improved properties compared to plain bitumen. It is also observed that this process of blending has limitation. At high percentage of blending there is separation of plastic. Hence, process modification was needed and a new product namely plastic waste coated aggregate was developed. This product is not only easy to prepare but also helps to use higher percentage of plastic-waste for coating without much of difficulty.

The coating of molten-plastic over the aggregate will reduce water absorption. This shows that the voids at the surface were reduced. Lesser the voids better the quality of the aggregate. Otherwise, the air entrapped in the voids would cause oxidation of bitumen resulting in stripping, pothole formation etc. Moreover, the presence of water in the voids is detrimental to adhesion between aggregate and the binder namely bitumen. Hence the aggregate with lesser voids is considered to be good for better road construction. These observations help

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to conclude that plastic-waste coated aggregate can be considered as more suitable material for flexible pavement construction.

Conclusion Polymer Modified Bitumen is used due to its better performance. But in the case of higher percentage of polymer bitumen blend, the blend is a more polymer dispersion in bitumen, which get separated on cooling. This may affect the properties and quality of the blend and also the road laid using such blend. In the modified process (dry process) plastics-waste is coated over aggregate. This helps to have better binding of bitumen with the plastic-waste coated aggregate due to increased bonding and increased area of contact between polymer and bitumen. The polymer coating also reduces the voids. This prevents the moisture absorption and oxidation of bitumen by entrapped air. This has resulted in reduced rutting, raveling, and there is not pothole formation. The road can withstand heavy traffic and show better durability.

The dry process thus helps to: •

Use higher percentage of plastic waste

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Reduce the need of bitumen by around 10%

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Increase the strength and performance of the road Avoid the use of anti-stripping agents.

Reduce the cost to around Rs. 5000/Km. of single lane road

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Avoid disposal of plastic waste by incineration and land filling

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Add value to plastic waste

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Generate jobs for rag pickers

•

Develop a technology, which is ecofriendly References Appea, A. K., Al-Qadi, I. L., Bhutta, S. A.,

and Coree, B. J., “Quantitative Assessment of Transmission Layer in Flexible Pavements,” 77th Transportation Research Board, Paper No. 980994, Washington, DC, 1998.

IRC, “Guidelines for the Design of flexible pavements,” IRC: 37-1970, Indian Roads Congress.

Battiato, G., and Verga, C., “The AGIP Visco elastic Method For Asphalt Pavement Design,” Proceedings Of The Fifth International Conference On The Structural Design Of Asphalt Pavements, Ba Arnhem; Netherlands, August 23-26 1982, pp. 59-66.

Al-Qadi, I. L., Brandon, T. L., Smith, T., and Lacina, B. A., “How Do Geosynthetics Improve Pavement’s Performance,” Proceedings of Material Engineering Conference, San Diego, CA. 1996, pp. 606-616.

Barksdale, R. D., Brown, S. F., and Francis, C., “Potential Benefits of Geosynthetics in Flexible Pavement Systems,” National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Report No. 315, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D. C. 1989.

ISI, “Indian Standards Specifications for Roads Tar”, IS: 215, Indian standard Institution.

IRC, “Tentative Specifications for Bituminous Surface dressing Using Pre-coated Aggregates,” IRC: 48-1972, Indian Roads Congress.

(Courtesy:NBM&CW)

Carry the process in situ

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FEATURES

Systems Engineering as a Design Tool for the Design of Plastics Industry Plants Eng. Daniel Harel, AlefBet Planners Ltd., the author, a professional systems engineer, is the Chief Engineer of AlefBet Planners Ltd., a firm engaged in the design and setting up of industrial plants in general and plastics plants in particular.

The company is based in Israel and active worldwide. his article presents plant design as an important component for achieving functional efficiency and for improving competitive edge. The article is divided into three sections:

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a. Brief explanation of the methodology of systems engineering. b. Analysis of the main components of a typical plastics plant. c. Typical example of the engineering design process.

Systems engineering sprang from the need to generalize engineering disciplines and manage processes of development, design and setting up of complex engineering systems, involving multiple disciplines such as mechanical, electronics, and computer engineering and programming, control and automation, and consider them jointly in a systems mode of thought and comprehensive engineering design.

Later on, systems engineering further developed to cover complex systems, made up of components, which are systems themselves.

The natural field of growth of this methodology was aviation, space and the development of modern weapons systems.

For example, typical modern aircraft is a complex engineering system, composed of subsystems each of

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which is quite complex in itself (the avionics design, the turbo get engines, the radar systems, etc.). Eventually, systems engineering was also adopted by the automotive industry, and now it is a mature engineering discipline, widely applied in advanced industries.

Implementation of systems engineering methodology to the design of plastics industry plants requires an understanding of the principles of that methodology and the application thereof to design processes, as well as in-depth familiarity with the technologies and production processes in the plant being designed.

Regrettably, many plants are still being designed without professional consultation with an industrial engineer - which is a pity.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the phase of plant design as an important component in the achievement of functional efficiency, contributing to the competitive edge of the plant.

The methodology of systems engineering Systems engineering is a collection of multi-disciplinary approaches and means for the design, construction and operation of successful engineering systems. Systems engineering is the totality of scientific and practical 46

tools required to guide technological development. A systems engineer is an engineer possessing multi-disciplinary engineering knowledge (in addition to specialized expertise), who has a systemic outlook and is capable of carrying out multi-disciplinary integration in the design, engineering and management of projects.

During the last decades the field of systems engineering has attracted increased attention all over the world, but especially in Israel. Accordingly, the demand increased for professional systems engineers in order to improve the technological development of complex and multi-disciplinary projects.

Systems engineering has an engineering side and an administrative side. On the engineering side, it focuses on the earliest possible definition of the needs of the various interested parties (clients, users, etc.) and the requirements from the system, the documenting of the requirements, and later the correct concept solution for the plants, that is suitable with the technological environment solutions to create a complete system - and finally verifying compliance of the system with the requirements and proving its suitability to the needs and expectations of the interested parties, in an all-embracing overview of the problem.

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FEATURES On the administrative side, systems engineering combines many varied specializations handled by teamwork, while creating a built-in development process, which progresses from idea to design, execution and ongoing use. Systems engineering handles the client’s needs and goals (whether technical, commercial or operational) as well as the needs of all interested parties, in order to provide a quality product answering these needs.

To sum up, systems engineering is a method aimed at assisting in implementing the complexity of a system by a series of engineering and administrative operations. The key to applying this complexity is a process of analysis of the system, from its most abstract form that describes the client’s needs, down to the smallest details, and the design of its reintegration from the components to provide a system satisfying the client’s needs.

"V" model of the systems engineering process G r a p h i c a l l y, t h e m e t h o d i s described by the letter V in a space having a horizontal axis which is the time axis and a vertical axis representing the level of detail. System development starts with the lowest level of engineering detail – the client’s needs level, which is at the level of the entire system. This is the highest point on the left arm of the "V". From that point a descent begins to the subsystems, to assemblies and components, down to the use of existing components. This descent along the left arm of the "V" continues down to the lowest point required.

As the development proceeds, the P L A S T I C S N E W S

Fig. 1 - the "V" model

components are integrated into assemblies, the assemblies into subsystems, until the entire system is integrated. This process is described as a rise along the right arm of the "V", from component level to system level.

to them, already at the project design phase. The main design reviews are:

Systems engineering places extra emphasis on the initial phase of “definition of client’s needs”. One must distinguish between “client’s wishes” and “client’s needs”. Wishes are a subjective matter, driven by constraints and aspirations and phrased in human language, whereas needs are defined in terms of results and engineering quantities susceptible to accurate measurement, so that the design can be checked to see whether it answers the need.

3. CDR – Critical Design Review.

Design reviews Concurrent with the engineering design process, which is carried out in series and in parallel at the same time, the systems engineer calls for a series of design reviews, intended to verify design progress according to the V model, verify design compatibility with project goals and identify failures and problems and provide answers

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1. SSR – System Requirements Review 2. PDR – Preliminary Design Review

Review No. 1 is intended to round out the needs definition on the part of the customer and to formulate the client’s needs in engineering terms which are measurable, since this is a necessary basis for an engineering design, or in other words: If you don’t know what place you wish to reach, all roads are equally suitable.

Review No. 2 is intended to verify that at concept level the design provides answers to the client’s needs and requirements.

Review No. 3 is intended to verify that the design documents, which must be transferred to the executing contractors (plans, bills of quantities, specifications, etc.) indeed provide an answer to the execution tasks required in order to realize the project, so that the final result corresponds with the client’s expectations in the main

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FEATURES parameters of the project design.

Control of the design process Systems engineering supports additional methodologies, which are important to ensure the success of the project: A. Risk control and risk mitigation in the project.

B. Design control to verify that the design corresponds to the customer’s needs.

C. Maintainability and service control, reliability of the designed system.

In fact, system engineering introduces good order in the design and execution of technology-related projects, and thus contributes to the reduction of the gap between the desirable and the actual in three main respects: *Performance - execution of project goals as close as possible to the plan. This requires predefinition of the client’s requirements, followed by an engineering characterization of these needs and drawing up an engineering definitions list with which the design must comply. *Budget - reduction as far as possible of the gap between “predesign” cost estimate and actual cost of execution. *Schedule - an orderly, wellorganized design process is a necessary condition for avoiding any deviation from the design and execution schedule – notwithstanding the uncertainty inherent in any plant

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expansion project due to matters beyond the control of the designer or customer (e.g. – approvals to be obtained from the authorities).

Main components of a typical plastic products plant Almost every plastic products plant is required to provide an answer to the following issues: Location of production lines; organization and method for the admission, storage and handling of production raw materials; storage of products in process; assembly and/ or decoration; packaging of finished products; warehousing of products for delivery. Sub systems such as electric power, communications, cooling water, heating, compressed air, offices, etc.

These must be balanced against one another to optimize overall advantage – this is the systems engineer’s real challenge.

The problem faced by the systems engineer engaged in industrial design is to provide an exact definition of present and future needs; to find a “golden path” and internal balance among conflicting requirements of schedule, performance and budget; to reserve options for future growth, and primarily to offer a plan

which will meet future needs that are as yet unknown. This is a sort of contradiction in terms, but in the real world of design this is the greatest challenge an industrial designer faces.

What is the “correct” distance between extruders? What are the parameters for determining the operating area of raw material feeders in order to achieve the desirable accuracy in material dosage? Should power be supplied to the extruders in channels in the floor or overhead?

Should machines be cooled by mechanical chillers means or by cooling towers? What is better? Transformers close to the production equipment or a distant power room? These are a few examples out of hundreds or even thousands of questions that arise during the design process.

Engineering processes, such as Keysan or Lean, are very common today, but they apply to an existing plant. These methods offer no advantage for the physical design of a new plant or new system which must be set up “from scratch”. The

Fig 2 - Complex twin screw extrusion line for additives production

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FEATURES methodology of systems engineering was chosen by us as suitable for application in plant design, and we recommend that plant managers learn and assimilate the main tools of systems engineering as the proper and appropriate means for designing new and complex engineering systems – and in our opinion a plant making plastic products certainly fits the definition of a “complex system”.

Moreover, many people are unaware of the simple fact that the basis for efficient, high-quality and profitable running of a plant is “proper design and global optimization of all the activities of a business”.

Systems engineering contributes to the achievement of this goal, by being an integrative methodology having both an administrative as well as engineering side.

Examples Two examples are given below of decisions taken in one project for the expansion of an extrusion plant, based on the comprehensive approach of systems engineering. For obvious reasons we altered the details somewhat in order not to identify the project.

Example A: The plant decided to place some extrusion lines in several neighboring buildings. In a preliminary consultation with the power and cooling engineers, a proposal was formulated to set up an independent power system and an independent cooling system for each building. The systems engineer suggested – based on a global optimization approach – to set up a unified power system and a unified P L A S T I C S N E W S

cooling system, each of these serving all production lines in the buildings.

Obviously the decision required underground mains to be laid between the buildings, complicating the solution. But the advantages were mutual backup, capability of load transfer under failure conditions, complying with market and customer requirements, and increased system redundancy.

Example B: Placement of the production lines so that the raw material supply area, and the power and the cooling, were common to two neighboring buildings.

Fig 3 - Superposition: Electricity + Water cooling +

Summary Based on cumulative experience in the design of a great many projects in industry generally and in the field of plastics in particular, we recommend that plant engineers become familiar with systems engineering as an efficient and advanced tool that combines various engineering disciplines into a single system.

Production line

as also as an internal tool of the engineering department for improving the management of new product development by the plant.

For Further information contact: J. R. Shah: Director Jayvee Organics & Polymers Pvt. Ltd., 11, Niraj Industrial Estate, Off. Mahakali Caves Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai - 400 093 Tel.: 022 - 26871350 / 26870243

This offers an advantage both when the plant is about to be expanded or modified or have new production facilities added to it,

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Fax: 022 - 26871934 / 26870244 Email: jayvee@bom3.vsnl.net.in Web: www.jayvee-additive.com

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Now it’s the Green Polymer world over... ith the overall thrust on producing substance from natural resources Green Polymer a new terminology has been used for describing thermoplastics and elastomers. to continue the trend and further explore the pros and cons Applied Market Information (AMI) is organising an international forum to debate Green Polymer Chemistry covering market drivers, agriculture crop availability, potential production methods and case studies of materials that have reached the marketplace, from 20-22 March 2012 at Cologne.

there will always be competition for resources. As well as using plants as sources of chemicals, scientists are also using them for new engineering technology. Biological catalysts (enzymes) are being used alongside conventional catalysts to break down substrates like lignocellulose and to synthesise specific molecules.

Alongside this, bioreactors containing single cell organisms like yeast or bacteria are being tailored for chemical production using techniques like genetic engineering to enhance production of specific e-enzymes.

The term Green Polymer Chemistry is being used here to describe the production of established thermoplastics and elastomers from renewable sources, including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA), epoxy resin and polyurethane. The by-word in all types of industry these days is “sustainability” as we all work to find ways to conserve the earth’s resources for future generations and reduce the harmful effects of climate change. In the plastics and rubber markets this will mean moving away from fossil fuels as sources of basic chemicals and moving to renewable sources like plants, waste products and waste gases. There are innovations worldwide in the chemical industry with a strong driving force to find sustainable fuel sources, and the technology that is being developed for fuel is now being transferred to the upstream polymer industry.

The EU is also looking at production in the oceans as land is in short supply and this may include algae farms. It is time for botanists to bloom in the chemical industry!

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This is no longer just an ideal but reality as chemical pathways to produce conventional plastics are now available and coming into commercial production. All the major polymer producers are looking at the viability of renewable sources and R&D is rapidly developing in this area. This is nothing new in some regions, as companies like Braskem, Quattor (now part of Braskem) and Chemplast Sanmar (India) have been using plant sources to generate ethanol and ethylene for some time when the cost has been competitive with petroleum.

Brazil has the advantage of extensive land resources for sugar cane production and the economy is well advanced in ethanol production for automotive fuel, which can be diverted to supply ethylene for polyethylene and

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sources of monomers for PP and PVC production.

As another example, in July 2011 Dow Chemical and Mitsui announced a joint venture in Brazil to generate polyethylene from sugar cane and Solvay Indupa is looking at biosourcing for PVC production in South America. Synthetic butadiene for tyre rubber was made from sugarbased ethanol in Brazil for several decades to avoid dependence on latex rubber. Lanxess is planning to produce elastomers from bio-sources, while Merquinsa Mercados Quimicos has already tested its bio-TPU in footwear applications. There is an exceptional level of research taking place around the world on green chemistry, for example at the VTT Technical Research Centre (Finland), Materia Nova (Belgium), York University and the National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFC, United Kingdom). In Europe Chemtex Italia (part of Mossi & Ghisolfi) and Sud Chemie are both looking at chemical production from a sugar platform including cellulosic sugars, while Global Bioenergies has worked out routes for production of olefins including propylene and butadiene. Companies like Genzyme are developing the bio-catalysts needed for green synthesis.

China is making inroads in sustainably-sourced plastics and already has several producers. The Rizhao Polytechnic College is looking specifically at the use of algal synthesis methods. In terms of engineering materials, polyamide has been synthesised at least in part from plant N O V E M B E R 2011

FEATURES oils for several years by companies including DuPont with Zytel® RS polyamide 610 and PA 1010: Arkema with Rilsan PA 11; DSM with EcoPaxx PA410; Evonik with Vestamid Terra DS PA 1010 and Vestamid Terra HS PA 610; BASF with Ultramid BALANCE PA 610; Suzhou HiPro Polymers with Hiprolon®70 PA 610 , Hiprolon® 90 PA 612 and Hiprolon PA1010. In a joint venture Solvay Advanced Polymers and Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals are working on polyamide monomer production from castor oil.

The Liebniz Institute for Catalysis has been reviewing the synthesis of monomers from plant oils including projects with Evonik. Over the past years Dow Chemical has been looking at a variety of routes to different plastics including glycerine as a renewable route to epichlorohydrin, which is used to make epoxy resin. A leading agricultural company, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has developed technology to produce several monomer precursors from crops, which can be used in producing polymers such as unsaturated polyester resin. BASF has extensive research programmes in several divisions on production of renewable chemicals and plastics, as

does DuPont de Nemours and this includes polyols, which can be used in polymers such as elastomers and polyurethanes.

Brand owners like Coca Cola and Pepsi have been pushing for green versions of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for drinks bottles and both have made extensive progress. There are two key components of this polymer, the glycol, which can be sourced from plants as is currently produced by Indian Glycol, and the terephthalate which has proven harder to synthesise.

Wageningen University and Advantium are both conducting research in “green” PET production. All brand owners are now focused on sustainable sourcing from L’Oreal in cosmetics and personal care products to Unilever and Procter & Gamble in foodstuffs and detergents.

The Wageningen University in the Netherlands is a leading research site for agriculture and is also heading up projects to make a range of polymers from bio-feedstock including polystyrene, working with companies such as AkzoNobel.

Many brand owners are already testing bio-sourced materials in their products and packaging and are looking to do more. There are

some issues surrounding the use of agricultural materials, for example the possibility of the chemical industry competing against food supplies, so the industry has to look at the big picture to make sure that the source is indeed sustainable. Unilever has been taking a lead in this area and LMC International is conducting market studies into the availability of agricultural materials.

The ideal is to use something that is a waste product like methane on farms, CO2, straw and wood shavings, or to use a crop that can be grown on land that is too poor in quality for foodstuffs.

CO2 is an ideal feedstock and several polymer companies have developed technology to convert it to plastics including BASF and Bayer Material Science. The automotive, packaging and electronics markets are all looking for green sources of materials to improve carbon footprint and the use of Green Polymer Chemistry could make a dramatic difference in this area. The Ford Motor Company has been particularly active in sourcing and testing innovative materials and is conducting research on renewables in automotive composites.

Chinese plastic product exports expected to drop 20% ccording to some experts China’s plastic product exports are expected to drop roughly 20 percent this year, with the steepest declines to the U.S., Europe and Japan, but companies that focus on the country’s domestic market seem to be faring better.

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At a recent plastics conference in China economic analysts said that the country’s plastics sector still projects growth of at least 15 percent for the year, a figure that would be met with cheers anywhere else in the world.

But within China’s industry, here 20 percent-plus annual growth has 51

been the norm, there’s a mix of both optimism and consternation.

The pessimism is centered among exporters, traditionally one of the main engines of China’s plastics processing sector.

Exports to the traditional markets of

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FEATURES the U.S., Western Europe and Japan plummeted more than 30 percent in the first seven months of this year as Europe’s debt crisis, Japan’s natural disasters and a sluggish economy in the U.S. took a toll, according to figures from Chinese state-owned resin maker Sinopec’s Economics and Development Research Institute.That drop was partially offset, however, by plastic product exports holding steady to other parts of Asia and to other emerging markets, with Beijingbased Sinopec projecting that exports will be down about 20 percent for the year, to about 11 million metric tons of products.

“We see great risk in investment and exports,” said Shu Zhaoxia, deputy chief engineer in the Sinopec economics unit, speaking at the China Plastic Industry Development International Forum, held Nov. 7-8 in Yuyao.

Still, to put this year’s drop in perspective, plastic product exports remain at historically high levels.

Sinopec projects the exports will recover next year to 12 million metric tons, which would be the secondhighest level on record.

To cope with the downturn, Shu said China’s economic policy will focus on stability by responding to bankruptcies hitting small and medium-sized firms, and striking a balance between boosting growth and fighting inflation.

But finding new sources of growth could be a challenge, Shu said. “The reform of state-owned enterprises, real estate and high exports — which drove growth before — cannot drive growth now,” she said. “Things like the

low-carbon economy are not strong enough to push the new phase of growth.”

Sinopec’s projections for plastics exports were matched by other, lessformal estimates at the conference, which was organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and consulting firm IHS Inc. of Englewood, Colo.

A survey of 40 plastics processors done by Internet business platform sc199.com, for example, found that export-oriented firms were reporting a drop of 10-20 percent in their production, while domestic factories were seeing production increase “to a limited extent.”

And Paul Pang, the China managing director for Houston-based consulting firm CMAI Inc., said exports have been down as much as 60 percent in some plastics sectors in recent months because of weakness in North America and Europe. Those exports did not pick up much in September, traditionally a time when December holiday orders are filled, he said, with coastal regions like Zhejiang Province faring the worst. But processors more tuned to the domestic market, such as those in central or northern China, “are probably OK,” Pang said. “They are not doing great, but OK.” Challenges for the sector, several analysts said, are low profit margins and excess capacity among plastics processors. They have an average profit rate of 4.9 percent, below the 5.45 percent average for the country’s other 17 light-industrial sectors, said Guo Yongxin, vice director of China’s National Light Industry Information

Center, who blames excess capacity and a lack of innovation.

“There are too many small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector,” Guo said. “There [are] no distinctive differences or product innovations. This leads to low profits.”

Eventually, it will lead to mergers and consolidation, he predicts: “We see a transformation in the sector in the next five years.”

Still, the analysts said there are positive factors.China’s economy is still projected to grow 9 percent this year, and industrialization in China’s interior provinces is expected to fuel demand, with Sinopec saying the interior provinces are seeing growth rates of 11-13 percent, even as coastal regions slow down.“There is a lot of potential for an increase in consumption,” said Shu, adding that Chinese use of plastic on a per capita basis is now at about the level of South Korea in 1990. “In the next five years, demand will remain on an upward trend, but the increase will be more stable.”And Pang said CMAI projects China is likely to have a soft landing as its economy slows, with only a 25 percent chance of the “hard landing” some have feared.

Nonetheless, there was plenty of nervousness about the state of the global economy.

“Developed countries are trapped by new problems after three years, because the stimulus packages did not work as planned,” said Shu. “Developing countries will have to control inflation, and the growth rate has slowed for all countries.”

(Courtesy :Plastic News)

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Plastics play huge role in helping human survival lastics have been playing an important role in our day-today life. Be it our tooth brush, comb, tea bags and et all… you name it and it is there. One wonders how could one live without plastics.

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Imagine your mobile phone made up of wood or steel or even the tooth brush for that matter.

How would you use your laptop either? Like it or no but life would be difficult without plastics and the British Plastics Federation is doing its bit by urging people world over to recognize the role of plastics in modern day.

With the world’s population slated to top 7 billion today, the British Plastics Federation (BPF) has urged world governments to recognize the role plastic plays in helping human survival. London-based BPF said the use of plastics was "key to supporting population growth and raising the hopes of deprived people.”

Writing to Vince Cable, the United Kingdom’s secretary of state for Business, Innovation and Skills, the BPF’s director-general Peter Davis said it was "crucial that policy makers the world over register this simple point – that plastics help people on this planet survive in increasingly testing circumstances." “We can cope with rapid population increases because better education and innovation have led to improvements in health, medical provision and communications," Davis said. "However climatic and environmental change could prompt mass migration, water and food P L A S T I C S N E W S

shortages and increased poverty.”

Davis went on to document how plastics products are helping responses to environmental and social challenges:

Minimizing greenhouse gas emissions Plastics components significantly reduce the weight of motor vehicles and aircraft, improving their fuel efficiency and reducing emissions.

The new generation of jet passenger aircraft uses plastics composites to lighten their bodyweight.

Achieving good healthcare for all Conservation and distribution of fresh water Plastic tanks for rainwater harvesting and pipes for water distribution are light in weight, durable, hygienic, and easy to deploy in all locations – for instance replacing the UK’s cracked Victorian water mains.

Food production Plastics products transform marginal farmland, protects crops from wind and rain damage. They raise the soil temperature, enabling earlier sowing and transplanting. Plastic pipe drainage systems and irrigation channel linings reduce water loss.

Reducing food waste Sealed and durable plastics packaging preserves food, is hygienic and minimizes the possibility of health hazards through bacterial or fungal attack.

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The economies of scale achievable through the manufacture of plastics medical devices are making sophisticated treatment more affordable the world over, radically improving the recovery, wellbeing, personal mobility and independence of elderly, unwell or injured people.

Energy conservation Plastics (as used in PVC windows and expanded polystyrene insulation, for example) are low conductors of energy. In temperate and cold climates they keep heat in buildings and the cold out, and have the opposite benefits in hot countries.

Coping with emergencies and disasters Whenever earthquakes or flood strike, plastics products are needed to help affected communities survive and return to normality, from tarpaulin sheets and tents to water tanks, rafts and crafts, rope and portable toilets.

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Firms needs to design strategies to abide emissions rules he Annual Blow Molding Conference for this year was held last month by the Society of Plastics Engineers during 12th and 13th October in Chicago. During the two-day conference most of the speakers maintained that Engineers, designers and companies affected by emission guidelines need to stay well-informed and workout specific strategies to remain ahead of the game.

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An official with Mergon Corporation, based in Anderson, S.C., laid out a time line for when some products will fall under new guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2010, new standards affected products under the SORE (small off-road engines) category, including hand-held devices such as string trimmers, leaf blowers, chainsaws and edgers.

Several non-hand-held products were covered under 2011 standards, including walk-behind mowers, generators and pressure washers.

Into 2012, riding mowers and zero-turn mowers will fall under the standards.

The challenge is to find monolayer technologies to meet barrier properties, said Mergon’s Steve Thompson.

Formerly, barrier property requirements were met by other means — such as multilayers in automotive fuel tanks and fluorination technology in SORE fuel tanks.

But multilayer is a high-investment technology with limited flexibility and is suitable for high-volume production.

Fluorination technology use in high

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density polyethylene blow molded containers is limited because there are additional freight and handling costs, an additional supplier is needed, and its ability to achieve future regulation changes is questionable, as is the cosmetic finish of the tank.

Mergon does use fluorination technology in a facility in South Carolina, Thompson said.

Options in monolayer technology include Hyperier, a proprietary barrier resin from South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd.; an Enbarr LLC nylon material combined with nano-barrier technology; and Ticona’s Hostaform, which reportedly has been used successfully in blow molding small gas tanks. Officials currently are awaiting permeation and test results.

Options in two- or three-layer technology include Enbarr’s ethylene vinyl alcohol-based Tievoh, for threelayer structures and Solvay Plastics’ Ixef for two- and three-layer structures.

Ixef started trials in 2007 using Mergon’s specialized blow molding machine fitted with three extruders, enabling a three-layer parison. That material was difficult to process and has since been reformulated, with test results pending.

Ford Motor Co., for its part, is pursuing advanced blow molding technologies primarily focused on complying with evaporative emissions standards, optimizing product design and reducing design complexity.

Evaporative emissions standards are changing, said Ford CAE

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manager Mohammad Usman. “We are aggressively looking at this,” he said. “What worked in the past is not going to work. We’re going after new technology.”

That includes twin-sheet blow molding. Other technologies include three-dimensional blow molding for ducts and hoses. The company also is changing the way it blow molds foam ducts. Via traditional blow molding, there was the extra operation of adding a layer of foam. Through new technology, Ford performs inmold addition of the foam layer. The company also is suction blow molding several products including air ducts, turbo hot-charge ducts and a fuel filler pipe that is in development.

Usman said suction blow molding provides high flexibility in complex article geometry, improved wallthickness distribution and better surface appearance. Ford also redesigned and converted a fuel manifold from injection molding to blow molding to address failure due to high pressure, he said.

At John Deere’s technology innovation center in Moline, Ill., Ken Carter, staff materials engineer for polymers, is looking way ahead for fueltank requirements and is encouraging everyone else to do the same.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is enforcing its requirements in stages and each stage takes three to five years.“CARB right now is evaluating lawn and garden,” he said.

“It will probably be next year, but the

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FEATURES trend is to lower it. … So by 2020, who knows where CARB will be,” Carter said. In addition, Carter encouraged officials to be aware of new fuels on the market, such as the controversial E-15 — a blend of gasoline and ethanol. As of Aug. 10, E-15 was not registered with the EPA and is therefore not

legal for distribution or sale as a transportation fuel, according to Carter.

The blended fuel contains up to 15 percent ethanol, so it cannot be used with lawn and garden equipment.

“The issue with the lawn and garden industry is not the ethanol, it’s when it sits,” Carter said. The tanks for those

products aren’t generally used every day like automotive tanks are.“Is your material going to hold up through long haul? When you design and manufacture, you have to look at it for the long term,” he added. “There is a lot of uncertainty with E-15 and how it will go.”

Lawsuit argues that plastic bags are safer than paper for transporting hot foods

By Mike Verespej cities and counties to promote the general welfare.

rguing that plastic bags are safer than paper bags for transporting hot foods, the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition has filed a lawsuit to block Santa Cruz County, California, from implementing a plastic bag ban that is scheduled to go into effect March 20 in unincorporated areas.

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Unlike most plastic bag bans in the U.S. which largely bar supermarkets and retailers from handing out single-use plastic carryout bags at checkout, the Santa Cruz County law also bans restaurants and food vendors from handing out plastic bags to customers taking home prepared foods.

The only other U.S. city that bans restaurants and food vendors from handing out plastic bags is Manhattan Beach, California. The Santa Cruz County ban, which affects roughly 500 retailers, also places a 10-cent fee on paper bags that escalates to 25 cents after the law is in effect for one year.

The lawsuit to overturn the ban was filed October 18 in the Superior Court P L A S T I C S N E W S

That legal approach is a departure from previous lawsuits filed by the coalition, which has sued to block plastic bag bans in other cities and counties for failure to conduct an economic impact report as required by the California Environmental Quality Act. of California for Santa Cruz County by Stephen Joseph, legal counsel for the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition.

It argues that the ban is invalid because it is in violation of several health and safety codes of the California Retail Food code that regulate food safety and also the mandated plastic bag recycling ordinance enacted in California five years ago. The coalition also said the ban is in violation of the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, and is in violation of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, saying the law’s vague language doesn’t give people subject to fines enough guidance and that the ordinance exceeds the police power of 61

“Mr. Joseph’s latest legal challenge to a plastic bag ban reeks of desperation,” said Mark Murray, executive director of the Sacramento, Calif.-based group, Californians Against Waste. “He appears to have abandoned any argument that the ban circumvents California’s environmental quality act. Instead he is rehashing the argument—rejected by the Marin County Superior Court—that a local ban is somehow pre-empted by state law. Additionally, he has invented a new argument suggesting that singleuse plastic carryout bags somehow provide a public health and safety benefit.”

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FEATURES “I suspect that the California Courts will reject this new legal challenge just as they have rejected previous challenges by Mr. Joseph,” Murray said. In its lawsuit, the coalition notes that California health and safety code 113705 requires that there “be uniform statewide health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities to assure the people of this state that the food will be pure, safe, and unadulterated.” “Only the state legislature, not a city or county,” argued the coalition in its lawsuit, “may enact a law regarding whether restaurants can take actions that affect whether the way food is served is “sanitary” or “safe” or “healthy.”

“By banning restaurant plastic bags, the county was implicitly and effectively determining that eliminating restaurant plastic bags is a sanitary, safe, and healthy food practice,” said the coalition in its lawsuit. “This determination is preempted by the California Retail Food Code. It is not covered by any of the exemptions” in yet another section of the health and safety code, specifically, 113709. Neither the county nor the board of supervisors conducted any study or made any findings with regard to the health, sanitary, safety, liability, or legal impacts of banning restaurant plastic bags, said the lawsuit.

It further contends that plastic bags are safer for transporting hot food and points out that when Santa Monica, Calif., banned plastic carryout bags, it made an exclusion for plastic bags handed out by restaurants “as a public health safeguard. Likewise, San Jose also determined that “restaurants

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and food establishments would not be subject to the[plastic bag] ban for public health reasons. Reusable bags are considered impractical for these purposes,” said the city of San Jose.

The coalition also referred, in its lawsuit, to a letter it sent to the board of supervisors September 12 about the safety of plastic vs. paper bags “Unlike supermarkets that sell packaged foods, restaurants sell freshly cooked foods that are usually hot and contain liquids including items fried in oil,” said the letter. “Plastic is obviously safer than paper for transporting hot and liquid foods. Plastic is a waterproof and greaseproof material. Paper is not.

Also, plastic bag handles can be tightly tied. Paper bags cannot.”

“Take-out bags are often opened in cars, including moving cars, so proper packaging is essential,” said the letter. “Scalding injuries are serious. A restaurant owner has the legal right and duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent such injuries. Restaurant owners have liability issues. It is for the restaurant owner, not the county, to decide whether plastic or paper is the safest for its food. Denying restaurant owners the safest option could have disastrous consequences.” The lawsuit also argued that California AB2449, the mandated plastic bag recycling measure, precludes any plastic bag ban from taking effect before that lawsuit sunsets January 1, 2013.

In addition, the lawsuit charged that the county has13 findings in its ordinance that are based on “misinformation, limited or no research or verification, and are plainly wrong.

Currently, 10 cities and four counties in California have plastic bag bans: 62

Calabasas, Fairfax, Long Beach, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Monica. In addition, the counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and Marin have passed plastic bag bans that apply to the unincorporated areas of their counties. Hearings on the legality of the Marin ban are under way in Marin County Superior Court.

Altogether, 30 U.S. communities have plastic bag bans.

The most recent: Aspen, Colo., passed a ban on plastic bags and placed a 20-cent fee on paper bags October 11 that will go into effect May 1.

In addition, Basalt, Colo., 20 miles northwest of Aspen, became the third U.S. community to tax plastic bags, when it placed a 20-cent fee Oct.11 on both paper and plastic bags that also goes into effect May 1.

The other communities in the U.S. with plastic bag bans are Fort Stockton, South Padre Island and Brownsville in Texas; East Hampton,N.Y., and Southhampton Village in New York; the towns of Bellingham and Edmonds in Washington; Portland, Ore.; the islands of Kauai and Maui in Hawaii; Telluride, Colo.; Westport, Conn.; and the Alaska towns of Bethel and Hooper Bay. In addition, the Outer Banks, N.C., counties of Hyde, Dare and Currituck also have a ban on plastic bags, enacted as a single measure for those three counties. In addition to Basalt, Colo., Montgomery County, Md., and Washington, D.C., have a 5-cent tax on plastic and paper carryout bags.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Demand for electricity and petrol in Thai start to sink oncerns of oil and gas giant PTT Plc have shifted away from the euro-zone debt crisis to the flooding in Thailand, as demand for electricity and petrol have begun to sink in the wake of the months-long disaster.

As per BangkokPost, the effects are expected to rise during the rest of the year from falling petrochemical demand due to the number of factories that have been forced to shut down by the disaster. The local floods are also estimated to drag down the country's gross domestic product (GDP) along

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with demand for raw materials by the manufacturing sector. Electricity demand has clearly already dropped, while shrinking demand for petrol is due partly to service station closures.

Three months of heavy rains have deluged about one third of Thailand’s provinces, chiefly in central and northern areas, with floods, swamping homes and businesses and shutting down industry. The floods are likely to cut economic growth this year by around 1.0 to 1.7 percentage points, according to estimates from the Bank

of Thailand and the National Economic and Social Development Board.

Forecasters at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce have estimated the cost of the floods to the Thai economy at about 150 billion baht (US$4.9 bln) about 1.3-1.5% of annual GDP. Japanese automakers including Toyota have suspended production due to water damage to facilities or a shortage of components. The floods have also damaged 10% of Thailand’s rice paddy.

European plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers set to reach all-time high he European plastics and rubber machinery industry achieved remarkable rates of growth in 2010 and 2011 and is on course to match the 2008 record.

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"Our industry recovered very well from the economic and financial crisis in the countries associated with EUROMAP; this year's production volume in the core machinery business is expected to reach almost 11 billion Euro," said Bernhard Merki, the European federation's newly re-elected President at the press conference, held on the occasion of the triennial General Assembly. "The three-year period between the previous and this year's assembly was undoubtedly one of the most turbulent since EUROMAP was founded in 1964. The industry was hit by a downturn, the full force of P L A S T I C S N E W S

which could not have been predicted when we last met. But the months that followed taught us a number of lessons. In late 2009, orders started to pick up again - albeit from a very low level - and this upswing continued during the whole of 2010 and well into 2011. Looking at new incoming order curves between 2008 and 2011 highlights just how much of a roller coaster ride this has been", explained Bernhard Merki.

Rates of growth as regards global output and exports of plastics and rubber machinery were even higher.

The increase was mainly attributable to Chinese manufacturers setting the pace in terms of output. Japanese competitors, who had been badly hit in 2009, emerged from the crisis very quickly and in surprisingly good 63

shape. The upswing in Asia's industry and emerging economies caused EUROMAP's share in global output and exports to fall back slightly.

EUROMAP's newly confirmed Vice-President, Luciano Anceschi, highlighted another aspect which may become a real asset for machinery manufacturers in Europe. "There is a genuine global trend towards more sustainability. Saving energy as well as protecting resources is playing an increasingly important and pivotal role not only in Europe but in all major economic areas across the world. In order to help its industry meet the demands from all parties involved, EUROMAP supports the manufacturers in the member countries with studies and recommendations.

Being prepared may just give our

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS industry the edge." The trend in 2012 will be for new order income to fall back, but sales will be stable due, partly to a favourable order backlog that has built up. China has been the main driver of demand in 2010 and 2011 and is becoming a major power in machinery production. Euromap estimates global core machinery production was €23.35 bln in 2010, with the share of machinery companies based in China

rising to 29.3% from 23.5% in 2009.

As per europeanplasticsnews.com, in terms of exports to China in 2010, Germany maintained a similar share of the Chinese market at 28.4%. But China’s neighbours benefited most from the country’s rising demand, with the 2010 market share increasing to 27.9% (from 25.0% in 2009) for Japanese exports, 12.0% (8.5%) for Taiwanese exports, and 5.9% (5.7%)

for South Korean exports. China is also fast ascending the table of world machinery exporters, passing Italy into third place for the first time in 2010. Germany is still the world’s biggest exporter with a 23.7% market share in 2010 (down from 24.6% in 2009), followed by Japan 13.1% (10.8%), China 10.6% (9.1%), Italy 9.6% (11.3%) and USA 6.7% (7.5%).

Growing flood concerns dampen demand in Thailand hailand is facing its worst floods in 50 years, as per ChemOrbis.

Floods have affected much of the country’s north, northeast and central regions. While the death toll is already high and the estimated cost of the damage for the nationwide flooding continues to grow, the government is now trying to prevent flood waters from reaching Bangkok by building floodwalls on the outskirts of the capital city.

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At least 281 people have been killed by heavy monsoon rain, floods and mudslides since late July and 26 of Thailand's 77 provinces are inundated, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Bank of Thailand Governor also said a preliminary estimate by the central bank shows economic losses from flooding that began in late July range from baht 60 billion to baht 80 billion (US$1.9-2.6 bln). That figure doesn't include damages to assets or reconstruction costs and is expected to rise as the flood waters surge toward Bangkok, a city of about 10

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million people. In addition, the Finance Ministry has cut its economic growth forecast for this year to 3.7% from 4% percent because of the damage to farming and the disruption to industry.

Honda, Toyota, Pioneer, Nikon, Toshiba, Sony, Mitsubishi, Hitachi and ON Semiconductor Corp are amongst the companies suspending their operations in the country, according to Bloomberg.

E v e n t h o u g h t h e c o u n t r y ’s petrochemical operations are unaffected by the recent disasters, polymer demand from many end product markets has been hampered further. Manufacturers in numerous end product applications including the agricultural sector as well as the automotive and electronics sectors, where the impacts of the damages are seen the most, are now holding pessimistic views for the near term.

They do not think that their business will improve soon.

A pipe manufacturer in Hatyai said that their end product market is quite slow due to the ongoing impacts of

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the floods in Central Thailand, which will eventually pass to the south of the country by next month. He is not too hopeful about his November business while he may buy some cargoes only by the end of the year, he commented.

Two PVC producers in Thailand, who concluded local sales with decreases, are also pessimistic about seeing a demand recovery by November.

A distributor in Bangkok stated that they have cut their PS and ABS offers further to the local market this week; however, he is not sure if he can make sales even at lower levels due to poor demand, as per the plastics pricing service ChemOrbis. He was planning to buy some cargoes for stocking purposes; however, he decided not to do so because of the concerns that the floods may reach Bangkok in two days, where his warehouse is located.

Another distributor reselling PP and PE mostly at lower levels commented that demand has deteriorated now that the worries about the recent floods are growing. He is not optimistic that the market will improve until next month.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

BASF plans investment in SAP plants in Brazil, China, Malaysia ermany-based BASF SE reports it plans to build superabsorbent polymer (SAP) plants in Brazil and China, and is evaluating the viability of a similar plant in Malaysia. SAPs are capable of absorbing and holding up to 500 times their own weight in liquid, or up to 50 times their own weight in salty fluids such as urine. The primary enduses for SAPs are diapers, and adult

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incontinence and feminine hygiene products. Diapers especially become much thinner, but just as absorbent with the use of SAPs, BASF reports.

The planned facility in Camaçari, Brazil, will have an annual capacity of 60,000 tpa, and production is anticipated to begin in late 2014.

BASF-YPC Co. Ltd., a 50:50 joint venture between BASF and Sinopec Ltd. will construct a 60,000 tpa plant in

Nanjing, China. This facility is expected to begin commercial production in early 2014. A study currently is underway to determine the technical and economic feasibility of an integrated SAP plant in Kuantan, Malaysia. "With these two new projects, we will accompany the rapid growth of the emerging markets in South America and China," said Gabriel Tanbourgi, president, Care Chemicals, BASF.

Rates for recycled bottles may increase in UK ccording to a new report Demand for recycled plastic material in the UK could outstrip bottle collection rates in the next five years. Recoup, the organisation which represents a number of plastics manufacturing and recycling interests, said there had been “encouraging increases” in the rate of plastic bottle recycling in 2010, with 48.5% of bottles being collected, up 2.5 percentage points on 2009’s figure. Announcing the imminent publication of its latest report on UK household plastics packaging collection, Recoup’s deputy chief executive Steve Foster said the figure of nearly 22 million households in the UK which benefitted from a plastic bottle kerbside collection service was a “testament to 10 years of progress”.

However it warned that collection rates would “struggle to meet the burgeoning demand for material”. Nonbottle collection rates would increase

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significantly in the next five years, a trend which would require “urgent investment in sorting infrastructure and further development of sustainable and auditable end markets”. He also added that “Bottle collection rates have risen

from 3% to 48.5% during that time, the number of bring-collection points has more than trebled and non-bottle plastic collections have evolved from effectively nothing to 76,300 tonnes,” he added.

Freegard calls for stronger legislative frameworks for business innovation in UK peaking at the recent launch of the KTN Materials Security Special Interest Group, to Axion Polymers’ director Keith Freegard said that according to him the UK is missing a “massive opportunity” by failing to capture the embedded value in high-tech waste that could support new jobs and economic growth in sustainable businesses. Wholesale exports of

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low-grade mix polymer materials from the UK’s commercial and domestic waste streams are depriving the nation of valuable resources that could be re-used in high-quality, higher-value goods, said Freegard. Freegard called for stronger legislative frameworks to drive business innovation and safeguard rare materials for processing at home.

N O V E M B E R 2011

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Government funding opens plastics jobs in Grimsby ore than 100 new jobs, 80 of them in plastics, are to be created in north east Lincolnshire after two bids for government funding to support major private investment in the area were approved. New plastics firm T&N Plastics is pressing ahead with plans to locate in Grimsby. The other successful bidder is speciality gases provider BOC. Both are subject to due diligence checks prior to receiving the cash – more than £1m each – as part of the Regional Growth Fund, a £1.6bn

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three-year publicly funded project.

T&N Plastics will supply into the packaging industry, working closely with Grimsby’s food sector, and is a venture from Dublin-based father and son entrepreneurs Trevor and Niall Enright. Trevor Enright, director of T&N Plastics, said: "We are delighted to hear the news that our bid to the Regional Growth Fund has been approved. We are looking forward to establishing our business in Grimsby.

Freegard calls for stronger legislative frameworks for business innovation in UK peaking at the recent launch of the KTN Materials Security Special Interest Group, to Axion Polymers’ director Keith Freegard said that according to him the UK is missing a “massive opportunity” by failing to capture the embedded value in hightech waste that could support new jobs and economic growth in sustainable businesses. Wholesale exports of

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low-grade mix polymer materials from the UK’s commercial and domestic waste streams are depriving the nation of valuable resources that could be re-used in high-quality, higher-value goods, said Freegard. Freegard called for stronger legislative frameworks to drive business innovation and safeguard rare materials for processing at home.

BPF urges to recognize the role of plastic world over ith the world’s population slated to top 7 billion today, the British Plastics Federation (BPF) has urged world governments to recognize the role plastic plays in helping human survival. London-based BPF said the use of plastics was "key to supporting population growth and raising the hopes of deprived people.”

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Writing to Vince Cable, the United Kingdom’s secretary of state for Business, Innovation and Skills, the BPF’s director-general Peter Davis said it was "crucial that policy makers the world over register this simple point – that plastics help people on this planet survive in increasingly testing circumstances." Davis went on to document how plastics products are helping responses to environmental and social challenges:

World's largest methanol supplier to shut down plant in Egypt Canada's Methanex Corp, the world's largest methanol supplier, said it will shut down its plant in Egypt due to political unrest in the country, as per Reuters. The Egyptian facility started commercial operations in March. The company, which supplies methanol to markets in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe, plans to restart the plant in a timely manner once order has been restored in the area.

Political groups in Egypt have warned of an anti-military protest, if the ruling generals did not withdraw a constitutional proposal that shields the army from oversight in parliament

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BUSINESS NEWS

Borealis Schwechat celebrates 50 years of Polypropylene production n October, Borealis, a leading supplier of innovative solutions in the areas of base chemicals and plastics, celebrated an important anniversary with the 50th anniversary of polypropylene (PP) production at its Schwechat location. The company’s first PP production plant became operational in Schwechat in 1961 and received the designation PP1.

At that time, the plant was part of the Danubia Petrochemie AG and was not merely the first of its type at the company, but also only the second such installation worldwide. Initially the propylene raw material required for PP manufacture was delivered in railway wagons in a somewhat complicated procedure, but subsequently the gas was supplied directly via pipelines from

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the neighbouring OMV refinery.

“The plant employed the so-called Montecatini process and for the time had an impressive annual capacity of 4,500 tonnes, explains Rudolf Sukal, Borealis Location Leader Schwechat. He continues,“Today, a modern plant can produce the same amount of polypropylene in less than a week.” Catalysts constitute the key component in plastics manufacturing and in Schwechat a Ziegler-Natta model was employed. This type of catalyst, which in 1963 won the Nobel Prize for the Italian chemist Giulio Natta, is still utilized for plastic production today. The first product quality manufactured in the PP1 plant in Schwechat was Daplen™,

Growth in wood plastic composites in Europe outpaces other plastics rowth in the European wood plastic composites (WPC) market has been averaging 25% a year despite the recent tough economic conditions and a sharp decline in construction output, as per AMI. Demand in Europe is no longer driven by imports from the US and Asia, but by strong established European producers. The market is attractive and has space for new entrants. For Europes’ most successful WPC producers, EBITDA returns in

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2010 were an attractive 25%. 15-20 producers across the EU-25 region are profiled, with details on sales, products and annual revenue. WPC producers are well down the track of defining products of a quality that buyers want, at prices that they can afford. Marketing propositions are getting much clearer and the range of applications served is on the verge of becoming significantly broader.

The outlook in this unusual segment remains rosy.

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which was mainly further processed into household articles by means of injection moulding. The material from the 1970s has been further developed and Borealis continues to produce Daplen, which is now used primarily in the automotive sector. PP1 remained in operation until 2000. At the time of its shutdown, it had an annual production capacity of 70,000 tons.

Today, the Borealis plant in Schwechat is one of the most modern and important in Europe with a workforce of around 500 and annual production capacity of roughly 1 mln tons of plastics.

Cast Strategies opens up in India ast Strategies LLC, a management consulting firm based in Dublin, has launched a service to help U.S. composite manufacturers enter the Indian market.“While India poses its share of business challenges, U.S. companies are welcome, and now is the time to get in on the ground floor of the manufacturing metamorphosis u n d e r w a y, ” s a i d M i c h a e l Swartzlander, Cast Strategies founder and Managing Director.

Swartzlander has experience in India setting up operations for Ashland Inc.

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BUSINESS NEWS

Europe’s petrochemical industry moving towards value added specialty products he petrochemical industry in Europe has been actively embracing specialty, value-added products as it seeks to capitalize on a series of megatrends that are shaping the economy. The European petrochemical industry has been investing intensively into developing its specialty capabilities while phasing out some of its less profitable and less promising bulk commodity operations. However, according to Platts, it is deterred by investor skepticism and impatience. Meeting the needs of socioeconomic developments such as increasing urbanization, ageing populations, fuel efficiency, sustainability and recycling, pose a challenge to the chemical industry in particular. In the tougher post-2008 economic environment, this gathered pace, as

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the industry has sought to rationalize, consolidate and eliminate inefficient capacity and in many cases exit bulk commodity manufacturing.

Trying to compete in the production of bulk commodities against regions that have an inherently cheaper feedstock and labor bases is becoming progressively more difficult for Europe.

By serving diverse societal needs, the industry remains under pressure to continuously reinvent itself and to keep pace with these needs. Identifying fundamental drivers for change has been essential for the industry."Mainly we are looking at how the industry can contribute and provide solutions to the main challenges we are facing, be it green house gases, be it fossil fuels, be it recycling and re-use and all elements of sustainability," said Juhan Robberts, ExxonMobil's European

Pure Tech's Navedo elected chairman of recyclers' group teve Navedo, vice president of sales and quality assurance at PET recycler Pure Tech Plastics in East Farmingdale, is the new chairman of the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers. Navedo replaces Scott Saunders, general manager of KW Plastics Recycling in Troy, whose term as chairman and membership on the APR board ended in midOctober. Bill O’Grady, vice president

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and general manager of recycler Talco Plastics Inc. in Corona, California,was elected vice president of APR at the association’s fall meeting in Charlotte in mid-October. O’Grady is a past APR chairman.APR members represent more than 90 percent of all postconsumer plastic processing capacity in North America. The group is based in Washington.

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business director for basic chemicals.

Robberts is also a board member of EPCA. He explains that the industry's objective in general is to play its role in society and to make sure that this is done in a sustainable manner, which means balancing economic growth, social development and environmental factors.

SERVICES AVAILABLE IN AIPMA HOUSE • Elegant Auditorium • Board Room • Business Centre & Ground Floor Hall at very nominal tariff for your business purpose • Library Free use of books and reports available N O V E M B E R 2011

BUSINESS NEWS

Green Paper on packaging and sustainability Green Paper resulting from a broad stakeholder consultation on the topic of Packaging and Sustainability has been published today by EUROPEN (The European Organization for Packaging and the Environment). The paper concludes that packaging should be seen as part of the solution in achieving a resource efficient society.

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In an open dialogue between stakeholders on packaging’s role in society, the industry body sought opinions on the goals the packaging value chain should seek to achieve.

Representatives of environmental NGO’s, the European Commission, The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, retailers and retailer trade associations and EUROPEN’s corporate members were among stakeholders involved in shaping and endorsing the contents of the Green Paper.

Participants recognised the essential contribution to sustainable production and consumption that packaging makes by helping reduce product waste and protect resources while acknowledging that packaging consumes resources along all the stages of the supply chain. The Green Paper examines core questions about the place that packaging plays in the drive towards sustainable production and consumption and offers insightful perspectives to the varied questions that must be asked in order to obtain an “optimum packaging design” for a product, with the lowest possible environmental impact. In the process of developing the paper, P L A S T I C S N E W S

participants considered seven key questions surrounding the subject of material selection, packaging design, consumer choice, transport, end-oflife, communication along the value chain and innovative business models.

A broad consensus was reached on the role of packaging in ensuring health and safety of food products as a precondition and in preventing food waste and product loss. In particular, stakeholders recognised the need for the packaging value chain to adapt to demographic and lifestyle changes by developing strategies to help various market segments. For instance, there was broad support of the need for

smaller portion sizes if a decrease in food waste is to be achieved.

EUROPEN’s Managing Director Julian Carroll said “the Green Paper, which brought together the opinions of broad sectors of society, not just industry, will serve EUROPEN and hopefully other stakeholders as a reference point in further discussions about Packaging and Sustainability.

Packaging is part of the solution, not part of a problem, in achieving a resource efficient society, and this paper will support us to deliver that message to consumers, policy makers and key opinion formers.”

SABIC sets up a new venture capital arm to invest in innovative technology audi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) has set up a new venture capital arm to invest in innovative technology and companies. The new firm, SABIC Ventures, will be based in the Netherlands and will invest in technologies and new business.

It will be funded through a socalled innovation fund that will be managed by the company. "SABIC Ventures aims to build up a portfolio of technology options for the company's future businesses," the Saudi chemicals giant said in a statement. "It will do this by investing directly both in seed

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stage, early stage and late stage companies. The new organization will both lead investment, co-lead and invest alongside venture capitalists." The new venture firm will focus on investing in the U.S., Europe and Asia, SABIC added. It will target investments in advanced materials and composites, alternative feedstocks for chemicals and materials as well as alternative energy and clean technology.

SABIC, which had a record net profit in the third quarter, said in March it plans to boost its spending on technology, particularly for renewables.

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BUSINESS NEWS

West Bengal plans to offload residual stake in Haldia Petrochemicals ash-starved West Bengal plans to raise approximately Rs 450 crore by offloading its balance 10% stake of 155 mln shares in Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) back to the company, according to Financial Express. This will leave majority shareholder Purnendu Chatterjeeled TCG with two options of either significant cash outgo to buy the 10% stake or letting the stake be snapped up by competitors. The sale will also violate a Supreme Court order, which had asked the state government to retain its residual stake.

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The developments come in the backdrop of Rs 1,000 crore accumulated losses at HPL, which has charted a turnaround road map for the next three years. The company wants the government to hold on to

its stake a bit longer as it will earn far more, once it is out of the red. West Bengal is also expediting transfer of an earlier block of 520 million shares (at Rs 28.80 each) as per the orders of the Company Law Board in 2007. The transfer of shares is in installments with the entire transaction divided into four tranches. The Left Front government had completed three tranches but had halted the fourth. However, the industry department has now cleared the last installment too from which the state would earn Rs 115 crore.

Besides the state government with its 10% stake, the Tatas hold 2.88% in HPL, while IOC holds 9.61%. After the West Bengal government transfers 520 million shares, TCG’s stake will touch 77.56%. The Supreme Court recently dismissed the petition filed

EuCIA says composites recycling support is mandatory he European Composites Industry Association (EuCIA) has launched the Recycling & Sustainability Platform, which will represent companies working in that sector.

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Alisa De Backer, EuCIA general manager, said: “Composites are recyclable and sustainable. Various projects and studies have been carried out by the industry across Europe over the years and now we are in the position to show our progress.

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“The combination of high [value] properties of composites and their green credentials must be a winning formula for the future of our sector.

Nevertheless, as an industry we need to get together and enforce our message to our suppliers and EU legislators,” added De Backer.

“Being a sustainable industry is a challenging process, but we aim to address it under the new platform. For this initiative to be a success, the full support of the industry is 70

by Purnendu Chatterjee-led The Chatterjee Group (TCG), which is also a principal shareholder of HPL, against the decision of the Calcutta High Court allowing the state government to retain 155 million shares in the company.

The TCG had challenged the high court verdict that set aside an order of the Company Law Board directing the state government to exit from HPL by selling its stake to the joint venture partner TCG.The state opines that the current sickness in HPL is not only because of the share pattern, but also because of technology, marketing and decision making.

Advanced Trim Wright to recycle scrap PVC aunton based PVC trim manufacturer Advanced TrimWright Inc. is setting up a program to recycle PVC through participating lumberyards. The company will provide lumberyards with 44-inch-wide-by-44-inchdeep collection boxes, capable of holding the equivalent of 52,000 water bottles. Contractors can drop off PVC scrap in the boxes, and East Taunton-based ATW will collect them when they are full. The company expects to have more than 100 containers in service by the end of 2012.

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Taiwan’s petrochemical industry might have a challenging year 012 will be a challenging year for Taiwan’s petrochemical industry amid rising crude oil prices, the macroeconomic slump and increased production capacity from rivals in China and the Middle East, as per a market researcher in Taipeitimes.com.

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Crude prices are estimated to hover at US$100-110 per barrel, pressurizing profit margins for midstream to downstream petrochemical products, according to the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Research Center at the Industrial Technology Research Institute. Additionally, China’s 12th five year economic plan has outlined a plan to ramp up ethylene production capacity by 7-8 mln tpa to 23 mln tpa by 2015. As a result, China’s dependence on Taiwan for petrochem

and polymer products will reduce.

China’s monetary tightening and electricity rationing measures in 2011, have led to weaker downstream demand for petrochemical buyers, and have taken a toll on Taiwan’s output.

Total ethylene production capacity in the Middle East is also expected to rise to 32.24 mln tons in 2012 from 29.68 mln tpa in 2010. Sluggish economic prospects in USA and the eurozone, coupled with a series of industrial safety mishaps at Formosa Plastics Group have also dampened output for H2-2011.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, has called on the sector to allocate additional resources to research and development (R&D) to produce higher value-added

petrochemical products that have a chance to compete on the international stage. Petrochem majors in Taiwan will end up competing with overseas rivals in a price war without higher value-added products. The ministry has been urging local petrochemical companies to invest at least 2% of their annual revenue in R&D by 2020, up from the current 0.32%. The IEK also cautioned Taiwanese manufacturers to consider the risk involved in expanding business across the Taiwan Strait, given the Chinese government’s frequent changes in policy and the possibility that Beijing might take over control of raw materials deemed critical for naphtha cracking.

America proposes to raise taxes on energy and petrochemicals ational Petrochemical & Refiners Association President Charles T. Drevna has said that proposals being considered in Congress to raise taxes on companies that produce oil and natural gas and that manufacture fuels and petrochemicals would hurt the nation and the American people. "These tax increases would hurt American consumers and employers by raising

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the costs of driving, raising the costs of manufacturing and transporting products, and raising the costs of operating businesses. They would make it harder for American oil and gas producers and fuel and petrochemical manufacturers to compete with foreign rivals on a level playing field. This would wipe out jobs, weaken our economy and increase America's reliance on foreign oil, fuels and petrochemicals.

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Instead of increasing the amount of tax revenue collected, these tax hikes would actually decrease tax collections because they would reduce the amount of fuels, petrochemicals, oil and natural gas produced in the United States," he added. Drevna said:The oil and gas sector pays income taxes, royalties and other fees to all levels of government totaling nearly US$86 mln every day – about US$31 billion a year.

N O V E M B E R 2011

BUSINESS NEWS

TI Automotive building two plants in India uto supplier TI Automotive is building two new plants in India to make fuel system parts for the domestic auto market.

According to the release TI, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan will build a blow molding facility to make lowemission multi-layer tanks in Chennai and an extruded fuel line facility in Bangalore. The Bangalore plant will

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begin full production by December with production in Chennai by April.“India is a key growth region that is essential to being a major global supplier,” said Bill Kozyra, chairman and CEO. “With these new facilities, we are firmly entrenched there, and continue to expand our global footprint.” The 73,000-square-foot Chennai plant will employ 70 people and 68 people will

Bayer boosts liquidity buffer to cover the impact of the euro zone debt crisis ermany’s Bayer has boosted its liquidity buffer to cover the impact of the euro zone debt crisis, which has left it with a significant amount of unpaid bills from clients in Italy, Spain and Portugal, according to Reuters. "At the moment our liquidity position is 3.8 bln euros (US$5.2 bln)," Bayer's Chief Financial Officer Werner Baumann was quoted by Boersen-

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Zeitung. Normally the company holds about 700 million euros in liquidity. The buffer is estimated to be maintained until April when the company will redeem a 2 bln euro bond. Currently, Bayer has a significant amount of unpaid bills (approximately three-digit million) from clients in Italy, Spain and Portugal as a result of the debt crisis in the euro zone.

work at the 12,500-square-foot site in Bangalore. TI already has a powertrain systems plant in Manesar and two other fluid carrying system sites in Baroda and Manesar.

Nigeria turns net-exporter of polymers igeria has become a net-exporter of polymers like polyethylene a(PE) and polypropylene (PP), courtesy Indorama-Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited (EPCL). The polymers are being exported to various countries in Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa. Since EPCL was privatized in 2006, it has been producing various grades of PE and PP, and accounts for 10% of Nigeria’s non oil exports.

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Royal Commission announces plan to develop plastics oasis in Saudi Arabia oyal Commission had announced plan to develop plastics oasis in Saudi Arabia called Plaschem, an area designated for the plastics industry as well as participation for SABIC, Saudi Aramco and National

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Industrial Cluster programme. The oasis will provide all catalyst factors necessary to attract investments in the plastics industry sphere and ensure the feasibility of investment.

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PRODUCT NEWS

Metal separators and magnet systems for installation upstream of injection moulding etal separators and magnet systems for installation upstream of injection moulding machines for "Last-Chance" metal detection is being introduced by S+S Separation and Sorting Technology GmbH. The metal separators are from the PROTECTOR family. The highlight is the new PROTECTORMF combining the proven advantages

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of its predecessor, the MFE, with new performance features. Whilst retaining the excellent sensitivity and performance of the MFE, the new system requires less height above moulder and all parts in contact with the product are made of stainless steel.

These units are installed directly on the infeed of injection moulding

machines and separate metal particles from a slow moving column of material.

Whether in primary or secondary feed processes, all metals are effectively removed and PROTECTOR systems provide maximum machine protection and prevent screw crashes, choked nozzles, and mould damage. The compact but strong design means that mixing and dosing units can be installed directly on the system.

SABIC introduces Ultem PEI foam for composite aircraft ow moisture absorption of Ultem* polyetherimide (PEI) foam for composite aircraft structures h a s b e e n u n v e i l e d b y S A B I C ’s Innovative Plastics strategic business unit. Ultem resin’s low-moisture absorption is critical in that it helps address two major aircraft OEM challenges: reducing weight for fuel conservation and emissions reduction, and lowering systems costs while delivering equal or better performance than traditional materials. Low moisture absorption combined with the proven flame-smoke-toxicity (FST), dielectric, acoustic and thermal performance of Ultem foam underscores the pioneering work of SABIC in engineering superior, world-renowned thermoplastic solutions for the aircraft industry. “By replacing competitive materials such as polymethacrylimide (PMI) with Ultem foam, OEMs and tiers can meet their environmental goals and industry challenges, while lowering systems

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costs by streamlining processing and extending the application’s useful life,” said Kim Choate, global product marketing manager, Ultem, Innovative Plastics. “Investment in proactive laboratory testing is just one of the ways in which SABIC delivers everbetter solutions for the aircraft industry to improve performance and drive cost advantages across the board.”

Ultem foam products, available in three densities, are manufactured as boards for use in skin-core-skin composite structures. Applications include luggage bins, galleys and lower wall panels. Testing involved exposing Ultem foam and PMI foam boards to elevated heat (70C/158F) and humidity (85 percent relative humidity) in an environmental chamber. Test results demonstrated that the Ultem foam absorbed less than 0.5 percent moisture by weight at 1,000 hours.

In contrast, PMI absorbed five to six

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percent moisture by weight at just 150 hours and maintained those results through 1,000 hours. Weight gain from moisture absorption adds to the overall weight of the aircraft, adversely affecting fuel consumption and emissions. On average, an aircraft will burn about 0.03 kg (0,06 lbs) of fuel per hour for each kilogram (2.2 lbs) carried on board. Given that the total commercial fleet flies about 57 million hours per year, cutting one kilogram per flight can save roughly 1,700 tons of fuel and 5,400 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year1. In addition, moisture absorption itself can have a disruptive effect on electronics (interference) and may cause condensation on sensitive areas of the interior. The cycle of absorption and drying that occurs as the aircraft travels through different environmental conditions also has the potential to cause delamination of a composite structure and can distort the dimensions of a part. Such N O V E M B E R 2011

PRODUCT NEWS results can lead to more-frequent repairs and downtime. Another important benefit of Ultem foam’s outstanding low moisture absorption occurs during processing. Often, PMI foam boards must be conditioned (dried and/or stored in a special area) before they can be machined, compression molded or thermoformed.

This extra step adds time, costs

and overhead to the process. Ultem foam avoids this scenario. Further, PMI may have to undergo a multistep annealing process. In addition, Ultem foam is compatible with metals and thermoset laminate materials, potentially eliminating adhesives and other secondary operations that are common to the aircraft industry.

Ultem foam has a density of 10 to

30 times less than the traditional resin. It exhibits the outstanding FST performance of Ultem resin (it meets Ohio State University (OSU) performance levels below 50/50) and offers excellent dielectric and acoustic properties, including demonstrated noise reduction coefficients of greater than 0.3.

Compostable shell plus plastic pouch combine as recyclable, low-weight bottle igid plastics, glass and metal packaging processor Berlin Packaging has teamed with Ecologic Brands Inc. to begin commercial marketing of the latter company's "eco bottles", so called because they are made from a recyclable and compostable fiber shell, with a plastic pouch and closure. The result is a bottle that requires up to 70% less plastic than a standard high-density polyethylene blowmolded package.

Ecologic Brands officially introduced its eco.bottles only this year at the Pack Expo show. Berlin Packaging (Chicago) will work with Ecologic to commercially introduce the packaging.

Recycling of the bottles involves splitting open a side of the fiber shell, at which

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point the outer (fiber) package separates. The fiber halves, made from old corrugated cardboard and newspapers, can be recycled up to seven more times, according to Ecologic. The inner pouch and closure system, both of low-density polyethylene, are recyclable as well.

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The pouch also can be converted from HDPE. The companies predict the hybrid bottles will be specified for packaging of laundry and household detergents, non-carbonated beverages, lawn and garden products, The bottles do carry a price premium over standard blow molded plastic

packaging. The eco bottle line will be available starting January 2012 in a50-ounce size with a detergent-style dosing cap or twist cap, a 32-ounce size with a detergent-style dosing cap or twist cap, and a 64-ounce size with a 38mm spout suited for orange juice and dairy products.

Uson launches customized RFID tags uston based Uson that develop automated leak detection equipment for the automotive, industrial, medical device and packaging industries have developed RFID tags both standard and custom components tailored to application requirement that could streamline parts processing and help manage test data while cutting overall production cost. Uson provides specifications for custom RFID tags with both its

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Leak DetectorExpress Proposal and Leak Detection Equipment Custom Application Proposal services upon request and at no charge. Uson’s no-cost training courses on state-of-the-art leak detection methodologies include discussion of best practices for parts identification using RFID tags, bar coding, among other techniques used for more efficient production lines.

N O V E M B E R 2011

PRODUCT NEWS

New innovative light weight ballistic material new innovative light weight ballistic material for use in Law Enforcement and Military protective vests has been introduced

by DSM Dyneema. High performance Dyneema® SB71, a unidirectional (UD) grade made of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber, was specifically designed and developed for use in ballistic vests certified under NIJ0101.06. Vests made with SB71 combine lowest possible weight with the highest protection performance. The new material advances the protection level achievable with Soft Ballistic (SB) armor by building on a new

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technology platform first established with Dyneema® SB51. SB71 facilitates protective concepts for the lightest, most comfortable and most demanding vest applications in the range of UD grades. It is suited for vest designs that meet the NIJ06 standard as well as other law enforcement and military standards. It can also be combined with trauma liners and stab resistance solutions in vests designed to meet various international standards.

Furthermore, it can be used both in tactical and concealed vest designs.

It also enables vests to be designed with low Back Face Signature while remaining thin, light and comfortable.

According to Ernst Jan van Klinken, Global Marketing Director at DSM Dyneema, SB71 sets a new standard in light weight and therefore user comfort: The main advantages of Dyneema® SB71 for body armor manufacturers include reductions in costs, time and material. Ease of handling leads to time and cost reductions, with less time being spent in material lay-up and cutting. And with less material being required, the environmental benefits are significant too.” The new grade has high durability and resistance to moisture, UV rays and chemicals, characteristics inherent to UHMWPE fiber from DSM Dyneema.

New hybrid molding machinery mployees of the Athena Automation Ltd. (Vaughan, ON) are working on development of hybrid electric / hydraulic injection molding machinery as well as the development and implementation of lights-out automation systems for injection molders. Niigon, which molds packaging, is one of Athena's test customers. At the processor's facility, its seven molding machines, central materials handling system, backup power generators, UPS, 42kW photovoltaic panels, cooling towers and pumps all are tied into the

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Lights-Out automation system developed at Athena. According to Athena, Niigon now can run its complete operation with just two operators, who handle finished products and inspect

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part quality. Working in Niigon's plant, Athena also is starting a project to transport finished goods within the plant using automated guided vehicles.

On the machine manufacturing side, Athena is developing a range (80-500 tonnes' clamp force) of hybrid injection molding machinery. According to the manufacturer, oil changes will be necessary only every five years, and the size of a machine's oil tank will be less than half that of conventional hybrid molding machines. Athena says its machines also can be easily configured for modular expansion. The first prototype of its 150-tonne machine recently passed 3 million cycles and, claims Athena, beat a comparable all-electric machine fromanother 75

manufacturer in benchmark testing.

The test was performed using a 24-cavity, 38mm closure mold t10.33second cycle times. The Athena hybrid machine had specific energy consumption during the testing of 0.41 kWh/kg of material processed versus 0.40 kWh/ kg on the all-electric machine. Shot-to-shot accuracy is said to be better on the Athena hybrid unit. The company reports it will be testing other prototypes during the rest of this year. The company also is developing a range of PET perform molding machinery, with some of those expected to enter testing early next year and to be commercially available by the end of 2012.

N O V E M B E R 2011

PRODUCT NEWS

Primex Plastics along with Azuna to provide 3D sheet printing applications heet extruder Primex Plastics Corp. is partnering with Azuna LLC to make specialty sheet for 3D printing applications.Jenkintown, Azuna’s patented technology can make two-dimensional plastic sheet appear to have five planes of depth.

The company’s Generation 2 product

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line calls for polypropylene sheets to be specially extruded so they collect and refract light. Primex signed a five-year agreement with Azuna. As a result, more than 100 Primex extrusion lines will be well equipped to supply Azuna G2 sheets and rolls.

Roidec India launches biodegradable alternative for plastic oidec India Chemicals Pvt Ltd. has introduced a biodegradable alternative to conventional plastic packaging.

According to the company, the material creates a moisture barrier and is heat sealable. Roidec, a Gurgoanbased subsidiary of Apra Group of Comapnies, said that the product has

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been tested by the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology in Chennai, The Indian Institute of Packaging in Mumbai and Spectro Analytical Labs Ltd. in New Delhi.

The company has a plant capable of making 25 metric tons of material per day, and it plans to build another plant in Baroda, Gujrat.

Bottle labels that activate a sequence of flashing lights when held nnovia Films and PragmatIC Printing, a specialist developer of imprinted logic circuits, have created an interactive bottle labels that activate a sequence of flashing lights when the bottle is held. Based on Innovia Films’ BOPP label substrate, the prototype electronic labels was previewed at the Packaging Innovations show recently held at London’s Business Design

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Centre. Scott White, CEO of PragmatIC Printing, said: “Our collaboration with Innovia Films has demonstrated that our unique imprinted electronics can be integrated successfully onto label and packaging films. We now aim to progress these concepts together towards volume production and commercial deployment.”

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Toray succeeds in production of the world's first fully renewable, biobased PET fibre oray Industries, Inc. has produced laboratory-scale samples of the world's first fully renewable biobased PET fiber by using fully renewable biobased PET derived from biobased paraxylene from Gevo, Inc., a leading company in renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels.

Gevo has succeeded in converting isobutanol, produced from biomass by employing its own highly effective production method that uses synthetic biology, to synthesize para-xylene employing conventional chemical process used in commercial operations.

Toray used terephthalic acid synthesized from Gevo's biobased para-xylene and commercially available renewable mono ethylene glycol (MEG) as raw materials, and successfully produced the PET samples by applying a new technology and PET polymerization in June this year. Toray has also succeeded in the production of a fiber using this fully renewable biobased PET for the first time in the world. The success of this trial, albeit under laboratory conditions, is proof that polyester fiber can be industrially produced from fully renewable biomass feedstock alone.

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N O V E M B E R 2011

PRODUCT NEWS

Plastic Recycling Machineries I E C O

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manufacturing Granulators range from 1HP. to 75HP. to meet the specific requirements to grind all kinds of plastic scrap like rigid and soft PVC, HDPE, LDPE, Nylon, Polypropylene ABS, Polycarbonate, Polystyrene, PET Products etc. They have supplied their products to local exporter for exporting our Product to countries like U.A.E., Kenya, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania & Uganda etc. PIECO has developed a special purpose Granulator for pet grinding.

The PIECO Range of Products are Plastic Scrap Granulators / Waste Shredding Machines in different models, Dry Blending Machines in

various Models, High Speed Mixer, Film Shredder (Agglomerator), Lump Cutter, Medium Speed Granulators, Blade Sharpening Machines, Blades (Knives).

Plastic Scrap Granulators / Waste Shredding Machines in different models Model PCR-100> Length of blade 100mm No. of blades 5 Chamber Size 100 x 100mm Grinding Capacity 12Kgs/hr Power required 1HP. (0.75KW) Suitable for grinding sprues & runners .Model PCR-150 >Length of blade 150mm No. of blades 5 Chamber Size 150 x 150mm Grinding Capacity 15Kgs/hr.

Power required 2HP. (1.5KW) Suitable for grinding small cups & runners Film Shredder (Agglomerator) >

Model PAGLO-25 S h r e d d i n g Capacity 50Kgs/hr No. of Blades 8 (4 + 4) Tank Capacity 150Ltrs RPM of Blades 1000 RPM Motor 25HP. (18.75KW) . Blade Sharpener Machines >Model PBS300 PBS-500 Length to blade 12" 20" Power required 1HP. 1HP. Special Features: Heavy duty structure.

Suitable for sharpening Granulator Blades. Trouble free Machine. for details write to:- PIONEER ENGINEERING CORPORATION,218, Veena Dalvai Industrial Estate, Oshiwara, S.V. Road, Jogeshwari (W),Mumbai: 400 102. Tel. No. : 022-26787168, Mobile: 9820998657 / 9833151363, E-mail: dinesh@ piecomachines.com, pieco@aol.in Website: www.piecomachines.com

W Dryers (150-400) Carousel Plus Dehumidifying Dryers onair's Carousel Dryers just got better. Dubbed the Carousel Plus, everything about this new dryer is improved to help you stay profitable in a dramatically more competitive world market. The product improvements are an extension of the legacy of the original, workhorse Carousel desiccant dryers. Purchase this new dryer and you will find that you have more control over drying dew point and temperature than ever before, in a package that is simpler, smaller, lighter, more energy efficient, easier to use and maintain than any other dryer on the market today.

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Reduced energy costs

Maximum uptime, maximum reliability

Precise, adjustable dew point control Sandip Shah, Sr. Manager – Sales & Marketing Cell: 09376783206 Email: sshah@conairgroup.com ; salesindia@conairgroup.com

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PRODUCT NEWS

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N O V E M B E R 2011

PRODUCT NEWS

CUMSA ‘VACUUMJET ’Ensures Improved Molded Part Quality & Productivity In line with Cumsa's effort in introudcing new products, they have now come out with innovative and patented product ‘VACUUM JET’ to its range of innovative products.

Installation of ‘VACUUM JET’ Unit in the injection mold ensures / results in improved ‘PRODUCTIVITY’ through.

• Optimal injection molding parameters • Perfect Venting • Perfect Fluidity during injection • Higher Production rate • Lower injection Temperature • Lower energy Consumption These factors help improve plastic ‘PART QUALITY’ via • Uniformity of colour of Plastic Part • Lesser Sink marks • Invisible Weld Lines • Superior Visual Appearance • Greater Dimensional Stability • Higher Mechanical Resistance ‘VACUUM JET’ is compact unit that creates a Vacuum leading to negative pressure in the cavity. Only 6 bars of Air Pressure are needed from the injection molding machine. The vacuum can be made through the clearance of the ejector pins and/or an air valve. Air Valve is preferred, because it can draw bigger volume of air from the cavity rather than only using ejector pin clearances. Allows a back pressure in the cavity of upto – 920 mbar, Enables vacuum of upto 60 normal L/Min, triggered by a pneumatic valve.

Attached please find the catalogue of ‘VACUUM JET’ available in 3 models. We look forward to your valued enquiries with quantities required to enable us make the best proposal.

For details, contact: Madhu Machines & Systems Pvt Ltd 'Anurag' 1st Floor, A-4/5, Ganesh Krupa Society, Chikuwadi, Vadodara–390007 Gujarat, INDIA Tel: +91 265 2321104 / 2353886, Fax. : +91 265 2334278 Email : info@madhu-group.com / machinery@madhu-group.com Web site : www.madhu-group.com

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N O V E M B E R 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Supra B - Plastics that repairs itself developed plastic that could repair itself when broken without using glue has been developed. Called supramolecular polymer, the new type of plastic is being developed by the chemical company AkzoNobel in collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Accordimng to the release , the new plastic, which has been called Supra B, takes advantage of a kind of bonding that gives water its viscosity and surface tension. Known as hydrogen bonding, it uses the attraction between

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hydrogen atoms and other atoms such as oxygen or nitrogen. In Supra B, the scientists have managed to quadruple the number of hydrogen bonds between the small plastic, or polymer, molecules so that it is as strong as other forms of plastic, but does not require a chemical reaction to join them together. Graham Armstrong, corporate director of research, development and innovation at AkzoNobel, said: "We are working on polymers that are able to heal themselves. They use supramolecular

chemistry, which exploits some of the lessons we have learned from the way proteins bind together in biology.

It means we can have solids that genuinely can heal." Andrew Burgess, chief scientist at AkzoNobel, added that the material could lead to new scratch resistant coatings for vehicles, laptops and other portable equipment.

What we want to do therefore is to adapt this principle, using either this chemistry or a similar one, to create a hard, protective coating that exhibits good self-healing.

Krones introduces ProShape process for blow molding rones has introduced ProShape process for blow molding.

Krones AG’s ProShape process allows the blow molding of oval or unusually shaped, asymmetrical plastic containers on a Contiform stretch blow molding machine by selectively taking heat out of a standard preform in specific areas, before blowing.

ProShape is custom-designed for each desired bottle shape, to give precisely defined temperature boundaries.

The cooler part of the preform is the last to be stretched in blow molding, so that ProShape enables stable, thick-walled areas to go right next to thin-wall sections. The process makes containers in non-round shapes and with off-center bottle necks.

ProShape is the company’s answer to preferential heating, according to Adam Stowitts, technical manager for plastic technology at Krones Inc.,

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the U.S. division of Krones AG of Neutraubling, Germany.

Krones calls the technology “selective preform tempering.” Standard round preforms are heated evenly in an oven, in a traditional fashion. Then a star wheel transfers the preforms to the ProShape module.“There are 20 stations of tempering plates. And these plates are heated to roughly half the temperature of the preform,” Stowitts said. “So they’re actually colder than the preform. And they’re contoured to match the shape of the preform.”

The plates come into contact with key points on the preform, drawing heat out of that area. The plates do not change the shape of the preform. “They just wick some of the heat on the surface of the preform, and then that plastic stretches differently,” Stowitts said.

Krones designs plates for each bottle

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shape, and the specific preform. The company makes the plates, and makes molds, at a major machining operation in Franklin. “A round preform, heated uniformly, is going to blow round, and if you blow round into a flask or a rectangular bottle, you’re going to get different thicknesses from one part to another,” he said. “What you do is cool the areas on the short side that have to stretch the longest. The idea is, that preform, that cold area, will stretch last.” ProShape also can orient preforms, using a camera that takes an image of each preform while it is in the transfer star wheel. Software calculates the position the preform must be transferred to at the ProShape module and then to the blow mold.

Preferential heating generates alternating areas of hot and cold zones in the preform in the oven.

N O V E M B E R 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Bioplastics from algae ew research reported in BioMed Central's open access journal describes an alternative method of producing Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) in microalgae. Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a thermoplastic polyester which occurs naturally in bacteria as Ralstonia eutropha and Bacillus megaterium. Even though PHB is biodegradable and is not dependent on fossil resources, this bioplastic has been traditionally too expensive to produce to replace petroleumbased plastics. PHB is synthesised in bacteria from acetyl-CoA using the enzymes ß-ketothiolase, acetoacetylCoA reductase and PHB synthase. The genes coding for these proteins were inserted into a diatom (Phaeodactylum tricornutum) resulting in expression of the enzymes and synthesis of PHB in cytosolic granules. After only seven days, about 10% of the dried

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weight of the diatoms was PHB. Dr. Franziska Hempel and Prof Uwe Maier from the LOEWE-Centre Synmikro in Marburg, and Prof Alexander Steinbüchel from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, explained, "Millions of tons of petroleum-based plastic are consumed every year worldwide causing immense amounts of waste that can take thousands of years to biodegrade – if at all.

Bacterial fermentation is expensive and while people have introduced a similar system into plants, plants are relatively slow growing and biofuel agriculture uses up valuable land. P. tricornutum needs little more than light and water to grow and can produce similar amounts of PHB to the plant systems in weeks rather than months."

In the quest to find biodegradable and renewable sources of plastics these photosynthetic bioreactors may well provide an answer.

Molecular knots make stronger plastic

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esearchers at the University of Edinburgh

believe they have made a breakthrough in the search for stronger plastics, according to a report in the journal Nature Chemistry.

Using a process that creates synthetic nanoscale pentafoil knots, the scientists hope to be able to mimic the elastic characteristics of the complex knots found in proteins and DNA.Speaking to the Scotsman newspaper, principal researcher David Leigh, Forbes Professor of organic chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, said:

New technology for very high air flow PU foam to achieve "cool" effect

“It’s very early to say for sure,

foam mattress's coolness, durability and compression set resistance are linked to a flexible polyurethane foam's porosity. Bayer MaterialScience LLC's new polyether polyol and formulation technology produce very high air flow polyurethane foam to achieve that "cool" effect without the extra post-step treatment used in current technology-without reticulation. In addition to high air

materials - something akin to a

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flow above 5.0 scfpm, the technology offers control of foam recovery rates and surface characteristics, thus facilitating a wide range of end-use applications. The new technology from Bayer is particularly well-suited for the production of soft foam grades between 3 and 20 pounds IFD. Various commercially available MDIs or TDI can be employed in the process.

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but the type of mechanical crosslinking we have just carried out could lead to very light but strong molecular chain mail.

“It could also produce materials with exceptional elastic or shock-absorbing properties because molecular knots and entanglements are intimately associated with those characteristics.”

N O V E M B E R 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Waste PET bottles used as construction material aste PET are being used in Nigeria as construction material- an environmentally smart strategy of chipping away at a housing shortage in Africa's most populous nation. A prototype is underway near the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna by an NGO Development Association for Renewable Energies (DARE), that wants to extend its efforts and build more. This is the first house in Africa built from bottles, which could go a long way in solving Nigeria's huge housing need and cleaning the badly polluted environment. Built on 624 sq ft plot, the two-bedroom bungalow looks like an ordinary home, but it differs in many

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ways. It is made from capped, sandfilled plastic bottles, each weighing 3 kgs. The bottles are stacked into layers and bonded together by mud and cement, with an intricate network of strings holding each bottle by its neck, providing extra support to the structure. Bottle caps of various colours protrude from the cementplastered walls, giving them a unique look. Those behind the project claim the sand-filled bottles are stronger than ordinary cinder blocks. The structure has the added advantage of being fire proof, bullet proof and earthquake resistant, with the interior maintaining a constant temperature of 18 degrees

C (64 degrees F) which is good for tropical climate. They are cheap to construct as it costs a quarter of the money required to build a conventional house. With the right adjustments to the supporting pillars the building can be as high as three stories, but can go no higher due to the weight of the sand-filled bottles. The construction, which has reached 70% completion, is estimated to require 14,000 bottles.

Will this be a long term housing solution in Nigeria- a country grappling with a deficit of 16 million housing units that requires (US$300 billion) to meet, according to Nigeria's Federal Mortgage Bank.

Laurel BioComposite's Bio-Res to increase green content io-Res, a patent pending product for the plastic molding market has been introduced by Laurel BioComposite LLC. The company developed the unique material to cost-effectively raise the renewable or "green" content of plastic products by as much as 40%. The product introduction coincides with the launch of a new pilot plant expected to begin manufacturing the material in November. Laboratory tests prove the material's ability to act as a replacement for neat resin at a reduced cost. The pilot facility will produce approximately 1 million lbs. of BioRes the first year to support customer trials. The trials will help define specific performance property improvements.

Plans are underway to build a plant in 2012 capable of producing 48 million lbs. of Bio-Res pellets. Bio-Res is available in a powder or pellet form

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and mixes easily with polyethylene, polypropylene, polylactic acid and PHA. Bio-Res pellets are made of 6080% bio-material. Injection molders can insert the pellets directly into injection molded parts. The material can also be blended with various

resins. The product replaces traditional petroleum-based resins in a variety of manufacturing processes for plastics.

The new material does not affect food supplies because it is made from cornbased distillers' grain, a non-edible by-product of ethanol plants.

Complex shapes otational moulding permits the production of articles with complex geometry, curved edges, and rounded shapes in a single cycle, processing materials of different colour and transparency to produce particular aesthetical effects using a single mould.

Polivinil Rotomachinery, headquartered in Cerano (Novara, Italy), works with designers starting immediately in the post-draft stage. The varying distribution of material in different mould zones, the need for non-uniform thicknesses, and the simultaneous presence of two layers require careful fine tuning of the production recipe, which is significantly facilitated by the latest-generation machines from the Italian company.

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IN THE NEWS

UK government recognizes plastics' green credentials ondon has acknowledged the United Kingdom’s plastic industry’s role in helping to create a greener economy. Mark Prisk, a minister at the department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), said he recognized the work the sector was doing, “in particular through developing and supplying low carbon

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products and solutions which help other manufacturing sectors.” Responding to a question from the Labor party’s Ian Lucas, Prisk said his department had not undertaken an assessment of the sector’s efforts to cut its carbon footprint, but he name-checked the British Plastics Federation (BPF) for its role in highlighting work being done

to reduce greenhouse gases. “Plastics are increasingly used for components across business sectors. For example, in the automotive and aerospace sectors plastics usage is significantly reducing the weight of motor vehicles and aircraft, resulting in improved fuel efficiency, and corresponding reductions in emissions,” Prisk added.

Pakistan approves expansion, allows import of 18 more items from India he Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved expansion of positive list by allowing import of over 18 more items from India, including ethylene derivatives. The list include

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(i)

Empty aluminum alloy milk cans;

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accessories for leather bags and footwear;

(iii) jigs and dies for vehicles; (iv) other polymers of ethylene in primary form; (v)

Lufenuron (chemical name dichloro-4- hexa fluoro - propoxy phenyl/urea);

(vi) cotton linters; (vii) fungicides for leather industry; (viii) other chemicals (ucer G-50) for leather industry; (ix) textile spinning machines; (x)

cone/bobbin winding machines;

(xi) reeling machines;

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(xii) power looms;

(xv) thermoplastic rubber sole;

(xiii) sewing, darning or embroidery needles;

(xvi) traction motors and their spares;

(xiv) fly ash for cement industry only;

(xvii) printed books of all kind; (xviii) flavouring powder

California sues biodegradable plastic firm alifornia State has filed a lawsuit against ENSO Plastics, Aquamantra and Balance Wa t e r f o r a l l e g e d l y f a l s e l y claiming their plastic bottles were biodegradable. Accusing the companies of exploiting Californians' environmental concerns, Attorney General Kamala Harris said that labels on the products that described the bottles as biodegradable were not supported by evidence, and misleads consumers into thinking they can responsibly dispose of

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them in backyard composting or landfill. In addition to diverting plastic away from the recycling stream, degradable plastics that are recycled often contaminate recycled end-products, since a material produced will be pock-marked with patches of degradable plastic.

Labeling plastic food or beverage packaging as "biodegradable" that does not meet specific ASTM degradability guidelines has been illegal in California since 2008.

N O V E M B E R 2011

IN THE NEWS

Italy’s PS market signals further softening for November he past few months have seen reducing polystyrene prices in Italy according to ChemOrbis.

Seeing pressure from resisting buyers, suppliers had to give away the full styrene contract price drop on done deals last month. As the upstream markets have not taken a break from the persistent downward trend that started in September, players expect the bearish trend in Italy’s PS market to

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continue for another month. Although PS producers are yet to make their November offers, buyers expect to see further decreases in the days to come considering the fact that demand will not revive anytime soon due to winter conditions and upcoming year end. The global PS trends and lower upstream contracts in Europe also support buyers’ expectations. Europe’s November butadiene contracts settled

with a massive three-digit decrease while November benzene contracts also came down compared to October last week. These settlements were followed by an initial styrene contract, which was settled this week with a decrease from last month. Several buyers already reported hearing of further albeit small price cuts for November.

Faster way to polish mold components wo companies in Germany Maschinenfabrik Arnold and S&F Sytemtechnik in collaboration with researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) have developed a machine tool which can polish both simple and complex surfaces using laser beams. This new technology will be presented in December at this year'sEuro Mold trade fair in Frankfurt (Hall 11, Booth

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C66). "Conventional methods remove material from the surface to even it out," says Edgar Willenborg, section head at the ILT in Aachen, also Germany.

"Our method is different: it uses laser to melt a thin surface layer roughly 20 - 100 microns deep. Surface tension a property that applies to all liquids ensures that the layer of liquid metal solidifies evenly." Depending on the material, the project team's initial trials

can produce surfaces with an average roughness (Ra) of between 0.1 and 0.4 microns. "Hand polishing can still get better results than that," Willenborg admits, "but the point is that in many applications – for example molds for glass-making, forming and forging tools a medium-quality surface is all that is needed."

FTC approves FPCC, Kraton jont venture to produce hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a joint venture between Formosa Petrochemical Corp and Kraton Performance Polymers Inc. for construction of a plant to produce hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer (HSBC). Located in Mailiao, the plant is expected to cost between US$165-200 mln and to be operational by H2-2013.

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Because Formosa Petrochemical has more than a 25% share of Taiwan’s ethylene, propylene and gasoline markets, it had to seek permission from the FTC for the project to go ahead because of monopoly concerns.

As per an FTC statement, although Formosa Petrochemical is the leading provider of petrochemical ingredients, 84

Taiwanese suppliers are still able to import such ingredients from abroad and the deal would therefore not limit their sourcing choices. Further, the joint venture will not lead to any dramatic change in market share and has therefore been approved.

N O V E M B E R 2011

IN THE NEWS

Green paper on packaging and sustainability he European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment (Europen) has published a green paper on packaging and sustainability. The document, which reflects the opinions of the global packaging chain, concludes that packaging should be seen as part of the solution in achieving a resourceefficient society. Representatives of environmental NGO’s, the European Commission, The World Business Council for Sustainable Development,

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retailers and retailer trade associations and Europen’s corporate members were among those that contributed.

Europen’s managing director, Julian Carroll, said: “The Green Paper, which brought together the opinions of broad sectors of society, not just industry, will serve Europen and hopefully other stakeholders as a reference point in further discussions about Packaging and Sustainability.

“Packaging is part of the solution, not part of a problem, in achieving

a resource efficient society, and this paper will support us to deliver that message to consumers, policy makers and key opinion formers.” According to Europen, participants recognised the essential contribution to sustainable production and consumption that packaging makes by helping reduce product waste and protect resources while acknowledging that packaging consumes resources along all the stages of the supply chain.

Indian rotomolder joins hands with Thai companies to donate flood relief boat eading Indian rotomolder, Fixopan Machines Pvt Ltd, joined hands with Srithai Superware PCL, SCG Chemicals and Thai National Shippers Council to manufacture and donate Flood relief Boats to assist the Flood relief agencies in Thailand.

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The recent devastating floods in Thailand has left several thousands of households inundated with flood waters as high as 2 to 4 meters in large residential areas. In order to save lives and move people to safer grounds the Thai Government and Private Relief agencies are working tirelessly round the clock. The relief efforts require a large number of rescue boats in a short period of time.

Realizing this key requirement, all the four parties joined hands to produce and donate these Rotomolded Plastic

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Boats. The Boat was designed and mold making was finished in a record time of 4 working days at Fixopan’s factory in India. Thai National Shippers Council then Air shipped the mold weighing about 500 kgs, from Delhi to Bangkok. SCG Chemicals provided the required Plastic raw material for production and the Boat is now molded at Srithai Nanoplast, a company in the Srithai Superware group. This collaboration is a perfect example of Companies joining hands across national boundaries to help in the times of crisis in Thailand.

Fixopan Machines Pvt. Ltd is an Indian company which specializes in offering an invincible range of Rotation Moulding Machines and moulds, Plastic Products, Material Handling Products, and other accessories besides

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offering a number of customized Plastic Moulded Solutions. Srithai Superware PCL is world’s largest manufacturer of 100% melamine tableware which is distributed around the globe in more than 110 countries.

The company is Thailand's largest manufacturer of Plastics products in the material handling, Food and Beverage packaging, furniture, and Industrial products. Apart from financial donations for flood relief, Srithai Superware has already donated 20,000 portable Toilet chairs and stools for the flood relief operations, which is increasing in number. SCG Chemical, part of the Thai Conglomerate SCG Group, is the largest producer of chemicals in Thailand and a leader in Asia-Pacific region.

N O V E M B E R 2011

IN THE NEWS

Cereplast extends its supply agreement with ColorTec eading manufacturer of proprietary biobased, compostable and sustainable plastics, Cereplast Inc., has extended its agreement with Italy-based ColorTec S.r.l to supply bioplastic resin to the Italian and Slovenian markets.

According to the release the new supply agreement is effective from November 4, 2011 through December 31, 2012. "With the signing of this significant agreement, ColorTec intends to purchase US$20 million

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of product in 2012 and becomes Cereplast's main distribution partner in Italy," said Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cereplast, Inc. "The expansion of this agreement reflects the increasing demand for our bioplastic products in Italy, where we have recently completed the purchase of a manufacturing plant, expected to start production in 2012. We look forward to continuing our already strong relationship with ColorTec to expand our footprint in Italy." "We

have been serving Southern Italy and will be broadening our reach to capture increasing demand in Northern Italy," stated Gaetano Paolillo, chief operating officer of ColorTec. "We find that Cereplast bioplastics provide superior properties compared to other bioplastic resins, providing better performance and improved strength.

As such, we expanded our relationship with Cereplast."

Polypropylene prices plunge in Europe to lowest level in 20 months olypropylene (PP) prices in Europe are under downward pressure after November propylene contract price were fully settled at €1013/ton FD NWE, down by €55/ ton from October settlement of the November propylene contract price, as per ICIS. On a spot basis, net homopolymer injection PP prices are trading below €1100/ton FD NWE in some cases. The last time this level was reached was in March 2010.

Monthly pricing on a gross basis is now reported at €1245/ton FD NWE where the €55/ton decrease has been applied. This price is subject to discounts.

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October demand was better than expected, but domestic European volumes were boosted by exports and spot lots to large buyers at keen prices.

November demand is expected to be

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slow, in view of the current economic climate. Buyers are cautious, and both sellers and many buyers aim to end the year with low stocks. However, some buyers plan to buy in excess of their immediate to take advantage of end-of-year volume rebates. Rebates at the end of the year are linked to an

agreed volume usually discussed at the beginning of the year. If agreed volumes are not reached, the discount is not applied. Production is being cut back to avoid oversupply, and one of the producers canvassed expects this to have an impact in January 2012.

GAIL to invest US$1 billion primarily in US and Canada ccording to reports GAIL India is evaluating opportunities to invest at least US$1 bln over the next year or so to acquire larger shale gas assets, primarily in the US and Canada. The state run oil major could conclude a deal in the next six months. It

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acquired a 20% stake in Carrizo's Eagle Ford shale asset in America in September, where it will spend about US$300 mln over the next few years to develop the asset and train about 10 members of its upstream team to better understand the sector.

N O V E M B E R 2011

IN THE NEWS

GAIL evinces interest in acquiring stake in HPL AIL India has expressed an interest to the West Bengal government to acquire an equity partnership in a downstream project Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL). A Rs 4,000 crore investment plan in eight different projects was announced

by The Chatterjee Group (TCG) chairman. This investment outlay will

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be made over 36-40 months and will include butine-1, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), styrenebutadiene rubber (SBR) and maleic anhydride. TCG had announced interest in a private equity (PE) partners at a debt equity ratio of 1.5:1. In a bid to overcome financial crisis being faced by HPL, the company made a

BPCL plans to set apart Rs 20,000 crore to enhance capacity of Kochi Refinery harat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) plans to set apart Rs 20,000 crore to further enhance capacity of Kochi Refinery (KRL) to 15.5 mln tpa at Ambalamugal and for setting up a petrochemical complex. According to release talks are underway with the state government, Capacity expansion and modernisation project . with the Phase

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II of the project at a total cost of Rs 4,000 crore, it is one of the largest capital investments in Kerala. Rs 4,000 crore expanded capacity and modernised facilities of the BPCLKRL refinery has been unveiled. With the project's completion, the refining capacity has been enhanced to 9.5 mln tpa from 7.5 mln tpa.

Cabinet Committee approves revised cost estimates of Assam Gas Cracker Project he Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the revised cost estimates of the Assam Gas Cracker Project to the tune of Rs 8,920 crore (on as-built-basis). The project schedule has also been revised with mechanical completion by July 2013 and commissioning by December 2013. This would be funded by capital subsidy of Rs 4,690 crore as well as debt and equity of Rs 2,961 crore and

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Rs 1,269 crore respectively. In case, the planned loans do not materialise, the same would be picked up as additional equity by the promoters.

According to an official statement, the revised capital subsidy would be sought by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals from the Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission in the current fiscal and the next by way of additional budgetary support.

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decision last month to go ahead with two chemical downstream projects.

Plans were underway to float a request for proposal from global majors for butiene-1 project at an investment of Rs 200 crore. HPL is also scouting for international investors for a Rs 1,000 crore synthetic rubber manufacturing plant.

Polyplastics plans to expand in 3 countries apanese engineering plastics supplier Polyplastics Co. Ltd. is expanding in Malaysia, China and Taiwan. The Tokyo-based company said it is building a 199 million-pound-per-year Duracon acetal resin plant in Kuantan, on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. The plant is scheduled to be completed by October 2013 and put into operation in early 2014.Polyplastics has four acetal production bases: in Fuji, Japan; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Nantong, China; and Kuantan.

The new plant will raise the company’s total output to 639 million pounds per year. The company also plans to increase its compounding capacity, with an aim of strengthening its position in China.

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N O V E M B E R 2011

Plastivision Arabia 2012 ....................................................................................................................... cover Madhu Machinaries ....................................................................................................................inside cover R R Plast .........................................................................................................................................Fan Fold Anupam Heaters..........................................................................................................................................5 Renaissance ................................................................................................................................................6 CONAIR India. .............................................................................................................................................8 Ferromatik Milacron. .................................................................................................................................... 9 Flamingo ....................................................................................................................................................10 Polymechplast ...........................................................................................................................................13 Swastik Sales Corporation ........................................................................................................................ 14 Plast India ..................................................................................................................................................16 KABRA Extrusion.......................................................................................................................................17 GMS Plastics. ............................................................................................................................................18 GMS Plastics .............................................................................................................................................19 GMS Plastics .............................................................................................................................................20 GMS Plastics. ............................................................................................................................................21 FITCO. .......................................................................................................................................................30 Jagmohan .....................................................................................................................................Book Mark Jayvee Organics ...........................................................................................................................Book Mark LOHIA ........................................................................................................................................................55 Reliance Polymers..................................................................................................................................... 56 Merit Polyplast. ..........................................................................................................................................57 JOMSONS .................................................................................................................................................58 JKP Masterbatches ................................................................................................................................... 59 Multiow.....................................................................................................................................................60 Pioneer Engineering Corporation .............................................................................................................. 60 Goradia Impex ...........................................................................................................................................74 TAGMA ..............................................................................................................................Inside back cover KMG Business Technology.......................................................................................................... Back cover

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19th to 22nd April 2012 19th 2012 Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai, India Exhibit Range: * Dies & Moulds, Press Tools * Mould base & standard parts * Hot Runner System * Tool Steel * Heat Treatment * Texturizing * Gauges * CAD/CAM system related to Dies & Moulds * Die Spotting * Machine Tools for Dies & Moulds, C.N.C Milling/machining centre, E.D.M. etc. * Digitizing * Rapid Prototyping & Modeling * Moulding machine/ Die Casting machine * Accessories for Machine Tools * Die/mould polishing machines * Cutting Tools * Measuring Machines * All materials, equipments, accessories and services covering Die & Mould industry

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