myPlasticsindustry

My Knowledge 02-04-08

My Knowledge

Week in Review
PUBLISHED 02/04/2008

Leominster Plastics Company Produces Green Packaging Process, Scores Big Contracts

A Leominster company has perfected an environmentally friendly way to make food packaging out of injection-molded recycled plastic, and is already getting orders from big name clients across the country. For years, companies have been using some form of pressed recycled plastic, but injection-molded recycled plastic has been a different story. But Innovative Designs, located on Mohawk Drive, has now developed a new injection process thanks to about four months of work, President and CEO Leonard Tocci said Wednesday. "Everyone's looking at sustaining the environment, and recycling is a big issue in food packaging now," Tocci said in a phone interview Wednesday evening. The new Green Line of products -- which consists of 25 items including trays and serving platters -- has brought Innovative Designs orders or commitments from the supermarket chain Whole Foods, the United States House of Representatives purchasing office as well as the University of Massachusetts and several other schools and colleges, according to a press release. ...Sentinel & Enterprise, 1.31.08
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Cereplast Resin Factory A 'Tremendous Opportunity'

"It's the beginning of something we consider very big," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederic Scheer said of his company, Cereplast, as it prepares for operations in Seymour's East Side Industrial Park. Cereplast had hopes for several years of expanding from its Hawthorne, Calif., headquarters to get closer to agricultural raw materials it uses in its biodegradable and compostable products as well as its bio-resins. Indiana, with resources such as corn, proved to be the right place. "Seymour will be the center of this movement for Indiana," Scheer said. "Just look at what's happened with the plastics industry. It's a tremendous opportunity for us, but it's also a time of change." Cereplast is located at 2213 Killion Ave. and the 105,000-square-foot building was approved for a $5.3 million tax abatement by the Seymour Common Council Monday. The 10-year abatement for equipment and machinery is based on the creation of 53 jobs, said Charles Hoop, senior vice president of operations control for Cereplast. ...The Tribune, 1.30.08
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Plastic Bag Makers Demand City Prepare Environmental Report Before Enacting Ban

An attorney representing a group of plastic-bag manufacturers and recyclers challenged Oakland's plastic-bag ban in court Tuesday, saying the city failed to properly study the negative environmental effects of increased use of paper bags. In the closely watched dispute, the Sacramento-based Coalition to Support Plastic Bag Recycling is arguing that the ban should be repealed because Oakland officials did not prepare an environmental impact report before outlawing nonbiodegradable plastic bags at retail outlets that do more than $1 million a year in business. The City Council gave final approval to the ban in July, arguing it was sound environmental policy. But the plastic bag coalition said if customers switch to paper, it will have negative environmental effects of its own. "It's not speculation," said Michael Mills, an attorney for the coalition. "Everyone knows that paper-bag use is going to increase, but no one knows by how much. That's the exact reason, your honor, to do the EIR." Not so, the city argued in court. Oakland officials maintain that use of reusable bags would increase with the ban on oil-based plastic, as would the use of biodegradable plastic. ...Contra Costa Times, 1.30.08
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Tech Going Green: HP Puts Recycled Plastics In Ink Cartridges

Tech is gradually becoming greener, and some of its biggest companies are leading the environmental push. Hewlett-Packard Wednesday plans to announce that it is putting recycled plastic into the ink cartridges for its printers. Although ink cartridges are small, there are so many of them they can be a sizable environmental problem. HP plans to use 10 million pounds of recycled plastic in its cartridges this year. And the plastic isn't just easily reused factory waste — it's made from recycled bottles and other goods previously owned by consumers. Intel and IBM are also announcing new environmental programs. Such moves may help improve the tech industry's reputation for often causing harm to the Earth. Intel is now the largest corporate user of renewable energy in the USA, the Environmental Protection Agency said this week. The chip giant plans to purchase more than 1.3 million kilowatt hours in wind, solar and other types of green power each year. That's enough energy to power about 133,000 households. Intel won't say how much extra the green power costs. But the company considers the purchase an "investment in the renewable-energy market," spokesman Bill Calder says. ...USA Today, 1.30.08
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NaturalNano To Present At SPE’s Best Of Polymer Nanocomposites Conference

NaturalNano, Inc. (OTCBB: NNAN) (FWB: N3N), a developer of advanced nanomaterials and extended release nanotechnologies, today announced that President and Chief Technology Officer Cathy Fleischer, Ph.D. will be presenting at the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Best of Polymer Nanocomposites Conference. NaturalNano and one of its joint development partners, Noble Polymers, a fully owned subsidiary of Cascade Engineering (www.cascadeng.com), a leader in engineered plastic systems and components, are collaborating as part of the e-Learning series sponsored by the SPE focused on the applications of Halloysite Nanotubes (HNT(TM)) in Polymer composites. Fleischer's presentation is scheduled for 11 a.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. "The growth of the plastics industry, coupled with the almost daily breakthroughs in nanocomposites, provides an excellent platform for NaturalNano to exhibit our industry-leading applications for Halloysite Nanotubes," said Fleischer. "It's an honor to be recognized as an expert source on the next generation of nanocomposites and to present with our partners Cascade Engineering, and we look forward to sharing our successes with the plastics industry." ...RedOrbit, 1.29.08
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Poking Holes In China's Plan To Ban Plastic Bags

They dance in the wind, decorate trees and dot rivers. They rip into fingers and bang against legs. By some estimates, China uses 3 billion of them every day. But if the government has its way, the thin plastic bags that blight this country will soon be a thing of the past. Under an ambitious plan announced in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics, China has announced a ban on the production of the flimsiest of the bags by June 1. "I think it's a great idea and really support it," retired factory worker Tang Xiulan said as she juggled several plastic bags loaded with pork, dates and herbs at one of Beijing's many "wet markets," which sell goods such as bloody slabs of meat and iced fish. "In fact, people should start right now. I should too, but don't because we're all lazy. The difficult part is changing old habits." The sheer volume of the bags is explained, at least in part, by shopping habits. Many people shop daily, preferring to buy small quantities either because they lack refrigerators or because it's fresher. And with more bags have come new, more wasteful practices. Consumers who used to juggle a dozen eggs in a wicker basket on the back of their bicycles now make shopkeepers wrap each egg in its own plastic bag so it won't roll around in the trunk of their cars. ...Los Angeles Times, 1.26.08
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